{"id":24532,"date":"2019-10-05T12:26:58","date_gmt":"2019-10-05T16:26:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/?p=24532"},"modified":"2019-10-01T09:39:40","modified_gmt":"2019-10-01T13:39:40","slug":"why-isnt-saying-person-of-color-offensive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/10\/05\/why-isnt-saying-person-of-color-offensive\/","title":{"rendered":"Why isn’t saying ‘person of color’ offensive?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here’s a Facebook posting from a righteous academic:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been thinking about this image and caption ever since Amatullah posted it. I\u2019ve been thinking about it in its own right\u2014WHY DOESN\u2019T FLINT HAVE POTABLE WATER YET, AND WHY DON\u2019T WE CARE\u2014but also because I see a lot of white \u201callies\u201d in my daily life and ESPECIALLY<\/strong> in my professional life as a classicist, allies who just don\u2019t know how to PASS THE MIC, step out of their own spotlight, and listen to POC.<\/p>

Note my post is not a condemnation of Greta, whom I admire. It\u2019s a comment on those of us who can but choose not to promote and listen to our colleagues of color, particularly when it comes to issues of combatting racism.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This is her addition while sharing a post featuring a young woman holding a sign about Flint’s public water supply<\/a> and the following text:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I\u2019m immensely proud of Greta & AOC. Please don\u2019t forget Mari Copeny aka: Little Miss Flint. She has been fighting for Flint & has not received even a portion of the attention she & her cause deserves!<\/p>

EDIT: No empty useless comments about how this isn\u2019t about Race, how it\u2019s Democrats faults, and any other thinly veiled racism wrapped in logical Fallacies will be squashed (to the best of my ability)
This post is to Signal Boost Mari & others like her who are NOT getting the attention THEY deserve.<\/p>

Read what I said, read it again.
Now share it, follow her & others that have been doing the work. Thanks! <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The righteous sharer uses the acronym “POC” for “Person of Color” and refers to “colleagues of color.” If non-whites object to being classified by their skin color, why isn’t this term just as offensive as any other term that refers to skin color, e.g., “darkies” that Kentucky is trying to remove from “My Old Kentucky Home”<\/a>? If the offensive idea is that inferences can be drawn based on the color of a person’s skin, rather than the content of their character, shouldn’t lumping all “persons of color” together be offensive, regardless of the term used?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related:<\/p>\n\n\n\n