Yay for multiculturalism and yay for a laugh!
Many of us are as confused as everyone else. We’re a large group bound together by only one factor — we’re not white. So different things matter in different degrees to all of us, it’s near impossible to speak as one.
I don’t even like the term people of colour. The first time I heard it I thought of the Smurfs because they’re blue.
Everyone should read ‘The Autobiography Of Malcom X’ to get an idea of the struggles and confusion people had. Back in the day, Black people in america would be offended if you called them ‘black’ or ‘African’ . The proper terms were colored, as in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or Negro, as in the United Negro College Fund.
Ebony and Jet magazines would have people with Afros on the cover and ads for skin lighteners and hair straighteners inside.
edit for clarity
I feel like, outside of a few groups, you can’t use the African American experience as the universal experience for minority groups. There is something different two groups where one is a somewhat recent arrival versus one that was enslaved and oppressed without the ability to capitalize on their cultural fruits.
This is a famous story in the US.
When the movie executives started getting called out on racism back in the day they stopped doing things like casting white actors to play Chinese people.
They also stopped making and showing cartoons featuring Speedy Gonzalez, a Mexican mouse who spoke with a heavy accent.
Turned out, the Mexican Americans loved Speedy.
What one group hates, another embraces.
Thank you for that insight.
To add another layer, ‘negro’ is the Spanish word for black which I imagine came about because black or dark-skinned people brought as slaves to the Americas were called ‘blacks’ (or negros) in the Spanish colonies which included a few of the states in the US. ‘Negro’ in Spanish does not carry the same racist baggage that ‘black’ did in English, although this has changed in the US and now negro sounds more pejorative. There are so many subtle (and not so subtle) interpretations and shifts in meaning when it comes to racial and ethnic relations!
In Australia, as immigrants, my family were ‘wogs’ and it was an insult back in the day but then this was taken up as comical badge of honour. Now anyone who comes from a Mediterranean country is quite happy to call themselves wogs and proud of their cultural ancestry and traditions.
Now anyone who comes from a Mediterranean country is quite happy to call themselves wogs and proud of their cultural ancestry and traditions.
I assume that’s specifically in Australia?
Also, you can tell which group is dominant by a simple test.
When Roseanne Barr did a comic version of singing the US national anthem at a ball game no one called her a disgrace to White people.
Hello fellow wog!
I think the article is highlighting an interesting social issue: that ultimately there actually is no “universal culturally appropriate way” to refer to anybody. You actually have to talk to the people sitting across from you and feel out what they prefer and are comfortable with.
Anecdotally, the mob I used to hang out with were happy to be called black, and they called me white, which I was happy with, and that was the end of it. At the same time, I wouldn’t dare call random people black just because my friends were ok with it. So it’s a bit unfair to be bemused by people being cautious, since I think intuitively we all understand the rocky terrain in this area.
It almost feels like it boils down to a respectfulness thing. Like it’s fine as long as nobody feels like they’re being made fun of or spoken to disrespectfully, which can be hard if you’re not familiar with each other.
It can also be generational. I know some women in their 60s who call themselves ‘chicks.’ That was the slang when they were young and they still like it. Younger women might not agree.