Ever changing Political Correctness

I think they're both strictly American PC complaints, Oriental and Black. I think in other countries those are still both acceptable terms.

I don't know but I know that in my life, we have gone from the "correct" or "nice" term for African-Americans from colored to black to Black to African-American.

The whys and hows I don't know and probably won't.

I think of it less as a matter of being PC than of being specific, and of courtesy. This is the sort of question that a dictionary can answer.

Oriental

Colored and Color

African American

Black

I'm occidental.

A colored person is non PC.

A person of color is very PC.

It might benefit you to study The New Negro Movement (Harlem Renaissance); for whatever reason, I believe the intellectuals of that movement would have a lot to offer this discussion. For example, I wonder what someone like Claude McKay would say about being called African-American, when he is Jamaican.

AMC

rugcat said:

A colored person is non PC.

A person of color is very PC.

Click to expand...

I'm thinking the difference is how long the phrase has been around. The older a phrase is, the less "PC" it is.

I was looking for the "recycling paper" story further down this page, but the whole thing is an interesting read:
http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/pcjargon.html

Bravo said:

i knew an aboriginal girl who got annoyed when people called her "african-american".

Click to expand...

Yeah; that's not right.

Look, for me, there really are two criteria:

1. What does the person want to be called--this is a matter of courtesy. And, part of that, has to do with is the descriptive phrase/adjective important and appropriate in the context? Most of the time, it's not, frankly. Race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, political affiliation--unless these are pertinent in the context, why mention them at all?

2. If it's appropriate, and courteous, is it accurate? My foster sister is from Palau; she's not African-American; -- she is Palauan, or, technically, Micronesian.

It's that thing my mom always says:

1. Is it kind?
2. Is it true?
3. Is it necessary?

My understanding is that "oriental" is no longer PC because it has principally become a modifier for commodities like rugs and hence it objectifies people of Asian descent. And you wouldn't use the word "occidental" to refer to people of European descent. I guess it's basically an antiquated term. On the other hand, "Black" vs. "African American" seems to be a matter of taste. I know some people who prefer one over the other, based on how they identify culturally. As mentioned above, your best gauge is asking the individual how they identify themselves.

It's country specific.

Certainly if you called a black person in SA African-American they'd think you'd lost your mind.

And Coloured here is an acceptable term for a racial/social group where the people come from a mixed background (Afrikaans, black, Malay), are predominantly Afrikaans speaking, and are often (but not always ) Muslim.

Nakhlasmoke said:

It's country specific.

Certainly if you called a black person in SA African-American they'd think you'd lost your mind.

And Coloured here is an acceptable term for a racial/social group where the people come from a mixed background (Afrikaans, black, Malay), are predominantly Afrikaans speaking, and are often (but not always ) Muslim.

Click to expand...

Fun fact, until early XX Century the US census would catalogue every Latin American (except obviously white ones) as Negroes...

Lately, the government has been pushing on calling people of dark skin as "African descent", which seems baffling for me, since we never had "African-Venezuelan" or "Italian-Venezuelan" or whatnot... we were all just Venezuelans...

And yes, it seems to me that when a word becomes stuck in a time, it does sound old-fashioned which ends up related to racist... seems to me trough what I have seen, but I am not sure, that saying "African-American" in the US is now sign of 1) Black Pride (when spoken by a black person) 2) Politically-Correctness gone mad or someone trying to not to be offensive and failing miserably (when spoken by a white person)

I think the funniest I heard was someone referring to Mandela as an African American,

Uh. No. Fail.

Nakhlasmoke said:

I think the funniest I heard was someone referring to Mandela as an African American,

Uh. No. Fail.

Click to expand...

What about the cases of Dutch descendent South Africans whose one of the parents is from United States being accused of joking when mentioning they are "African-American"?

maxmordon said:

What about the cases of Dutch descendent South Africans whose one of the parents is from United States being accused of joking when mentioning they are "African-American"?

Click to expand...

Oh boy. Yeah.

A fair few times I was told, while in the UK, that I couldn't be from South Africa 'cause I was white...

That kinda did my head in.

I've been biting my tongue with respect to the phrase "politically correct."

I can't thand it any longer

Originally--not now, but originally--"politically correct" meant a euphuism that made something bad sound, well, less bad.

You don't have lay offs; you have "a reduction in work force."

You don't have units of cell-destroying radiation; you have "sun shine units"

You're not short; you're "vertically challenged."

Notice that these are all borderline in terms of accuracy (I don't know about you, but I'm short. I just am.) They bury / hide / dress up negatives in an attempt to (deceitfully) make them sound "good."

I don't think Asian vs. Oriental, or African-American (used correctly) do that.

True PC language is inaccurate--and to my mind, is liguistic abuse.

Just sayin'

I know. It's too late; it's like rhetoric--people think rhetoric means "nonsense," or "empty of meaning."

Nakhlasmoke said:

Oh boy. Yeah.

A fair few times I was told, while in the UK, that I couldn't be from South Africa 'cause I was white...

That kinda did my head in.

Click to expand...

Same here, and what is more frustrating is that I was born here and my parents born here and my grandparents born here but since my grandfather's parents are from Spain and I am Hispanic White I have been called Portuguese, American, Italian, French, Spaniard, Jewish, Russian, etc. I am a Latino, carajo!. I am not even that white, like olive white...

Black is still cool. It has a corresponding opposite: black & white. African American is a 700% increase in syllables. It's cumbersome and inefficient.

I can't say 'black' about people who are actually brown; it would be a lie. I don't like saying 'white' about anyone but albinos. And 'brown' is a description that can equally apply to nearly anyone. And beside, just about everyone has pink hands.

I get terribly confused!

PC is just the euphemism treadmill used as a political weapon. I favour being precise about meanings rather than faddish about phrasings. I believe that the only rational response to PC-authoritarianism is to immediately start a food fight. If you find yourself being menaced by PC-bullies, my suggestion is to carry a bag of cream buns and let fly.

Ruv Draba said:

I can't say 'black' about people who are actually brown; it would be a lie. I don't like saying 'white' about anyone but albinos. And 'brown' is a description that can equally apply to nearly anyone. And beside, just about everyone has pink hands.

I get terribly confused!

Click to expand...

I better not mention jelly fish and pineapples, then.

Oops...