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Quit saying "white people" (Original Post) Bucky May 2018 OP
I usually say white folks.....is that not kosher? Thomas Hurt May 2018 #1
Why say people of color instead of colored people? Bucky May 2018 #2
How about.. whathehell May 2018 #18
Sounds pretty negative. Bucky May 2018 #23
I was joking, actually. whathehell May 2018 #30
I'm kind of pink actually n/t SonofDonald May 2018 #40
Yeah whathehell May 2018 #53
It's pinkish in some places, more tannish in others. And then there's all those freckles Bucky May 2018 #73
Beige treestar May 2018 #108
"Palefaces"?? lastlib May 2018 #61
There ya go.. whathehell May 2018 #67
hell Bucky heaven05 May 2018 #70
How aboabout jt lsewpershad May 2018 #28
I prefer melanin challenged. nt Xipe Totec May 2018 #3
:*D Bucky May 2018 #7
I always liked heaven05 May 2018 #72
Just reminded me of a George Carlin routine. edbermac May 2018 #4
Yes we're going to the caucasians again! elleng May 2018 #37
That's my gang The Polack MSgt May 2018 #104
I'm so white DashOneBravo May 2018 #112
might have to teach this ideology to people of white ..... Civic Justice May 2018 #5
The point of examining the political Precision of our language Bucky May 2018 #10
I got your objective point, which is why I wrote what I did. Civic Justice May 2018 #13
Thank you. Bucky May 2018 #17
In South Florida white non-hispanics are termed anglos. Scurrilous May 2018 #6
That's so dismissive of POWs of non-Anglo origin Bucky May 2018 #15
I've heard that term used in the western states.. whathehell May 2018 #21
It doesn't bother me either. Scurrilous May 2018 #24
No, not at all whathehell May 2018 #29
It was like that in Texas too for many years. LeftInTX May 2018 #59
I live in New Mexico, PoindexterOglethorpe May 2018 #85
can i still call myself a little old white lady? ;) samnsara May 2018 #8
As long as you put the little first, I think we're good Bucky May 2018 #11
What if you get rid of the "white" — no, wait, hear me out — and add "from Pasadena"? sl8 May 2018 #19
Okay Bucky May 2018 #25
"Behind the rickety doors of her old garage Atticus May 2018 #44
Unless you are actually short.. whathehell May 2018 #32
"Little" can be a little belittling. n/t sl8 May 2018 #39
Yes, I agree. whathehell May 2018 #54
might want to teach this concept to people of white....first Civic Justice May 2018 #9
Exactly my point! Bucky May 2018 #12
What do you make of "Short People"? sl8 May 2018 #14
God bless Barbra Streisand! Bucky May 2018 #16
OMG! You're being serious!? Solomon May 2018 #20
shhhh Bucky May 2018 #27
As a white woman... TDale313 May 2018 #22
We also need to stop mocking people of color gollygee May 2018 #33
Exactly! Bucky May 2018 #35
Agreed. TDale313 May 2018 #36
But the point is to undermine the defaultness of white Bucky May 2018 #34
Well, there's this.... LakeArenal May 2018 #26
Yes! Bucky May 2018 #45
😉 LakeArenal May 2018 #46
I'm a White person. I say white people. Lil Missy May 2018 #31
When asked what race I was on a form in the doctors office this week... Ferrets are Cool May 2018 #38
!!! Bucky May 2018 #42
+1 Ferrets are Cool May 2018 #48
I do the same thing, and have been... 3catwoman3 May 2018 #51
Lol I am a "lightly tinged descendent of Mitochondria Eve" grantcart May 2018 #41
:*D Bucky May 2018 #43
I have a feeling ME or GrandME as I call her wouldn't be too happy about all this tribalism grantcart May 2018 #47
How about American Americans... lame54 May 2018 #49
Shit, that's everybody!! Bucky May 2018 #57
I'm gonna keep "You white boys are crazy" for now. I think these are called first world problems. winstars May 2018 #50
True Bucky May 2018 #56
John Oliver did a bit people keep making terms longer. From 3 syllables to your 4. I choose whitie! TheBlackAdder May 2018 #52
Now... extend that logic out to other groups Bucky May 2018 #55
Why should it be my task? I'm not the one pushing literacy correctness, since language is dynamic. TheBlackAdder May 2018 #58
"People of white" - that's too funny! EffieBlack May 2018 #60
lol.. I like it! Cha May 2018 #63
What about "people of non-color?" misanthrope May 2018 #62
Among other problems, it's not strictly accurate Bucky May 2018 #64
I was being coy misanthrope May 2018 #68
Don't tell anyone... Bucky May 2018 #74
And therefore white people are people of color. Iggo May 2018 #92
LOL Bucky May 2018 #93
Rec. Tipperary May 2018 #65
Now I know where you got your screen name from GoneOffShore May 2018 #66
Ha!! Bucky May 2018 #75
I share some of those traits with that cat. Not all, but some. GoneOffShore May 2018 #83
Just use the abbreviation: EA DFW May 2018 #69
No thank you! That would be entirely inaccurate Bucky May 2018 #77
You don't need to think, act or dress like a European DFW May 2018 #87
People are amazing. I love stories of human diversity Bucky May 2018 #91
PWAW heaven05 May 2018 #71
. Bucky May 2018 #82
It's flesh Cary May 2018 #76
but... but... Bucky May 2018 #78
I prejudge orange people Cary May 2018 #80
Hey man....!! :( Bucky May 2018 #81
This is a really helpful and productive post oberliner May 2018 #79
Whiter shade of pale LeftInTX May 2018 #84
I insist on being called "Melanin Deficient American" or MDA Orange Free State May 2018 #86
LOL - I love it! "somewhere between a fish belly and a bedsheet" csziggy May 2018 #96
Or maybe "Colorless people" mainer May 2018 #88
European American??? thucythucy May 2018 #89
That's what white supremacists have been using lately IronLionZion May 2018 #94
middle eastern people are white treestar May 2018 #107
I do have some white ancestry but am definitely a nice chocolate brown IronLionZion May 2018 #109
True the xenophobia of the late 19th century treestar May 2018 #110
Anglos and Saxons used to be divided. Norwegians and Swedish would self segregate IronLionZion May 2018 #111
Well, "European American" isn't accurate about me. Bucky May 2018 #95
Why not... infidel621 May 2018 #97
Yes... Civic Justice May 2018 #102
Is an orange person a person of color, or a person of white?? lastlib May 2018 #90
Message auto-removed Name removed May 2018 #98
Lmao. Tipperary May 2018 #99
Lots of these lately. Many. Tipperary May 2018 #100
People of pinkness. nt LAS14 May 2018 #101
actually it's "isle of wight". unblock May 2018 #103
I have lost track of what we call any race without offending someone these days. doc03 May 2018 #105
Person of Colorless? kwassa May 2018 #106
White's a color. Bucky May 2018 #113

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
2. Why say people of color instead of colored people?
Sun May 6, 2018, 06:04 PM
May 2018

Why say people with Autism instead of autistic people? You put the "people" first. It's about re- humanizing fellow citizens, where the political dialogue attempts to dehumanize us.

The real question is, do you want a political dialogue that promotes shared civil commonalities, or a political rhetoric that promotes divisiveness?

The greatest friend of the political right is the tendency to otherize fellow citizens and keep us all from pursuing shared interests.

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
23. Sounds pretty negative.
Sun May 6, 2018, 06:43 PM
May 2018

Plus it's not terribly accurate, sociologically speaking, to describe people by the absence of characteristics.

It's like that old stereotype of people from middle-class suburbs saying, "I have no culture. I grew up in the burbs." Of course you have culture! Your sheltered life is just keeping you from seeing it as culture. It's the National Geographic-propounded colonial mentality that culture is somebody else's life.

But mostly I object to the negativity. And frankly I'd rather enlighten people than piss them off.

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
73. It's pinkish in some places, more tannish in others. And then there's all those freckles
Tue May 8, 2018, 09:49 AM
May 2018

I'm guessing some people are just not consistently any single color.

treestar

(82,383 posts)
108. Beige
Sun May 13, 2018, 09:34 PM
May 2018

Sort of tan, light tan, beige people mostly.

I grew up with a red headed friend who was really white. She glowed in the dark.

 

heaven05

(18,124 posts)
70. hell Bucky
Mon May 7, 2018, 08:42 AM
May 2018

I saw Negro used as a description of POC in reading some S.C.-N.C. everyday news source recently. I chuckled at the term. Is honkie still an okay term to use with people without a clue to their bigotry and racism. Okay to use? People that/who are white? As in POC? White is a colour. Right?

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
7. :*D
Sun May 6, 2018, 06:08 PM
May 2018

Funny.

But parodies of socially sensitive language only mock the seriousness of the political divisiveness that's keeping the GOP afloat these days

DashOneBravo

(2,679 posts)
112. I'm so white
Mon May 14, 2018, 11:13 AM
May 2018

I was laying on the sheets nekkid and my girlfriend came out of the bathroom and starting calling “Dash Dash where did you go?”

 

Civic Justice

(870 posts)
5. might have to teach this ideology to people of white .....
Sun May 6, 2018, 06:07 PM
May 2018

when they refer to people who are black, brown and Tan (yellow) or what ever the tone is...

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
10. The point of examining the political Precision of our language
Sun May 6, 2018, 06:11 PM
May 2018

... is to woke us up to the socio-political realities that help or harm our country and its people.

At the end of the day, do you want to alienate Americans from each other, or unite us in fellow citizenhood?

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
15. That's so dismissive of POWs of non-Anglo origin
Sun May 6, 2018, 06:22 PM
May 2018

are not Slavic, Celtic, Norse, and Mediterranean persons of white to be culturally respected? This is America, dammit! We should all be treated equal!!

whathehell

(29,067 posts)
21. I've heard that term used in the western states..
Sun May 6, 2018, 06:42 PM
May 2018

It's not exactly correct, but it's not at all offensive, imo.

LeftInTX

(25,254 posts)
59. It was like that in Texas too for many years.
Sun May 6, 2018, 10:29 PM
May 2018

I would check "Other" and write it "White. Not Anglo".

I hate that term....

If they create a category Wypipo, I will check it. It sounds kinda cool.

PoindexterOglethorpe

(25,845 posts)
85. I live in New Mexico,
Tue May 8, 2018, 10:52 AM
May 2018

and I occasionally refer to myself as Anglo.

I also do volunteer work helping to feed the homeless at a local homeless shelter. Because this is New Mexico, most of our guests are Hispanic. The paid kitchen staff works hard with us to make sure we don't just serve (as I've been known to express it) food for Protestants. Indeed, Raoul, the kitchen manager often whips up some extra spicy salsa to serve alongside whatever else we're offering.

Now all of you Protestants here do not need to take offense, as I'm intending a large degree of irony. I happen to be someone who does not care for very hot as in chili pepper hot food, although I like well-seasoned food. But spicy hot? No thanks.

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
11. As long as you put the little first, I think we're good
Sun May 6, 2018, 06:13 PM
May 2018

Although your appropriation of that term is inherently colonizing to people who are shorter than you

sl8

(13,736 posts)
19. What if you get rid of the "white" — no, wait, hear me out — and add "from Pasadena"?
Sun May 6, 2018, 06:37 PM
May 2018

Last edited Mon May 7, 2018, 12:23 AM - Edit history (1)

It just seems catchier, to me.

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
25. Okay
Sun May 6, 2018, 06:45 PM
May 2018

But only you people can use that phrase. Everyone else needs to say "person of little oldmess from Pasadena"

Atticus

(15,124 posts)
44. "Behind the rickety doors of her old garage
Sun May 6, 2018, 07:34 PM
May 2018

sat a brand new shiny red super stock Dodge!"

Those were the days.

 

Civic Justice

(870 posts)
9. might want to teach this concept to people of white....first
Sun May 6, 2018, 06:10 PM
May 2018

when they refer to people who are black, brown and Tan (yellow) or what ever the tone is... as 'colored, black, brown and etc... Oh' I forgot many people of white did not respect the "person-hood" of others who were not white.... surely, that's how it got laid out as color description before person-hood.

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
12. Exactly my point!
Sun May 6, 2018, 06:19 PM
May 2018

But you have to understand that it's inherently prejudicial to judge everyone in the group by the negative behaviors of some in the group.

This is equally educational to POCs and POWs.

And with all due respect, I think this country has had enough of this "people of white first" mentality. No one is more deserving than anyone else! If we choose to "be the change we wish to see in the world", should we not start with ending that sort of political segregationism?

sl8

(13,736 posts)
14. What do you make of "Short People"?
Sun May 6, 2018, 06:20 PM
May 2018

"People lacking height got no reason ..."?

Babs certainly wasn't taking any chances with her song, she made sure that "people" came first, last, and between all the other words:
"People, people who need people, are the luckiest people ...".

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
16. God bless Barbra Streisand!
Sun May 6, 2018, 06:27 PM
May 2018

I don't pretend to be perfect about this Progressive nomenclature yet, but I hope I can strive to respect all persons in the stature of their humanity rather than the accidental distinctions in their altitude.

Jefferson and Lincoln found greatness in propagating the notion that all men are created equal. But even their language needs an update to "all people are created equal", just to refine the expression of that beautiful and democratic ideal

Solomon

(12,310 posts)
20. OMG! You're being serious!?
Sun May 6, 2018, 06:39 PM
May 2018

Thought you were making a sarcastic point.

But you're serious aren't you.

TDale313

(7,820 posts)
22. As a white woman...
Sun May 6, 2018, 06:42 PM
May 2018

While I get your point, I think it’s pretty silly. Here’s the thing: For the same reason people don’t really need a reminder that all lives matter or white lives matter in the same way we need the reminder that black lives matter (cause our society makes it clear daily that they don’t)... whiteness is pretty much considered the default. Most of us are clear on the fact that white people are people (particularly white men) In our current world, for POC? Yeah, unfortunately, not always so much.

We “people of white” need to lay off the bullshit that we’re in a post-racial world and that whites are just as put-upon as people of color. Deep down, you know it’s crap and that it’s done to once again dismiss the experiences of minorities.

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
34. But the point is to undermine the defaultness of white
Sun May 6, 2018, 06:55 PM
May 2018

After all, is that not the common denominator? Should we not recognize our differences as being subservient to our commonalities? That seems like a more positive and progressive path for subverting patterns of racism in our national culture.

Besides which, "people" means "people." I'm talking about the culturo-poltical wounds aggrivated by the alienating phrase "white people." When did you ever hear that phrase used to promote healing and Interculturalism?

It's the otherization involved in the phrase "white people" that's reinforcing the artificial political divisiveness that supports right-wing identity politics. I'd rather be the change.

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
42. !!!
Sun May 6, 2018, 07:32 PM
May 2018

Excellent!

I got surveyed by the u.s. census recently. Under race I checked off white, because there's legit reasons to track that kind of information. But under ethnicity I responded United States. Specifying any kind of European identity doesn't make much sense for someone whose families have resided on this continent for at least seven generations.

I don't begrudge anyone their sense of European-derived identity, or any other transoceanic identity, but for me I feel about as English as the 4th of July and about as Dutch as chocolate ice cream. I feel as attached to my European ancestors as I do to my earlier Indo-European ancestors from the Russian steppes or earliest Homo sapiens sapiens ancestors from the Rift Valley. I'm sure they were all nice people, but I derive no identity from them.

grantcart

(53,061 posts)
47. I have a feeling ME or GrandME as I call her wouldn't be too happy about all this tribalism
Sun May 6, 2018, 07:42 PM
May 2018

Still going on.

It appears we need an invasion of aliens to get a perspective.

TheBlackAdder

(28,183 posts)
52. John Oliver did a bit people keep making terms longer. From 3 syllables to your 4. I choose whitie!
Sun May 6, 2018, 08:47 PM
May 2018

.

There. I made it one word and one syllable shorter.

Or, to really condense things, call white people, Whites! Now we're at a single syllable.

.

TheBlackAdder

(28,183 posts)
58. Why should it be my task? I'm not the one pushing literacy correctness, since language is dynamic.
Sun May 6, 2018, 10:20 PM
May 2018

.

Those who profess grammar to that degree fail to grasp what every linquistics professor teaches.

Language is fluid and changes over time. Regardless of how things are written, as long as the message is conveyed, language served it purpose. They give examples of transposing words, inseting typographical ettors, switching certain words to near words, etc. And pretty much everyone can read it and extract the message intent on being delivered. Language has done its purpose.

.

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
64. Among other problems, it's not strictly accurate
Mon May 7, 2018, 01:58 AM
May 2018

I suppose you could be a wag and argue that white is the absence of color. But that's only true if you're talking about the science of light refraction, not if you're talking about people. In common language white is a color. And the legal phrase "race, creed, or color" applies equally to people of white and people of color.

If someone holds up a typical sheet of copier paper and asks "What color is this?" you would say "it is white" no? But then, if someone held up a typical Caucasian and said "What color is this?" then you'd probably say tan or pink, depending on the season and assuming it isn't George Hamilton. So in reality, there is no such thing as a person of non color.

My point is, you shouldn't hold people up.

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
93. LOL
Sun May 13, 2018, 10:24 AM
May 2018

If you make the argument about color instead of about socioeconomic violence against vulnerable segments of our society, you can almost miss the point.

That's part of what's so brilliant about the Russians targeting both left and right Americans with their race-trolling. We get so wound up talking about race, we forget that this is supposed to be the land of opportunity for all. We forget that when we help other people overcome historic discrimination, we're really helping ourselves as well

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
75. Ha!!
Tue May 8, 2018, 09:55 AM
May 2018

My nickname actually precedes Get Fuzzy by a generation or so. But I've had friends notice some similar personality traits

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
77. No thank you! That would be entirely inaccurate
Tue May 8, 2018, 09:59 AM
May 2018

No, I am not European. I don't think, act, or dress like a European. I'm sure those people are very nice people. But I feel zero connection to their culture (other than the usual "brotherhood of man" sentiments I feel to all humans, of course)

DFW

(54,341 posts)
87. You don't need to think, act or dress like a European
Tue May 8, 2018, 12:20 PM
May 2018

That's where the "A" part comes in. Your ancestry has only to do with your physical ancestry, not your current cultural makeup. For that matter, my younger nephew, when at work, is just as likely to dress in a Dashiki as anything else, But he looks Japanese because his mom is Japanese, and he received a larger proportion of her genes than his older brother did. But since he works a lot in Abuja and Kano these days, he sometimes dresses like the people he works with. Since he speaks little Hausa, he communicates in English or Arabic. It still doesn't change his ancestry--he is and remains Asian-American. The fact that he talks like a guy from northern Virginia (when he speaks in English, that is) doesn't change that.

Cary

(11,746 posts)
76. It's flesh
Tue May 8, 2018, 09:59 AM
May 2018

I always coveted that flesh colored crayon that only came in the best crayon pack.

I am a flesh supremacist.

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
78. but... but...
Tue May 8, 2018, 10:05 AM
May 2018

but everyone is "fleshtoned" (see below), how can I discriminate between people when we just treat everyone like a human being?

hate don't got a color ==>

Orange Free State

(611 posts)
86. I insist on being called "Melanin Deficient American" or MDA
Tue May 8, 2018, 10:58 AM
May 2018

You may have heard of us, Jerry Lewis raised money for us for years. It has been a terrible handicap my whole life. I wear SPF 150 sunscreen all winter. On the Osmond Whiteness Scale, my score is 1.83 Maries. I once met Johnny Winter and he said “You play guitar pretty good, for a white boy.” I am somewhere between a fish belly and a bedsheet. When I was a child I was sent to the Institute for the Very Very White for scientific study. My spirit animal is the Samoyed.

Okay, so let’s let “Wypipo” go, it’s a dead subject. Sounds like a small town in Wyoming anyway. On second thought, we could use it as a euphemism for a rural white town in a red state. Wypipo, Wyoming. Pop 375, of whom 400 voted for the Dotard. It kind of turns it back on them.

csziggy

(34,136 posts)
96. LOL - I love it! "somewhere between a fish belly and a bedsheet"
Sun May 13, 2018, 10:38 AM
May 2018

In a science fiction book I am reading - one of the Elizabeth Moon books of the Vatta's War series - there is a system that is described as "melanin deficient" whose inhabitants are very prejudiced against people with increased levels of melanin. The nickname given to them is "Fishbellies." At one point before they prove themselves to be thieves, slavers, and murderers, the captain objects to calling them Fishbellies because of their coloring. One of the crew members claims it is not their color that gained them that nickname but their attitudes towards outsiders.

That series of books was published between 2003 and 2008 so Elizabeth Moon was anticipating what we face today.

IronLionZion

(45,427 posts)
94. That's what white supremacists have been using lately
Sun May 13, 2018, 10:27 AM
May 2018

since Latinos and Middle Eastern people and mixed people can look white.

treestar

(82,383 posts)
107. middle eastern people are white
Sun May 13, 2018, 09:25 PM
May 2018

Caucasian, that is. Indians are too, though there is some sense they are preferring to be considered Asian.

IronLionZion

(45,427 posts)
109. I do have some white ancestry but am definitely a nice chocolate brown
Mon May 14, 2018, 07:36 AM
May 2018

Obama was also half white. White supremacists deliberately like to divide people.

White supremacists only allowed Southern Europeans and Catholics into their ranks recently. They used to limit it to Anglo-Saxons and Protestants.

treestar

(82,383 posts)
110. True the xenophobia of the late 19th century
Mon May 14, 2018, 10:49 AM
May 2018

was directed at southeastern European immigrants and Irish. Which makes me believe that even if they had the country all white again, another division of upper and lower would be created in their minds.

IronLionZion

(45,427 posts)
111. Anglos and Saxons used to be divided. Norwegians and Swedish would self segregate
Mon May 14, 2018, 10:55 AM
May 2018

and it wasn't that long ago.

Some folks want to take us back to that time. After they finish off black and brown people, the southern Europeans and Irish will get it in round 2.

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
95. Well, "European American" isn't accurate about me.
Sun May 13, 2018, 10:29 AM
May 2018

All the ancestors of mine that I know of come from North America.

infidel621

(36 posts)
97. Why not...
Sun May 13, 2018, 06:22 PM
May 2018

African-American, Asian-American, why not tack European-American into the ridiculous hyphenated grouping.

lastlib

(23,213 posts)
90. Is an orange person a person of color, or a person of white??
Wed May 9, 2018, 09:35 AM
May 2018


Or, thinking of tRump and Boehner, are they actually persons?? IDK......

Response to Bucky (Original post)

Bucky

(53,997 posts)
113. White's a color.
Mon May 14, 2018, 01:26 PM
May 2018

I mean, it's not meant to mean literally white. It's a social convention meaning people in the pink-to-tan range

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Quit saying "white people...