Truly color blind, or just politically correct?

[chobie]

ITA. There is nothing wrong with people challenging themselves to describe someone without regards to race. But I also think it would be silly to call people that do describe someone as being "white," "black," or whatever as racist. As others have stated here, it depends on the context and the intent of the words.

Your right, it is just as silly to call people racist just because they use those words as it is to call people silly just because they prefer to use other words.

 

[babar]

Are they truly using other words because they are color-blind, or just afraid to say the words black, white, asian, hispanic, etc., because we've gone sooo overboard with political correctness that they might be considered "racist" if they call someone black, etc...which is ridiculous!

(now that was a looong sentence!)

 

[Hippychickali]

Are they truly using other words because they are color-blind, or just afraid to say the words black, white, asian, hispanic, etc., because we've gone sooo overboard with political correctness that they might be considered "racist" if they call someone black, etc...which is ridiculous!

Does it really make a difference what their "motives" are? Who cares?

Ali

 

[babar]

Does it really make a difference what their "motives" are? Who cares?

Ali

I'm sorry. I thought this was a discussion. Just adding another perspective to talk about, that's all.

 

[chobie]

Are they truly using other words because they are color-blind, or just afraid to say the words black, white, asian, hispanic, etc., because we've gone sooo overboard with political correctness that they might be considered "racist" if they call someone black, etc...which is ridiculous!

(now that was a looong sentence!)

Does it affect your life either way or arethere sooo many more important things to worry about in the grand scheme of things?
__________________

 

[babar]

Does it affect your life either way or arethere sooo many more important things to worry about in the grand scheme of things?
__________________

Nope, not at all!! Obviously, certain things affect you though!

 

[Hippychickali]

I'm sorry. I thought this was a discussion. Just adding another perspective to talk about, that's all.

Babar, I owe you an apology. That didn't come out how I wanted it to. I wasn't directing it toward you but I was trying to reiterate what I said earlier. I didn't mean who cares about the point you made, I meant who cares what a person's motives are for not using colour words ("black", "white", "yellow", "red") to describe people.

Ali

 

[chobie]

Nope, not at all!! Obviously, certain things affect you though!

I know you are, but what am I?

 

[babar]

Babar, I owe you an apology. That didn't come out how I wanted it to. I wasn't directing it toward you but I was trying to reiterate what I said earlier. I didn't mean who cares about the point you made, I meant who cares what a person's motives are for not using colour words ("black", "white", "yellow", "red") to describe people.

Ali

No, no! I got a little defensive!!

And by the way, I agree with you! I was just trying to bring up another point, that's all!

 

[babar]

I know you are, but what am I?

Okay, I can't tell if you are making fun of me for real or not, but

.....up your nose with a rubber hose.

 

[Hippychickali]

 

[chobie]

Okay, I can't tell if you are making fun of me for real or not, but

.....up your nose with a rubber hose.

I'm having fun. I really like the threads you have been starting, keep it up.

 

[Carl]

The place where this really gets silly and PC is when a TV reporter says that a man in a blue jacket just shot and killed a convenience store clerk. Please be on the lookout for him. The man is either black, brown, or white. Don't you think that that should be in the description?

 

[Sandy22]

The place where this really gets silly and PC is when a TV reporter says that a man in a blue jacket just shot and killed a convenience store clerk. Please be on the lookout for him. The man is either black, brown, or white. Don't you think that that should be in the description?

Wasn't there a thread here a couple of months ago about an AMBER alert that went out where they didn't describe the missing girl's race? The public was left to assume she was black based on her name...

 

[katerkat]

I agree. I voted that these people are really colour-blind because there was no other good option. I think that many of these people say, "The woman in the blue shirt" because it's the first thing that comes to their mind, not because they are trying to avoid the race issue.

The only problem I have with "the woman in the blue shirt" is, on any given day, I don't know what my co-workers are wearing. I know about the people in my department, but if someone was describing someone from another department by their shirt color, it doesn't really help me - whether they're doing that because they're avoiding the race issue or simply color blind. Physical characteristics are much better as identifiers.

 

[MHopkins2]

Does it really make a difference what their "motives" are? Who cares?

Ali

Don't get me wrong - this isn't an issue that keeps me up at night or anything. I just see it as a drastic overreaction or overcompensation, in order to avoid the appearance of racism.

I've been trying to work out an analogy, and this is the best I've got... Generally speaking, most people wouldn't hesitate to use "the tall thin girl" as a description, whereas most people would shy away from using "the short chubby girl." Why? Because that second one is generally considered negative, and therefore rude and potentially offensive.

How did we get to a point where avoiding mention of the color of someone's skin - in the absence of any derogatory implications of same - falls into the same politeness category as avoiding mention of their chubbiness? (Or acne, or frizzy-hairedness, or anything else unkind you can think of that most polite people would not use as a quick physical identifier...)

 

[roger_ramjet]

One thing I don't understand, and never will, no matter how often someone could explain it to me, is how physical racial characteristics such as skin colour are offensive and seen as racist - if someone has black skin, then they're black, right? Why use long-*** euphemisms to describe something that's so simple? That, I will never understand. It's an objective description, not a slur. And it makes the language that little bit more unwieldy and reliant on pointless euphemisms, which is one of my major annoyances. A spade is not a wrought-iron gardening implement

 

[tiggersmom2]

One thing I don't understand, and never will, no matter how often someone could explain it to me, is how physical racial characteristics such as skin colour are offensive and seen as racist - if someone has black skin, then they're black, right? Why use long-*** euphemisms to describe something that's so simple? That, I will never understand. It's an objective description, not a slur. And it makes the language that little bit more unwieldy and reliant on pointless euphemisms, which is one of my major annoyances. A spade is not a wrought-iron gardening implement

I totally understand what you are saying. This reminds me of an experience I had the other day at Fuddruckers. My husband and I were having a conversation....he was talking about a lady at his job and described her as "the black lady in HR". We were sitting in a booth and a black family was sitting beside us....my husband has a very loud, deep voice and it carries....they heard the conversation and asked to be moved. WTH???? You would have thought my hubby said he burned a cross in the ghetto. It was very irritating.

 

[DizzieDizney]

I totally understand what you are saying. This reminds me of an experience I had the other day at Fuddruckers. My husband and I were having a conversation....he was talking about a lady at his job and described her as "the black lady in HR". We were sitting in a booth and a black family was sitting beside us....my husband has a very loud, deep voice and it carries....they heard the conversation and asked to be moved. WTH???? You would have thought my hubby said he burned a cross in the ghetto. It was very irritating.

Well maybe they are just sensitive? For example if a very obese person had a problem with their weight and was often discriminated by it, I think if they heard someone talking about a fat person they may get offended or even hurt. Even though the comment may not of been negative or meant to harm anyone, maybe it just brought back bad memories?

 

[tiggersmom2]

Well maybe they are just sensitive? For example if a very obese person had a problem with their weight and was often discriminated by it, I think if they heard someone talking about a fat person they may get offended or even hurt. Even though the comment may not of been negative or meant to harm anyone, maybe it just brought back bad memories?

Well, that is my point...they ARE black...why not be PROUD of it? If it makes them upset just to hear "the black lady in HR", then they have a problem.