Talk of The Villages Florida - What happened to the PC term, "African Americans"????

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- - What happened to the PC term, "African Americans"???? (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/current-events-news-541/what-happened-pc-term-african-americans-308378/)

Quote:

Originally Posted by donassaid (Post 1794817)

I choose to use the term black for two reasons. I don't believe in "hyphenated Americans". If you want to be called African, go back to Africa. Secondly, because few if any blacks today are of African descent. We are all AMERICANS. not Arab-Americans, not Italian-Americans, not Spanish -Amerucans, just Amerucans

“Descent” means “ancestors from,” not “born in”! Most people have descent from many countries. I’m of Danish descent because my great-great grandfather moved here from there in 1867. But I’m not Danish. I’m of Norwegian descent because my great-grandmother was born there about 1874. But I’m not Norwegian. I’m of African descent because two of my great-grandparents had mothers who had a European father and an African mother. But I’m not African. I’m an American. 90% European-American. Does that help?

Since "redneck" is not listed, does that mean that it is not an OFFENSIVE term? And I have never found "Yank" or "Yankee" to be offensive. Is it meant to be a slur? Funny, when I was living overseas I had friends that called me "Yank." They seemed sincere in their friendship. They also used the term "boyo"

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeanFL (Post 1794822)

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copied DIRECTLY from the "Macmillan Dictionary"
offensive words for people according to nationality or ethnicity - synonyms and related words | Macmillan Dictionary

Offensive words for people according to nationality or ethnicity
RELATED WORDS (BTW MY favorite is the descrition of "Uncle Tom" below...)

black NOUN
OFFENSIVE a black person. This word is sometimes considered offensive, so you should be very careful about using it.

Canuck NOUN
AMERICANINFORMAL someone who is Canadian, especially French Canadian. This word is sometimes used as an insult.

colored NOUN
OFFENSIVE an offensive word for a black person

coloured
the British spelling of colored

Coloured NOUN
SOUTH AFRICANOFFENSIVE someone who has one parent or grandparent who is white and one who is not

coolie NOUN
OFFENSIVE an insulting word used in the past for a worker with no special skills in China, India, and other parts of Asia

coon NOUN
OFFENSIVE an offensive word for a black person

cracker NOUN
AMERICAN an insulting word for a poor white person who lives in the southeastern U.S.

dago NOUN
OFFENSIVE an extremely offensive word for a person from Italy, Spain, Portugal, or South America

Eskimo NOUN
OLD-FASHIONED a member of the Inuit people. This word is now sometimes considered offensive.

frog NOUN
OFFENSIVE an insulting word for a French person

gipsy
a British spelling of gypsy

gook NOUN
AMERICANOFFENSIVE a very offensive word for someone from Asia

goy NOUN
OFFENSIVE someone who is not Jewish

gringo NOUN
an insulting word used by some people from South America for someone from another country who speaks English, especially someone from the U.S.

gypsy NOUN
OFFENSIVE a Romany

half-breed NOUN
OFFENSIVE an offensive word for a person who has parents of two different races, especially someone with one white parent and one Native American parent. A more polite expression is person of mixed race.

half-caste NOUN
OFFENSIVE an offensive word for someone who has parents of two different races. A more polite expression is person of mixed race.

haole NOUN
in Hawaiian English, a white person

honky NOUN
OFFENSIVE an insulting word for a white person

Indian NOUN
OLD-FASHIONED a Native American

Injun NOUN
OFFENSIVE an extremely offensive word for a Native American. You may see or hear this word, but do not use it.

Jerry NOUN
MAINLY BRITISHOFFENSIVEINFORMAL an insulting word for a German

jock NOUN
BRITISHOFFENSIVE an insulting word for someone from Scotland

kaffir NOUN
SOUTH AFRICANOFFENSIVE a black person

kafir NOUN
OFFENSIVE a word meaning “non-believer,” used by some Muslims to describe someone who is not a Muslim

Kraut NOUN
OFFENSIVE an insulting word for a German

makwerekwere NOUN
SOUTH AFRICANOFFENSIVE a term used in South Africa for foreigners from the rest of Africa

mammy NOUN
AMERICANOFFENSIVE an offensive word sometimes used in the past for a black woman who took care of other people’s children, mainly in the southern U.S.

mick NOUN
BRITISHOFFENSIVE an insulting word for an Irish person

mulatto NOUN
OFFENSIVE an offensive word for someone who has one black parent and one white parent

native NOUN
OFFENSIVE an offensive word for someone belonging to a group who lived in a place before Europeans arrived there

negress NOUN
OFFENSIVE an offensive word for a black woman

negro NOUN
OFFENSIVE a black person. This word is now considered offensive but until the second half of the 20th century it was an accepted word, used by black people as well as white.

****** NOUN
OFFENSIVE an extremely offensive word for a black person

nonwhite ADJECTIVE
belonging to a race of people that does not have pale skin. This word is considered offensive when it is used to separate white from nonwhite people for political or economic reasons.

oriental NOUN
OLD-FASHIONED someone from eastern Asia, especially China or Japan. This word is now considered offensive.

Paddy NOUN
OFFENSIVE an insulting word for an Irish person

pakeha NOUN
NEW ZEALAND a white person in New Zealand, especially someone whose family originally came from Europe

paleface NOUN
OFFENSIVE a white person. This word is sometimes used as an insult by Native Americans.

pickaninny NOUN
OFFENSIVE a black child. This word is sometimes used by older white people but most people consider it offensive.

Polack NOUN
AMERICAN an insulting word for someone from Poland. The usual word is Pole.

pommy NOUN
AUSTRALIANINFORMAL a slightly insulting word for someone from the U.K., especially someone from England

primitive NOUN
OLD-FASHIONED someone from a primitive society. This word is now considered offensive.

Pygmy NOUN
a member of a people who are of less than average height. Most Pygmies live in Central Africa or Southeast Asia. This word is now sometimes considered offensive.

Red Indian NOUN
OLD-FASHIONED a Native American. This word is now considered to be offensive.

redskin NOUN
OFFENSIVE a word used in the past to refer to a Native American, now regarded as very offensive

savage ADJECTIVE
OLD-FASHIONED an insulting way of describing someone or something from a culture that is not considered to be advanced. This is now considered offensive.

savage NOUN
OLD-FASHIONED an insulting word for someone from a culture that is not considered to be advanced. This is now considered offensive.

spade NOUN
OFFENSIVE a very offensive word for a black person

squaw NOUN
OFFENSIVE an old word for a Native American woman. This is now considered offensive.

Taffy NOUN
OFFENSIVE an insulting word for someone from Wales

Uncle Tom NOUN
an insulting word for a black person who the speaker thinks shows too much respect for white people. This word is used especially by other black people.

WASP NOUN
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant: a word for people who are white and have money, power, and opportunities that other people do not have

wetback NOUN
AMERICANOFFENSIVE an offensive word for someone from Mexico who goes to live in the U.S.

whitey NOUN
AMERICANOFFENSIVE an offensive word for a white person

wog NOUN
OFFENSIVEBRITISH an extremely offensive word for a black person

wog NOUN
OFFENSIVEAUSTRALIAN an extremely offensive word for a person from a Mediterranean country

wop NOUN
OFFENSIVE an extremely offensive word for an Italian person

Yank NOUN
IMPOLITE an insulting word for someone from the U.S.

Yankee NOUN
someone from the U.S.. This word is often used as an insulting word for referring to an American by people who are not from the U.S.

yid NOUN
OFFENSIVE an extremely offensive word for a Jewish person

I think any term can be offensive. It depends on how you use it, tone, body language etc. even the cat understands me when I want to be offensive.
Of course in writing it is different, it would depend on the context and who uses it.

When one tries to offend someone or vice versa, when one tries to make someone feel guilty, my experience has usually been that Newton’s law applies to people as well as things:

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The statement means that in every interaction, there is a pair of forces acting on the two interacting objects. The size of the forces on the first object equals the size of the force on the second object.

just maybe we should all refer to ourselves as Americans or US citizens and not this stuff about where your ancestors came from
....

Oh my gosh, that just might begin to bring us back together as one nation.....just saying

Civilized thread

I am pleasantly surprised to see a civil discussion about what could be considered an inflammatory topic.

Thank you to all...

My only comment is not all back people are African. Just think, we the white folk have never been subjected to the same treatment as people of color. I grew up in Florida where blacks went to the movies using the fire escape to get to the third level not accessible by any other level. My drug store soda fountain would not allow blacks past the cash register. "White only"water fountains and bathrooms. Year 1960. You fill in the blanks.

Thank you for your sensitivity and willingness in asking the question. First of all, the term is Black, not black. Secondly, why should it bother you? You don't own them. How's your inference skill?

Please refer to me as WoodshopMark. The species of tree does not matter.

I guess saying colored people is OK in this crazy PC world we live in since the NAACP hasn't been forced to change it's name yet.

I have a black friend that proudly wears his NAACP tee shirt, and he is as liberal as they come.

Isn't it strange that we haven't heard a peep from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People condemning these riots and all the skyrocketing murders in the big cities. I guess they're afraid to infringe on the spotlight of the BLM radicals?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Byte1 (Post 1794445)

I remember when I was a kid, my folks used the term "colored people." Now, I hear the term "people of color." This is SOOOO confusing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cranford61 (Post 1794187)

sorta started in 2003? when former NJ Democratic governor, James McGreevy announced on television, with his wife aside him, “the truth is that I am a gay American”. Wife was shocked, shamed but then hired a divorce attorney to sue his butt. McGreevey then resigned and got a job advocating gay rights.
Maybe Villagers should declare themselves “hirsute- Americans”, “snow-capped Americans”, “dysmorphic-Americans” or “thirsty-Americans”. Thoughts?

I'm going with "Hard working successful American"

Not all people of color want to be identified with being African American (people from Caribbean nations, for example). Therefore the term Black is making a comeback. The NY Times and Associated Press recently updated their stylebooks to capitalize Black when used as a description of people of color, and most other media groups are following suit (ESPN, my local paper, etc.). African American is also still acceptable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kahuna32162 (Post 1793817)

Why do we need terms to distinguish any group of people by ethnicity?

maybe because people are proud of their ethnicity? What a boring world it would be if we were all "the same." We aren't... I'm proud of my ethic background, warts and all. I'm of German , Irish and English roots and consider them part of my American identity.

Brown, black, white is just a skin color. You are either an American, or you are not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bay Kid (Post 1811906)

Brown, black, white is just a skin color. You are either an American, or you are not.

Skin color is an identifying factor if one had to give a description of a perpetrator to law enforcement. It is just not very helpful to say, "He/she looked like an American". It is much more helpful to describe the person, including skin color.

Quote:

Originally Posted by coffeebean (Post 1811978)

Or even if you're a waitress at a restaurant and the hostess comes to where you're standing and tells you "a guy at that table for 6 wants a fresh cup of coffee" and you ask "which guy?"

If he's the only black guy at the table, that'll be the quickest, easiest possible way to identify him.

Just like if there's a full table and only one diner is sitting in a wheelchair, you can say "the one in the wheelchair."

You're not giving them a label. You're just describing them to someone who needs to know which person you're talking about.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby (Post 1812148)

Exactly my point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby (Post 1812148)

Good point. Mine was a generalization. Could be that old white at the end of the table!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bay Kid (Post 1811906)

Brown, black, white is just a skin color. You are either an American, or you are not.

You are assuming that "Black" is strictly a denotative term. It is, however, more often a connotative one. It is not just a skin color, it is a culture.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rapscallion St Croix (Post 1812387)

You are assuming that "Black" is strictly a denotative term. It is, however, more often a connotative one. It is not just a skin color, it is a culture.

This thread reminds me of past years when "Italian Americans" were the bad guys, killing robbing and whatever could be blamed on them. They have moved on to bigger and better things. Business owners etc.

Then we had the "Polish Americans" who were all considered "not bright" but who today have moved well up the ladder in the business, scientific and medical fields.

Just two of many (One From Many is our motto, right).

All had names attached which many of us recall..

One advantage.....they had white skin. THAT is a big advantage.

I also recall a book I read while in the Navy which impressed me and really made me think and re evaluate my way of thinking. "BLACK LIKE ME"

Black Like Me - Wikipedia

The Italians, the Polish, all hated for a time among many other ethnic groups.

Sure glad social media didnt exist or the hatred would have grown

Quote:

Originally Posted by coffeebean (Post 1793740)

Every single post on this forum I read about our current events and the protestors speak of "blacks" and not once have I read the term "African Americans". Seems to me that PC term has gone by the wayside. Is this because the BLM movement has sort of wiped out the PC terminology?

Also....must say I have not seen that PC term "African American" in news print, on line or stated in news broadcasts. They are referred to as "black"!

I’ve never seen a person who is actually black or white. We all seem to range somewhere between pinkish-tan to dark brown. I think that insisting on being white or black is at the heart of what separates us. It means “I am MORE SO than is even possible!” “I’m not just pink-tan, but white as a snow.” “I’m not just light brown, but black as soot, so you can’t possibly understand me.” There’s a lot less difference between tan and light brown than between black and white. I’d like to stop noticing color first when I see people. That’s not good.

I’m okay with African-American. However, it doesn’t include any people From Africa or people of African descent not born in the U.S. and descendants of American slaves. It’s a way of not giving benefits to, say, Jamaicans or Haitians. It excludes them. However, I usually refer to myself as European-American, not “white”. Certainly not as “Caucasian,” whatever that means. Want to discombobulate African-Americans? Insist that they NOT call you white, but European-American. Insist that you are also a Person of Color, because pinkish-tan is a color. (Person of Color is an attempt to join together people who otherwise have little in common in enmity against those who are “colorless”.)

You’ve probably noticed that whatever we call people, there are usually ways of saying it that give people dignity and ways of saying it so it sounds like a curse word. I think making people feel good about themselves is a good idea, whatever I call them. (Unless they are destroying property or hurting people, in which case I have no interest in making them feel good about themselves.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bucco (Post 1812414)

Love love love that book. I read it in the 1980's and still have my copy. I posted about it - not sure if it was here or on Facebook, or maybe on another forum I participate in, recommending it to someone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby (Post 1812470)

"Love love love that book."

Same here. I even made my children read it and then we discussed it when each of them were done reading it. It's one of many books, that I believe should be mandatory reading and discussed in grade school, so that a larger part of our current population, who prefer to keep their head in the sand, will be vastly outnumbered in the very near future.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tvbound (Post 1812510)

As I said, that book was instrumental in my change of viewpoint, and at the right age where I was able to meet, understand and experience. Was the first "non sleazy detectiv" book I think I read and it stuck with me.

As I said to another poster....listening is a skill set, and that book made me temper my big mouth and start to listen, and look into things before deciding.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Velvet (Post 1793821)

I was always a little surprised by the term African American because there was no use of European American. But, I think people should be allowed to chose whatever term they like to refer to themselves. My problem is with propaganda, if BLM is using Marxism or Communism as a model, then I have a real problem with that.

I have repeatedly read criticism of the BLM as being a "Marxist" based group. I googled the issue and learned that while two of the founders are self professed Marxist, the movement's belief as outlined on its website aren't necessarily Marxist. Their goals are not anti-capitalist while Marxism certainly is. TMI?

Just a moment...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill1701 (Post 1794303)

A better question is why we used terms like -American to begin with. To my knowledge, no other country uses terms like that, other than French Canadian.

Long history there as well. Humans have had trouble accepting let alone embracing those that are perceived as different from them since the beginning of time. Tribalism perhaps?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bucco (Post 1812414)

Excellent point! Too many refuse to reevaluate their beliefs, reassess. Do we actually think we have it completely figured it out? That that additional piece of knowledge might not appropriately alter our way of thinking?