People of color.html



The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. (September 2008) Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.

Person of color (plural: people of color) is a term used, primarily in the United States, to describe all people who are not white. The term is meant to be inclusive, emphasizing common experiences of racism.^{citation needed} People of color is preferred to both non-white and minority, which are also inclusive, because it frames the subject positively; non-white defines people in terms of what they are not (white), and minority, by its very definition, places the subject in a subordinate position. Thus, the term has a positive connotation and is generally preferred by people of color in the US to refer to themselves.^{citation needed}

History

Although the term citizens of color was used by Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1963, and other uses date to as early as 1818, people of color did not gain prominence for many years.^{1 2} During the 1980s, the term people of color came to be accepted by many African Americans¹ and to be used by civil rights activists, such as those involved with environmental justice. Both anti-racist activists and academics sought to move understandings of race beyond a black-white binary then prevalent.³

Political significance

According to Stephen Saris, in the United States there are two big racial divides. "First, there is the black-white kind, which is basically anti-black.". The second racial divide is the one is "between whites and everyone else" with whites being "narrowly construed" and everyone else being called "people of color".⁴ Because the term people of color includes vastly different people with only the common distinction of not being white, it draws attention to the fundamental role of racialization in the US. It acts as "a recognition that certain people are racialized" and serves to emphasize "the importance of coalition," by "making connections between the ways different 'people of color' are racialized."⁵The term suggests that people who "have no color [whites] have no race".⁴

Linguistically, the term person of color "stands nonwhite on its head, substituting a positive for a negative." ⁶ Whereas nonwhite defines people by what they lack (whiteness), people of color positively defines people by their connected experiences.

[P]eople of color is a phrase often used by nonwhites to put nonwhite positively. (Why should anybody want to define himself by what he is not?) Politically, it expresses solidarity with other nonwhites, and subtly reminds whites that they are a minority. When used by whites, people of color usually carries a friendly and respectful connotation, but should not be used as a synonym for black; it refers to all racial groups that are not white. ¹

Furthermore, the term people of color has been embraced and used to replace the term minority because the term minority implies inferiority and disenfranchisement" and because in many places people of color are not a numerical minority.⁷

List of People of Color

• Black People (i.e. African American and Black Hispanic)
• Native Americans and Alaska Natives
• Asians (i.e Chinese, Japanese, and Indians)
• Multiracial (i.e Mestizo, Mulatto, Metis, and Eurasian)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} William Safire (November 20, 1988). "On language: People of color". The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
2. ^ "The Black Press at 150", editorial, The Washington Post, March 18, 1977
3. ^ Elizabeth Martinez (May 1994). "Seeing More Than Black & White". Z Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-06-27.
4. ^ ^{a b} Zack, Naomi. American Mixed Race: The Culture of Microdiversity 1995
5. ^ Sara Koopman (December 12, 2007). "people of color". Blogger. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
6. ^ "§ 56. person of color". The American Heritage® Book of English Usage (1996). Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
7. ^ "Real Definitions". Colours of Resistance. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.