My girlfriend is currently working 12 months as an AmeriCorps Vista in Minneapolis. She is working in some low income areas of the suburbs. Through her position she is receiving some training on various things and recently she had a multicultural training. In this she learned that the new "preferred" term for those in the U.S. who are not white is "people of color", and is no longer "minorities." Reason being that "people of color" puts the emphasis on the person, and is not a one-word term to refer to a group of people. I would first like to know what you think about such "politically correct" ways of speech. Does me saying "people of color" instead of "minorities" cause ME to THINK of the person as more of a person, and not just a group of people who are different than me? Or is the overall goal not to necessarily impact the way I think, but more so out of respect to those who it applies to? Second, do you think we will ever have a final and official politically correct way to refer to groups of people, or will we continue to come up with new ways because we are a prejudice people and can't seem to treat each other with respect?
And on a side note, when searching for "people of color preferred term" I found this handy chart on preferred terms, and not preferred terms for groups of people. I would recommend printing a copy and taking it with you wherever you go...
http://www.gcorr.org/atf/cf/%7B9412EEAA-507B-4DDB-8168-B750F1B8A277%7D/Speaking_of_Diversity.pdf
And on a side note, when searching for "people of color preferred term" I found this handy chart on preferred terms, and not preferred terms for groups of people. I would recommend printing a copy and taking it with you wherever you go...
http://www.gcorr.org/atf/cf/%7B9412EEAA-507B-4DDB-8168-B750F1B8A277%7D/Speaking_of_Diversity.pdf
I think that the main push with a lot of these category labels (for lack of a better term) is placing emphasis on the person before the category. By putting the person or people part of it first, you're saying that they are are a person who just might be different in some way and it deson't pull them out of the overarching category. For example, saying that you have a friend who is Black is more appropriate than saying you have a 'Black friend' because it makes it seem like they are a friend like everyone else but just have different characteristics. Like if you were all to say that you know Dan the guy with the red beard instead of the red-bearded guy or that ginger kid it talks about me as an individual first and emphasizes characteristics second. Granted it is more touchy when it comes to things like race or people with physical/mental disabilities, but the point is that we're all human and each of us is unique.
Using "people of color" as the preferred term actually surprises me because it reminds me of the old saying of "colored people" and reminds me of old school America. I guess if the argument I made above has any truth to it, just putting the people part first makes it less offensive.
I think the list is interesting too. I'm familiar with most of the preferred terms on the list but I think it gets difficult when you try to start separating by ethnicity. If you are more familiar with a group of people so you are able to distinguish things like Cambodian, Vietnamese, Laotian, and Japanese than you should, but I think it's also important to have an accepted general category that isn't deemed offesnive for those who may not be as familiar. I think the big point is just to show respect. It may even be appropriate once you get to know someone from a group a little better to ask them what they would prefer to be called -- then again they may just say they'd like to be called "Jim."
I don't think we'll ever find ways to refer to people that is accepted by the entire group and in 10 to 20 years the "people of color" saying might be seen as politically incorrect. Words will continue to evolve as the culture does and we just have to keep up with the lingo if we want to stay with the spirit of the times.