“People of colour”, or “POC” for short, means anyone who is not white. It is used mostly by people of colour in North America. It means pretty much the same thing as what White Americans mean by the words “minorities” and “non-whites”, what Canadians mean by “visible minorities” (those of race as opposed to language or religion) and what the British used to mean by “coloureds”.
It seems to come from the French expression “free people of colour”. In slave times it was mainly used to mean people in white society who were neither white nor slave. After the slaves were freed it it fell out of common use till the late 1980s, when it made a comeback, probably modelled on “women of colour” from feminist circles.
“People of colour” is an ungainly term: it is three words long and cannot be made into an adjective. But despite that it sounds better than “minority” or “non-white” – probably because those words are featured in so many racist statements made by white people. Particularly “minorities”, which makes me cringe. “People of colour” on the other hand, seems to be mainly used by people of colour, so it does not have this unpleasant little cloud above it.
But because it is so ungainly, sometimes I just use the word “black” instead, even when what I am saying applies to anyone who experiences white racism, not just blacks.
Some say “people of colour” is a bad term:
- It takes in so many different kinds of people that it is next to meaningless. What in the world do the Japanese, say, have in common with Haitians?
- Some argue that the main racial divide in America is not between whites and everyone else but between blacks and everyone else. They say that whites, Asian Americans and Latinos marry each other way more than any of them marry blacks. Or that there are more hate crimes between blacks and Asians than between Asians and whites.
- Some use the term NAMs, short for non-Asian minorities. Asians do so well in America that it seems senseless to see them as somehow the same as blacks, Latinos and Native Americans.
How I look at it:
What people of colour have in common, at least in America, is the experience of white racism. Not all of them in the same way or to the same degree, but there is enough in common to make “people of colour” useful.
From everything I can tell, Asian Americans do experience racism. According to Beverly Tatum they go through pretty much the same stages of growing up in America that other people of colour do:
- Race does not matter
- Repeated experience of racism
- Making sense of your race or ethnicity
- Becoming proud of your race or ethnicity and moving forward with a secure sense of who you are
This is the experience of being racialized, of becoming a person of colour.
See also:
The term “minorities” makes me cringe, too. How’s that possible when the so-called “minorities” makes up the majority in the world?
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Btw, abagond, who’s the pretty young woman in your post?
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a few years ago there was a blow-up between a black woman blogger & several asian american women. the asian women were insulted that the writer continued to refer to WOC in her feminist posts. they felt that they were being misrepresented by the writer using the term WOC to mean all non-whites, since they believed their experiences were not at all the same as the experiences of black women.
since then, i’ve made every effort not to use the terms POC & WOC.
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It’s a weird-sounding term for me, and it’s not really used in my part of the world. Those of us who do use it in Australia are probably the ones that take an interest in US race relations.
I agree that for a great many “POC” don’t perceive any great connection to other groups within this category. Even “Asians” barely feel they are in the same category as other “Asians” – East vs South Asia, for example, or even East vs Southeast in some cases.
It’s a problematic term especially when you consider that there are plenty of people considered Hispanic who are for all intents and purposes white. Likewise for people of Middle Eastern origin, yet both groups tend to be considered “brown”.
This is not to say that white-looking Hispanics or Middle-Easterners do not share many of the experiences of other “POC”, but they are often able to effectively “become white” if they wish.
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POC is a political term. It is used to propagate a no longer relevant white v. non-white dichotomy. It is liked by many miniorities because it gives them the false impression that they are a united block against evil white rule. But that is not the case. It also alllows them the silly notion that somehow the world population has relevance while discussing the racial demographics of America, and, seen in this ‘global’ context, somehow grants a majoritarian status infused with ipso facto moral superiority upon said POC.
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I will refer you all, once again, to the ugly truth before your eyes- the map heading this page.
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I was going to do a post on this term as well. I, for one, love the term POC in part because of the effect it has it one white people.
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I prefer the term POC better than minorities. The word ‘minorities’ make it have a “not quite American” feel to it.
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“What people of colour have in common, at least in America, is the experience of white racism.”
To me, people of color have in common the experience of simply not being the majority race in America. Racism is definitely present in America, but not all POC feel it on an individual level…
On a societal, collective level racism is not the same for different minority groups.
Personally, the term is kind of weird to me. I feel like it puts me underneath an already gigantic umbrella. I don’t feel any kinship with Asians, Non-white Hispanics, etc. just bc we are in minority groups. In fact, I feel culturally closer to whites than I do to those other non-black groups.
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“The word ‘minorities’ make it have a “not quite American” feel to it.”
That is the EXACT feeling that term gives me. I really hate using it. I stray away from it unless I have to bring it up when speaking to white supremo types online about population statistics.
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@The Cynic
I have the opposite reaction to the term “People of Colour.”
I feel it is BOTH a very American and a very global term. In any case, I feel that it is a very accurate description.
It’s strange to me that those who have issues with POC are so concerned about the differences between the groups that would fit under this “umbrella.” Just because there may be differences between the groups, why not also acknowledge the similarities? Why is this dichotomy so necessary?
The Cynic mentions that he feels he has more in common culturally with most white Americans than with some of the groups that would fall under POC. Why is that even relevant? I could say that I have more in common culturally with a lot of middle-class whites than I do with a lot of middle-class blacks, but I identify myself as Black, African-American and a Woman of Colour.
Coalition building will only occur when we can celebrate our differences at the same time as we embrace what we have in common. One doesn’t have to negate individual identity to be an active and embracing citizen of the world.
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@ Leigh:
I got the picture from here:
http://blasian.buzznet.com/user/photos/005/?id=3687266
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@Trublu112
My second comment was a reply to brothawolf about the term minority, not POC.
Coalition building? Lol coalition for what? Are we preparing for war? What significant similarities do POC have that’s worth putting us under a single umbrella? Racism at a societal lvl doesn’t even affect POC the same way and racism at a personal lvl is practiced by ALL racial groups! Believe it or not their are racial/ethnic groups that collectively hate blacks more than whites do. Not to mention their are blacks who are prejudice towards non-blk/white groups.
Grouping all non-whites together is pointless. The social/political issues btwn the groups don’t mesh, the societal racism differs too much, and the personal racism is just that; a personal rather than a social affair!
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“People of colour” is not about culture. No term that takes in over 75% of mankind could be. Like “black” and “white”, it is at root about power and how it has been used and the effects it has had. What people of colour have in common is racism and, at the world level, colonialism – being at the “wrong” end of white rule and white power.
That power expresses itself not just in direct rule or discrimination in housing, say, but also in what gets reported as news, who writes history, what kind of stories Hollywood tells, what is held up as beautiful, etc. Even the very way we look at the world (the white lens) – and therefore at ourselves. All these things will affect you differently depending on whether or not you are white. It has little to do with culture or even class.
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You do realize the opposite of ‘people of colour’ would be ‘people of no colour’. That would make us whites neutral then, the default human. This phrase isn’t so much offensive as silly. Abagond, do you really think white people have no colour? Well, I got news for you….
!
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Abagond, who are those who believe the racial divide is blacks vs. everyone else? I would be interested in any readings you have found on this subject.
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“I will refer you all, once again, to the ugly truth before your eyes- the map heading this page.”
I don’t see any ugly truth heading this page.
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The term “People of Colour” (and Women of Colour, for that matter) certainly has its pitfalls; cosntructing whiteness as the default and white people as raceless. However, I take comfort in the fact that the term was coined by (North American) PoC to give a voice to our shared experiences of living in a white supremacist state. I have come to view the term as a form of resistance.
Of course, as histroy has proven over and over again, what whiteness sees, whiteness must have. So there have been attempts to appropriate the term by white people, resulting in the Othering of PoC.
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Personally I think this is a term used in US, mainly, and there it might be handy for reasons that abagond states. I have never heard it used outside the States by anyone.
On personal level I do not use it nor I use “minorities” or any other term like that. I prefer class terms, upper class, middle class, the working class, poor etc. Not that I am not aware the fact that specially in US the poor constitute mainly PoC because of the racist history and structural racism that lives on in USA.
I try to see people, all people as individuals, whom ever they are. Weather they are “good” or “bad” depends on their individual actions in my eyes.
But in US this term has its merits, particulary as a political choice.
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“Grouping all non-whites together is pointless. The social/political issues btwn the groups don’t mesh, the societal racism differs too much, and the personal racism is just that; a personal rather than a social affair!”
For the most part I agree with this. There are some times that the concept is useful but generally I think it’s something that is only relevant in university or sociology texts.
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@ abagond:
As always, you expressed my sentiments exactly.
Thanks so much! I just thought the young woman had a pretty face and wondered who she was. 🙂
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Seems like a term made up by the KKK to marginalize non-white people, or else invented as a lark by some social “scientists” in a university rathskeller over rounds of cheap whiskey. Either way, it tends to indicate a certain conformist groupthink amongst its users, and sounds a bit overwrought and foolish to the average ear.
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@Abagond
I’m typing this on my cell, so I can’t copy and paste, but everything in your 2nd paragraph after “but also” is not racism. All of that is the result of simply not being the majority race. You just proved my point
You mentioned colonialism uniting POC? Okay, so does that make the Japanese honorary whites?
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What are Latino, Asian, and other groups trying to do? Join the “mainstream” in America. What does that mean? It means persecuting blacks. It’s what the Irish and Italians did too. If you can hate the blacks enough, they might let you in.
As long as the American caste system is based on skin color and race, blacks will be the most marginalized. Come out to Cali and see how the Asians and Latinos treat blacks. In L.A. they’ve just about pushed black people out all together.
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I live in LA, and I have no idea what you’re talking about when you say that, “they’ve just about pushed black people out all together.”
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The black population in LA is shrinking fairly quickly. Latino and black conflicts have risen too.
http://www.streetgangs.com/magazine/070406racial.html
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Well, this is true only to a degree. Many Blacks moved out of Los Angeles proper in the late 1990s, early 2000s in order to take advantage of new homes at low prices in areas like Moreno Valley, Palmdale, Lancaster, Fontana, and Victorville. That was not a “push.” Word simply spread, and many Black people followed their neighbors out of L.A. into what they perceived to be greener pastures. That being said, there are still PLENTY of blacks in LA, Inglewood, Westchester, Compton, Long Beach etc.
As for the Black vs, Mexican gang problems, those have taken some dramatic drops in years past (1992 truce; 2004 truce) but may be now inching back up a bit at present. But of course, gang members are criminals, competing for the same drug sale territories. They are also mostly uneducated, and thoroughly undomesticated, so of course, they are at each other’s throats.
Nevertheless, you can’t judge relations between Black and Hispanic communities in LA based on the most violent and most ignorant people within both populations, especially when they are additionally motivated by money from competing drug sales.
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@The Cynic
“@Trublu112
My second comment was a reply to brothawolf about the term minority, not POC.”
I understood that…I was using your comment as a jumping off point to express my views on the term POC.
@ The Cynic
“Lol coalition for what?”
Coalition for people who want to live–thrive together for a better world.
I’m neither a fool nor naive–I know that there are people who get off on the “Us vs. Them” mentality. Always have been, always will be. And Abagond’s observation is correct: it is about power. When the “Us vs. Them” people include the decision makers among those who hold most of the power (for the purposes of this discussion–white people), the consequences to humanity and the planet can be devastating.
But there are all kinds of power. And coalition building with others that you may not feel a natural affinity for using the term POC as a kind of guide is a very useful kind of power. To me, it is the only real way to ultimately counter-act the impact of racism.
Now, I don’t expect to convince those who view the world through the “Us vs. Them” prism to see things any differently. Someone above mentioned that POC struck them as a kind of groupthink. My observation is that for most people “Us vs. Them” is the accepted and encouraged groupthink.
But for those of us who see that point of view as being at best useless and at worst toxic, viewing oneself and others with the spirit of inclusion is a useful ideal.
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@sam
“Personally I think this is a term used in US, mainly, and there it might be handy for reasons that abagond states. I have never heard it used outside the States by anyone.”
Sam, I’ve heard POC used by Nigerians, a French woman and a couple of Brazilian men.
Granted, these people were all here in the US when I heard them use it. But because of the differences between these people (ages, professions) and circumstances in which I heard them use “POC” (at college, at work, in social settings), I assumed that it was a global term.
I’ve never been to any of those countries myself. So I guess it’s possible that these people picked up the term here. Interesting…
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I think as long as the topic of ‘color’ is brought up there will always be a division of ‘us’ and ‘them’. When we stop making exceptions for those of African descent, or Asian, or Indian (both Native and West),or Arabian or Pacific Islander or Anglo-Saxon, or Latin, Male or Female; we will rid ourselves of the perception of color and gender and the concept that ‘light and male) makes right’.
When the best candidate for the job is chosen on the skill set and experience and nothing else; we will be free from social stereo-types, free from color, free from the foolishness of ‘us and them’.
I am not saying that people should discard their heritage – no, embrace it. But we should free our minds from these petty group identifications.
We are all individuals, with skills and knowledge and intelligence. We should be able to reach for something greater than the pigeon-hole we allow others to place us in. Much like crabs in a barrel, we pull our selves down by continuing to talk about skin color and gender.
Celebration of the richness of life and cultural differences should spur our interest to get to know one another – to learn from each other.
I would hope that the world we raise our children in will embrace some of those rose-colored ideals and move to a better place; where we stop looking at those things and instead encourage education, creativity, personal growth, and a healthy self identity.
As long as the perception of “us and them,” persists we will never be free.
**If missed a group of people – I apologize, it was not intentional. I encourage you to add more. those were the groups that came to mind first – it was not meant as a slight to any group missed.)
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This is just a general question to those USains/North Americans who feel that the term People of Colour is meaningless: is there another term that you would prefer to use when discussing the damaging effects of white supremacy on those who are not white?
I understand that the ideal situation would be to view each individual as zir own person, regardless of race, but the sad truth is that whiteness hasn’t quite got the memo regarding this. An overwhelming number of PoC have to deal with racist shit for simply existing, so I do feel that it is important to have an umbrella term that gives voice to our shared experiences and unites us against whiteness (i.e. systemic, structural racism).
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@trublu112
How is putting POC in one group and whites in another not considered an “us vs. them” mentality?
You also go on to talk about this racism and power used against POC that binds them together. Do mind giving some specific examples of how this racism plays out and the common affects it has on all POC on a societal level?
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Abagond:
“Blackness Is The Ultimate Aim & Objective”
There are only 4 racial groups on the planet…African, European, Asian, and Native-American. White slavery and colonialism created 6 more sub-racial groups…White-Arab, White-East Indian, Southeast-Asian, Pacific-Islander, Spanish-Mestizo, and Spanish-Mulatto. White arabs are mixed with african, white indians are mixed with african, southeast-asians are mixed with african and indo-chinese, pacific-islanders are mixed with african, european, and asian, spanish-mestizos are indian and white, and spanish mulattos are mixed with african and/or european and native-american.
Abagond, whitemen and their lust for blackwomen has created a lot of racial confusion in the world, and it’s f**ked up to be brutally honest with you. Before slavery and colonialism took place, african people inhabited africa, the middle-east, india, and the pacific-rim. It’s very important that black people know their history outside of africa and the americas, very important. African slavery is the greatest crime in human history, because it “kidnapped” blackness from a lot of people on this planet who would be black today, If slavery and colonialism had never happened. Racial theft is real and painful. As black people, we’ll never know how it feels to be so close to blackness, and yet so far away at the same time. Is it possible to be black again, Maybe! Whitemen diluted our gene-pool as african people, but they didn’t destroy it either.
Abagond, can arabs, east-indians, southeast-asians, polynesians, and mulattos be black again, Maybe? The only solution to their dilemma is for blackwomen and blackmen to increase the black population on the planet. More black couples, more black marriages, more black babies, more blackmen, Simple! Having brown and caramel skin is great in and of itself, but blackness should always be the ultimate aim and objective!!!
Tyrone
LaNegra
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@Trublu 112
“I’ve never been to any of those countries myself. So I guess it’s possible that these people picked up the term here. Interesting…”
I am Indian and currently live in South Asia. The term PoC is not widely used here; I picked it up while reading academic/feminist/anti-racist texts. I think the term has its origins in North America. However, as a relatively large number of writers/activists who have covered the topic of race are North American, “PoC” is becoming increasingly used in certain circles outside the region.
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“There are only 4 racial groups on the planet…African, European, Asian, and Native-American. White slavery and colonialism created 6 more sub-racial groups…White-Arab, White-East Indian, Southeast-Asian, Pacific-Islander, Spanish-Mestizo, and Spanish-Mulatto. White arabs are mixed with african, white indians are mixed with african, southeast-asians are mixed with african and indo-chinese, pacific-islanders are mixed with african, european, and asian, spanish-mestizos are indian and white, and spanish mulattos are mixed with african and/or european and native-american.”
If you back far enough, everybody is African/Black
If you come forward far enough, everybody’s mixed
It’s either one large human race begun in Africa, or it’s hundreds of little sub races based on diverse genetics. Either way, the concepts of “Blackness” and “Whiteness” become meaningless.
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@ The Cynic
“@trublu112
How is putting POC in one group and whites in another not considered an “us vs. them” mentality?”
I thought I was already a little to “wordy” in my response, but I had considered adding that I personally consider white people who aren’t racist and bigoted POC. After all, as someone posted above, white people come in all kinds of shades, too. 🙂
And I know that my inclusion of non-racist whites in the term IS NOT the norm. Most people who comment on the subject think there is no such thing as a non-racist white person. But I can honestly say that of all the white people I’ve met and known over my lifetime, there are 3 that I believe were not at all racist. Now one of those people had other issues with prejudice, but race wasn’t one of them.
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Abagond:
As blackmen on this planet, our primary objective and aim is to make the planet black again as it was in the beginning, Period! All of the back and forth between blacks, east-indians, southeast-asians, pacific-islanders, and mulattos is about african identity. Black people are trying to stay black, and they’re trying to be black again as they were in the past, which is the root of the conflict. If they want to be black again, they should be honest about it, and stop bulls**tin.” If blackness is what they want, What are they doing as people of color to help blackwomen and blackmen be fruitful and multiply? Having mulatto children with black people isn’t good enough. If they want to be black again, be real about it!!!
Tyrone
Black Star
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GEEZ!
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@ The Cynic
“You also go on to talk about this racism and power used against POC that binds them together. Do mind giving some specific examples of how this racism plays out and the common affects it has on all POC on a societal level?”
My computer froze on me..so that’s why I’m just getting to this part of your questions…
Anyway, I don’t believe the effects have to be “common” to be detrimental to all of us. What diminishes one deminishes us all.
An example I can think of off-hand is the racist exoticism/sexualization that too many white people lump onto Black and Asian women that my black and Asian female friends and acquaintances complain about all the time. It can be annoying, but it can sometimes be dangerous. And it can lead to exploitation (massage parlors with sex-slave workers, etc.)
Some examples of historical POCs working together: Native Americans including runaway slaves in their tribes; blacks like Frederick Douglass speaking out against anti-Chinese immigration movements in the 19th and early 20th centuries, etc.
The above examples have many nuances–as does life. But I think you get my drift.
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@ King
“If you back far enough, everybody is African/Black
If you come forward far enough, everybody’s mixed
It’s either one large human race begun in Africa, or it’s hundreds of little sub races based on diverse genetics. Either way, the concepts of “Blackness” and “Whiteness” become meaningless.”
I agree with everything you say. Unfortunately, though, the concepts of Blacknes and Whiteness are far from meaningless at this time…but someday…
I was pleasantly surprised recently when I was having a conversation with a few of my white co-workers about Lucy and the origins of humanity and they themselves said that we were all African–and there were no sarcastic or snarky expressions or uncomfortable giggles–just statement of the facts. These people are not hippy-dippy progressives, so there’s hope yet…
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@Siah
“I am Indian and currently live in South Asia. The term PoC is not widely used here; I picked it up while reading academic/feminist/anti-racist texts. I think the term has its origins in North America. However, as a relatively large number of writers/activists who have covered the topic of race are North American, “PoC” is becoming increasingly used in certain circles outside the region.”
Your reading the feminist/anti-racist texts–very cool!
Most of the people I’ve known that used the term were in college or college grads–but they weren’t particularly scholarly (one of the Brazillian guys was a medical doctor in his 40s, the French woman was an artist in her early 20s).
Anyway, I’m all for the spread of good ideas.
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I prefer the term racialized publicly. Privately, just plain old black!
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The race situation in LA between blacks and latinos, from what I have foundout, is not an accident. Certain groups benefit from it. La Eme, some mexican drug groups and some black drug crews need chaos which allows them to operate under the general whirlwind.
The same phenomena is going on in Naples region and some other southern italian regions. The more street level chaos and crime, gangs and their misbehavior, the less the cops have time for the Big boys. The general public wants to curb, understandibly, the immediate treath, street crime and gangs. The politicians take the lead and the cops have their hands full with these.
Meanwhile some business man buys few tons of coke from another businesman, another few tons of heroin from another, and another businesman transports it across the border and sells it to an organisation with the network to feed it to street dealers.
The money rolls backwards untill some nice bank takes care of the cash and transforms it into nice electronical account in some anonymous investment company which lends the money to another bank which gives out 100% funding for a couple buying their first home without any downpayment etcetcectect. Or maybe they build a nice hotel in Caribbean, in Mediterannean, maybe they start a unexpensive airliner or something. And of course, some lucky politician gets some election funds from some nice busines mans company.
And on the streets, people are dying.
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I’ve commented on this term people of colour (POC) in another post before and judging by the comments I’ve read so far I think its worth posting here again.
https://abagond.wordpress.com/open-thread/#comment-83596
In essence. …As it has already been pointed out here.
There is no “them” and “us” or really any Black and white. Its a false dichotomy. Used to keep ALL peoples physically and psychologically subdivided. Yes there are visually physical differences. But we are still the same species of human being.
The real issue here is that white people ARE NOT an exclusively separate people from POC. Again. Scientifically speaking. How can they be?
So whose interests does it serve to believe otherwise?
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@ Tyrone:
“There are only 4 racial groups on the planet…African, European, Asian, and Native-American. White slavery and colonialism created 6 more sub-racial groups…White-Arab, White-East Indian, Southeast-Asian, Pacific-Islander, Spanish-Mestizo, and Spanish-Mulatto. White arabs are mixed with african, white indians are mixed with african, southeast-asians are mixed with african and indo-chinese, pacific-islanders are mixed with african, european, and asian, spanish-mestizos are indian and white, and spanish mulattos are mixed with african and/or european and native-american.”
That’s the biggest load of nonsense I’ve ever heard. You should actually read some history and anthropology rather than making stuff up off the top of your head.
Hello, Australian Aborigines, anyone? Papuans?
Just because someone is dark-skinned doesn’t make them closely related to Africans.
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@Kwamala
Co-sign
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I personaly as a “white” person am offended by all and any use of people of color.
Because it is a tool in my opinion to sway any and all people who happen to be not caucasion to dislike white people in the context that I have heard it used.
What if a term was started like for instance…”People of Non Negro” so as to exclude only black people and to make a division of all people vs. black people .. answer honestly abagond.. would you like it?
I think that most of the politically correct brainwashed puppets that alot of white america has become are now so dumbed down that they don’t even know when they are being insulted………..well I do.
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@ Dave:
that’s understandable. But it’s a legacy of American history as created by white people, that created two classes of human – white and everyone else. Did you know that there was a time when people from South Asia and the Middle East had to prove themselves to be white in order to immigrate to the US?
So whether or not you feel insulted, don’t think it was a category that some non-white person invented just to p!ss you off.
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@ Dave:
It is white people who create these divisions through their racism, not blacks or others using words to put a name to their experiences.
I wish words were as powerful as you say. If they were then political correctness would have wiped out racism. Sadly it is not that simple.
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POC sounds, at least to me, much better than being called “minorities.” And being Canadian, I personally dislike being called a “visible minority” because when you break it down, it’s a term to identify persons who are not, you guessed it, white.
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If “People of Color” were a realistic term in America there wouldn’t be “non-white” immigrants who are looking for ways to differentiate themselves from Blacks before they even get off the plane/boat/cross the border. Not all of the anti-black racism comes from white people.
If POC were a meaningful term there never would have been Buffalo soldiers helping to disenfranchise/eliminate Native Americans or Native Americans owning Black slaves.
I think the whole concept is far too simplistic. There will be times when so-called POC have common interests in America against whites and there will be many times when they do not. In America I think the primary distinction remains “Black/Non-Black”.
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@ Eurasian Sensation
There is some truth to what you say , but racial division is not anywhere close to being just – white – non white. it is far more complex than that.
I wrote earlier putting my family history out there and the division in my own white family between the irish and the italian side that once existed, mainly spured by competing immigrants.
Look at the NAACP ,if they latched on to this new people of color sensation then they should denounce the black agenda policies and go for a new agenda that benefits all people of color , but you and I know that would never happen on a large scale they may allow some other cultures in there just to save face.
Look at the New Black Panther Party. These are the people presently in my opinion that cause greater racial divide then the average white person -who seems to be further villianized on this site.
And by the way, I know some Italians in my own family that have more melanin in thier skin then the average japanese person, just saying. and that doesn’t mean they aren’t european descent just desendants of fisherman from Naples who spent alot of time in the sun.
People of color is a political tool and be careful before you latch on to it.
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To Tyrone:
Abagond, can arabs, east-indians, southeast-asians, polynesians, and mulattos be black again, Maybe?
Europeans are more closely related to Africans than East-Indians, Southeast Asians, and Polynesians.
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To Abagond:
Re: https://abagond.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/qt_poc_1.jpg
2050
I’ve seen projections for a so called majority minority US as early as 2034… (in 2007 the census bureau suggested the crossover would happen around 2042…but this was updated after the most recent census…) The working age population will probably cross over in about 15 years given that the White cohort is on average a bit older than every minority group since there was a very rapid drop off in White births after the early 1960s.
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Abagond:
1. Race Reality
2. Race Neutrality
3. Real Blackness
4. Diluted Blackness
5. Exploit Blackness
6. Dilute Blackness
7. Destroy Blackness
8. Worship Blackness
Abagond, race is and always will be an intellectual pursuit of blackness or the lack thereof. Everybody runs around obsessing over black people and culture in some shape, form, or fashion on this planet. I want black people and everybody else on this planet to be honest about it. All of the multicultural, colorblindness, post-racial crap offends my brain cells in the worst way. Blackness is not a game to me as it is for some people. Going forward, the bs will cease as it relates to african people on this planet!!!
Tyrone
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Dave> Of course it’s political so are the terms ‘black’ and ‘white’.
Bottom line white people created the world of us and them, so yeah they are right that POC means POC vs whites and conscious POC don’t care either we have had enough.
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I am not fond of the term “People of Colour”. But “minority” makes me absolutely cringe (as it does the blogger and other posters). It makes no sense to me to make a statement like “Over 50% of babies born in the USA today are minorities.” Or XXXX will become the next minority-majority state. WTF?
Maybe there could be a word to describe people who have been denied white privilege.
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Minorities is a better term. There is nothing offensive about it.
And the “minorities are a majority of the worlds population” argument doesn’t work if you are talking about America
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Yes, but the term “people of color” sounds contrived and stupid. Minority is the best term, ad it is applicable to every country. (i.e. Whites are a minority in China)
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Whoever talks like that is living in the past.
As the majority of babies born in the US are not white, it is probably no more than lazy, regressive wish-fulfillment to cling to the word “minorities” to describe them. I say wish-fulfillment because the word “minority” is redolent of disenfranchisement and subjugation — they way some would like to keep it.
And, nor is “people of colour” especially contrived, or any more stupid than white people calling themselves Caucasian.
As a phrase, People of Colour has been around for at least a couple of hundred years, both in the English and French languages.*
Frantz Fanon (French Caribbean psychiatrist and writer) used the term, and its usage grew after translations of his writings became popular in the US.
*http://nutrias.org/~nopl/exhibits/fmc/fmc.htm
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[…] Figure 1: Early Migration routes out of Africa. credit: https://abagond.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/people-of-colour/ […]
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So, just to make it clear, being a person of color does not necessarily have to do with the color of your skin. But rather, whether you are on the receiving end of White racism?
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“So, just to make it clear, being a person of color does not necessarily have to do with the color of your skin.”
@Benjamin
According to the way the world works (and those running the show):
person of color = not white = subject to white supremacy = less than = inferior = marginalized = being on the receiving end of white racism
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