It Came From the Mailbag
Help me settle this. I think Kim is trying to debate a purely semantic and completely irrelevant point. Is there ANY confusion about my (or any speaker or writer’s) meaning when we use the verbiage “White” and “Person of Color” in regards to social/cultural issues?
Also, note the appeal to authority as a final reply in the thread (but please don’t read the article, or you’ll see the author actually agrees with my point-of-view).
Your take? I’ll share quality replies with Kim, too!
From: Kim
Sent: Monday, July 15, 2019 8:10 PM
To: philip@kmjnow.com
Subject: People of Color
Mr. Teresi-
I was listening to you this afternoon during your discussion of the Trump tweets. I noticed what appears to me to be a disturbing practice by most media to use the term "people of color" or "women of color" when trying to describe groups of non-white people. To me the use of those terms suggest laziness since "white" is also a color.
Now, I realize that media convention assumes that those who regard themselves as sophisticated would know that "people of color" means anyone that is not white. By its own definition if you are not a person of color, then you must be invisible.
White is a color, so they would be included in the group of people that have a color. It seems to me that if one means "black", they should say "black"; if they mean "brown", they should say "brown"; if they mean "red", they should say "red"; if they mean "yellow", they should say "yellow", and if they mean "non-white", they should "non-white". Also it seems that in the media these days that the term "white" is always followed by the word "supremacist". Interesting.
Small point, but the use of the term says so much about the people who use it.
Good day.
- Kim, KMJ Listener/ Occasional Commenter
On Jul 16, 2019, at 11:51, Philip Teresi <philip@kmjnow.com> wrote:
I think you got lost in your own Game of Semantics.
Your argument does nothing to clarify meaning; the conventional nomenclature is adequate.
Thanks for listening,
P
From: Kim
Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2019 7:18 PM
To: Philip Teresi <philip@kmjnow.com>
Subject: Re: People of Color
So whites don’t count. Thanks for the clarification.
Best wishes.
Sent from my iPhone
From: Philip Teresi [mailto:philip@kmjnow.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2019 11:59 AM
To: 'Kim’
Subject: RE: People of Color
Again, your argument does nothing to clarify meaning; the conventional nomenclature is adequate.
Also, as a White Person, I find the argument foolish.
Thanks for listening!
From: Kim
Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2019 10:49 AM
To: philip@kmjnow.com
Subject: White GOP Congressman Claims He's 'A Person Of Color'
See, other people think white is a color.
No reply necessary.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/mike-kelly-trump-tweets-153709809.html?.tsrc=fauxdal