For awhile, I've been struggling to see where I stand in what is still a Patriarchal White America. The term minority is definitely accurate, but that doesn't fully express the extent to which my own identity is oppressed. While I believe all minorities are oppressed, I don't believe all minorities are oppressed equally. And this is a talking point that people simply don't want to talk about. The reason why is because it has the potential for causing a rift between identities within the minority community. Soon we'll find ourselves lumping into camps and blame will be thrown from one community to the other, arguing over "who has it worse". Such a debacle would be self defeating for minorities everywhere and hurt the movement for greater equality for all minority groups. However, this doesn't excuse us from addressing the issue and within minority groups a dichotomy has been created to mask this potential sticking point. We have masked this issue by denoting people as "people of color" and leaving a silence for those who are not.
The term "people of color" has a long history and I have no doubt that it probably existed just as long as the term "minority", but the question of who "is a person of color" (and subsequently who is a minority) is one that changes according to modern conceptualizations of race. I do not intend to argue the historical construction of the term. Instead I'm merely forwarding that the word in its current use has become ambiguous to the point that many people won't agree with who has a legitimate claim to the identity.
I often find that the way the term is employed usually has very little to do with a "lexicon" sense of the term. For example, people have accepted me as a person of color, yet my skin can be lighter than many of my Asian friends. I have heard the term used to circumvent what people really want to say, latinos and blacks. The reason Latinos and blacks fit so perfectly together is because they often are the ones doing economically and educationally the worst. There are definitely some smaller minority groups that join Latinos and Blacks (South Pacific Asians, Native Americans, etc), however Latinos and Blacks make up a majority of the demographic. Naturally the big minority group being left out are Asian. One might argue that Asians aren't people of color, however this simply isn't true. And not only because South Asians tend to have dark skin. Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese and other "Asian" groups that aren't typically identified as South Asian have noticeably different skin tones from Whites. These skin tones have led to racial designations such as "the yellow man", which are clearly based on the physical appearance of Asians. Are they not people of color? The use of color was done specifically to distinguish between those who are white and those who aren't. It's clear that Asians typically don't have White skin. Yet they find themselves consistently lumped with White people when it comes to whether they are a "person of color".
One might think that this is using a darker is color approach. For example, one could argue that some Asians (typically not South Asian, though some South Asians are very light skin, so don't take this as a sweeping generalization) have very light skin tones, thus making them free from the stigma that comes from the "darker is bad" perception in this country. However, I've had people who have referred to me as a person of color. The issue with this is my skin is far lighter and paler than most Asians. If you asked me to describe my skin tone without any racial bearing in mind I'd call my skin tone white (or light peach). Yet I'm afforded membership to color, while those who can actually be racially discriminated against based on color are excluded.
It's clear that color isn't being used as an actual physical designation, but instead is embodying many of the racial stigmas of our current system. The term "person of color" is a way of masking the concept of the "model minority" that has existed for a very long time. The "model minority" is the belief that certain minorities are the good minorities who contribute to America, since they are docile and subservient to normative American culture (i.e. white male patriarchy). The "model minority" was also employed to fuel further racism towards blacks. The point is that we use people of color often to make this distinction, without acknowledging who we're leaving out and without justifying why we're leaving them out. And while some Asians can care less (just as some blacks, latinos, and pretty much any kind of person could care less about race, which is sad because it truly has pervasive effects on your life), many of them take notice to this kind of exclusionary behavior.
Now, I'm not going to argue whether the model minority distinction is deserving. I'm not going to even claim that African Americans and Latino's "have it worse". Instead I want to open up the floor for people to discuss this. I know sometimes my opinions can be strong and dismissing. I want to avoid this kind of dismissal. Instead I just want people to know that I don't consider myself a person of color. I am not discriminated against based on my skin tone, but instead based on my last name. I write this as an attempt to point out the ambiguous nature of the term "person of color" and instead suggest that the minority community needs to address the issue of a perceived "model minority" before the distinction divides us from our goal of achieving equality.
The term "people of color" has a long history and I have no doubt that it probably existed just as long as the term "minority", but the question of who "is a person of color" (and subsequently who is a minority) is one that changes according to modern conceptualizations of race. I do not intend to argue the historical construction of the term. Instead I'm merely forwarding that the word in its current use has become ambiguous to the point that many people won't agree with who has a legitimate claim to the identity.
I often find that the way the term is employed usually has very little to do with a "lexicon" sense of the term. For example, people have accepted me as a person of color, yet my skin can be lighter than many of my Asian friends. I have heard the term used to circumvent what people really want to say, latinos and blacks. The reason Latinos and blacks fit so perfectly together is because they often are the ones doing economically and educationally the worst. There are definitely some smaller minority groups that join Latinos and Blacks (South Pacific Asians, Native Americans, etc), however Latinos and Blacks make up a majority of the demographic. Naturally the big minority group being left out are Asian. One might argue that Asians aren't people of color, however this simply isn't true. And not only because South Asians tend to have dark skin. Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese and other "Asian" groups that aren't typically identified as South Asian have noticeably different skin tones from Whites. These skin tones have led to racial designations such as "the yellow man", which are clearly based on the physical appearance of Asians. Are they not people of color? The use of color was done specifically to distinguish between those who are white and those who aren't. It's clear that Asians typically don't have White skin. Yet they find themselves consistently lumped with White people when it comes to whether they are a "person of color".
One might think that this is using a darker is color approach. For example, one could argue that some Asians (typically not South Asian, though some South Asians are very light skin, so don't take this as a sweeping generalization) have very light skin tones, thus making them free from the stigma that comes from the "darker is bad" perception in this country. However, I've had people who have referred to me as a person of color. The issue with this is my skin is far lighter and paler than most Asians. If you asked me to describe my skin tone without any racial bearing in mind I'd call my skin tone white (or light peach). Yet I'm afforded membership to color, while those who can actually be racially discriminated against based on color are excluded.
It's clear that color isn't being used as an actual physical designation, but instead is embodying many of the racial stigmas of our current system. The term "person of color" is a way of masking the concept of the "model minority" that has existed for a very long time. The "model minority" is the belief that certain minorities are the good minorities who contribute to America, since they are docile and subservient to normative American culture (i.e. white male patriarchy). The "model minority" was also employed to fuel further racism towards blacks. The point is that we use people of color often to make this distinction, without acknowledging who we're leaving out and without justifying why we're leaving them out. And while some Asians can care less (just as some blacks, latinos, and pretty much any kind of person could care less about race, which is sad because it truly has pervasive effects on your life), many of them take notice to this kind of exclusionary behavior.
Now, I'm not going to argue whether the model minority distinction is deserving. I'm not going to even claim that African Americans and Latino's "have it worse". Instead I want to open up the floor for people to discuss this. I know sometimes my opinions can be strong and dismissing. I want to avoid this kind of dismissal. Instead I just want people to know that I don't consider myself a person of color. I am not discriminated against based on my skin tone, but instead based on my last name. I write this as an attempt to point out the ambiguous nature of the term "person of color" and instead suggest that the minority community needs to address the issue of a perceived "model minority" before the distinction divides us from our goal of achieving equality.
No comments:
Post a Comment