Black or African American?

[OK2LA]

Not sure if any of you saw the games yesterday . . . but after the AFC Championship game Shannon Sharpe stated:

". . . this is the first time that a black - er African American coach will coach in the Super Bowl."

For those of you that don't know - Shannon Sharpe is black - er African American.

Now - I as a "White" man I do not care what we label people - but I think that is because I'm racist. I mean technically, I'm not white - I'm more like transparent I'm so friggin pale - but I digress.

I can see Boomer Esiason correcting himself if he said something like this, but which is it?!?

I mean we are so mindful of not hurting each other's feelers that we confused poor ol' Shannon Sharpe - he doesn't even know how to refer to himself. He caught himself - he didn't want to offend himself?!? He didn't want to offend others?!?

I just chuckled when I heard this.

[sanantoniosooner]

Not sure if any of you saw the games yesterday . . . but after the AFC Championship game Shannon Sharpe stated:

". . . this is the first time that a black - er African American coach will coach in the Super Bowl."

For those of you that don't know - Shannon Sharpe is black - er African American.

Now - I as a "White" man I do not care what we label people - but I think that is because I'm racist. I mean technically, I'm not white - I'm more like transparent I'm so friggin pale - but I digress.

I can see Boomer Esiason correcting himself if he said something like this, but which is it?!?

I mean we are so mindful of not hurting each other's feelers that we confused poor ol' Shannon Sharpe - he doesn't even know how to refer to himself. He caught himself - he didn't want to offend himself?!? He didn't want to offend others?!?

I just chuckled when I heard this.

Many AfAm people are cool with black. But there is a lot of pressure to use the other term in the media.

Ethnic terms get misused all the time. Not everyone that is Black is African American. Ever heard if Haiti? The Hispanic culture is one of the most difficult to cope with in my experience. Latino, Hispanic, Mexican,...., are not all interchangeable terms. People deserve to be called what they want. So it's up to us to find out what every person would prefer. Piece of cake.

[Scott D]

I chuckle at the thought of Shannon Sharpe intentionally going out of his way not to offend somebody.

and sas, Haitians are French

[PDXsooner]

i never understood why black was ok but colored was not

[Scott D]

at the time it gained prominent usage initially, it was a more militant stance....besides, with jim crow laws you saw 'colored' plastered all over broken down versions of things in southern states.

[RacerX]

i never understood why black was ok but colored was not

black = 1 color
white folk = sunburn, get cold, get tan, get pale, they're colored.

[yermom]

someone should tell the NAACP that "colored" isn't the preferred terminology

i love this story, btw

http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/01...ontroversy.ap/

[PDXsooner]

black = 1 color

precisely. it's also a color of which i've yet to see anyone. who's actually black? colored suggests that you're something other than transparent.

[OK2LA]

i love this story, btw

http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/01...ontroversy.ap/

Absolutely classic! That is funny chit.

[OK2LA]

i never understood why black was ok but colored was not

I heard a woman GO OFF on a guy that said this in her presence.

"Nobody COLORED me this way! I was BORN this way!"

You shoulda seen the look on his face!

[PDXsooner]

it all reinforces my theory that no matter what you call any group of people, at some point it will be deemed offensive by a small minority, and we'll have to readjust our vernacular to accomodate this vocal minority.

[PDXsooner]

with that being said, there are probably some terms that were changed for the better. savages comes to mind.

[CatfishSooner]

PCness sucks

[Harry Beanbag]

Many AfAm people are cool with black. But there is a lot of pressure to use the other term in the media.

Ethnic terms get misused all the time. Not everyone that is Black is African American. Ever heard if Haiti? The Hispanic culture is one of the most difficult to cope with in my experience. Latino, Hispanic, Mexican,...., are not all interchangeable terms. People deserve to be called what they want. So it's up to us to find out what every person would prefer. Piece of cake.

It would be easier just call people either Americans or illegal aliens.

[sanantoniosooner]

It would be easier just call people either Americans or illegal aliens.

yeah. But technically this whole continent is America.

True PC should strive for the most accurate description.

[RacerX]

It would be easier just call people either Americans or illegal aliens.

Undocumented immigrants.

[Harry Beanbag]

yeah. But technically this whole continent is America.

True PC should strive for the most accurate description.

I wasn't trying to be PC, just trying to simplify things.

[BeetDigger]

I heard a woman GO OFF on a guy that said this in her presence.

"Nobody COLORED me this way! I was BORN this way!"

You shoulda seen the look on his face!

That's true. However, the term "people of color" is used quite extensively. While I can understand why someone would be offended by being called "colored", I don't understand why "people of color" is ok. Isn't a person of color, colored?

[Scott D]

it's semantics really, just like pretty much everything else.

[BeetDigger]

I guess I'm a person of non-color. Uncolored.