In reading up on the reaction to the Supreme Court Affirmative Action decisions, I was reminded that I hate the term African-American. Really. I am not from Africa. And not only am I not from Africa, there are a whole lot of other black people who are not from Africa. They’re from the Caribbean. Or other more southerly parts in this hemisphere. It’s supposed to be such a politically correct term, and it’s not. And it’s a mouthful to say.
If anyone wants to explain to me the Hispanic vs. Latino thing, that would be cool. All I’ve found so far is that nobody from this country can agree if one is preferable over the other and that both are blanket terms to describe a whole range of people of Latin American (?) origin (Cubano, Tejano, Chicano, etc.).
I call myself “half-black-half-white.” I’m more likely to lump myself in with black folks, if I’m going to lump at all. I never lump myself in with white folks. Sometimes my definition of myself depends on what point I’m trying to make. Sometimes I’m “only half-black” and sometimes I’m “half-white, too, ya know.” I say that this issue doesn’t bother me or that I don’t worry about it, but I sure do think about it a lot.
I tend to use the blanket term brown to describe everyone that’s not white (er, Anglo?). For example, “There are a lot less brown people in the Twin Cities than there are in Detroit.” Some people seem to have issues with that. I guess I can see how you might, depending on the context. And maybe, to a small extent, depending on whether the speaker is brown or white.
And for the love, you cannot call people Oriental. Things, objects, goods from the region are Oriental. People are Asian.
