"People of color"

Mark Mandel thnidu at GMAIL.COM
Mon Jun 1 00:53:00 UTC 2009


One more language-related observation on Wilson's post:

On Sun, May 31, 2009 at 7:37 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> All non-anti-Semitic - or is that "Semetic"? - blacks are, in general,

(Anti-)semitic, with an "i". Mnemonically, think of "Semite". The idea
behind the name was that the "races" of mankind were descended from
Noah's sons (Genesis 9:18-27). ... Time out to check OED.... OMG:

 -----
    A person belonging to the race of mankind which includes most of
the peoples mentioned in Gen. x. as descended from Shem son of Noah,
as the Hebrews, Arabs, Assyrians, and Aramæans. Also, a person
speaking a Semitic language as his native tongue.
 -----

No disclaimer, no "supposed". Isn't it past time to rewrite this and
throw that racial presupposition out onto the dustbin of history?!

m a m

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