people of color

[Alice Faber]

ANNE V. GILBERT said:
>Indigo:
>
>> "People of color" is alive & well, meaning people who are not white. I
>> understand that in the past it was more specific, meaning Black (or black,
>> or African American, or African, &c.) people. I think some people still
>> understand it that way. This is totally anecdotal, but fwiw: 8 or 9 years
>> ago we ran an ad for a housemate saying we were a "women of color"
>> household. We got several responses from older (to us, in our 20s at the
>> time -- they were in their 40s) African American women. In contrast, women
>> our age who answered the ad were of various different colors.
>
>Hmmmmm. . . . . might be true in your part of the country.  Out here(I live
>in Seattle), "people of color" almost always refers to people of African
>ancestry.  People who are not "white" are usually referred to as
>"Latinos/Hispanics", "Native Americans", etc.

On the Wesleyan campus, "students of color" seems to be the cover term for
non-white students. I've been associated with the University on and off for
about 10 years; when I first encountered this usage, I thought it
self-consciously PC, but I've heard enough students of varying ethnic
backgrounds (African American, Latino, Asian American, etc) use it quite
naturally. As Indigo suggests, there may be a generational aspect to this.
--
Alice Faber                                       tel. (203) 865-6163
Haskins Laboratories                              fax  (203) 865-8963
270 Crown St                                   faber at haskins.yale.edu
New Haven, CT 06511                               afaber at wesleyan.edu