people of color

[Beverly Flanigan]

At 06:05 AM 2/6/01 -0600, you wrote:
>Alice Faber wrote:
>
> > 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.
>
>The first time I encountered "people of color" (as current usage) was
>in a manuscript I was reviewing for a book on intercultural communication.
>My reaction was the opposite of Alice's reaction to "students of color."
>My immediate reaction was amazement that somebody would use what sounded
>to me like a sarcastic rendering of "colored people."  Then I realized
>that that wasn't what was going on.  I don't hear the term very often,
>though.
>    --Natalie Maynor (maynor at ra.msstate.edu)

The term seems to be back again, "validated" by people like Colin Powell,
who speaks of "men and women of color" often.  Others too?

_____________________________________________
Beverly Olson Flanigan         Department of Linguistics
Ohio University                     Athens, OH  45701
Ph.: (740) 593-4568              Fax: (740) 593-2967
http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/linguistics/dept/flanigan.htm