[Ads-l] diverse-owned Re: ADS-L Digest - 8 Sep 2022 to 10 Sep 2022 (#2022-225)

[Z Sohna]

I find the term "African American" equally problematic and I've stated as
much in my own research.

It's ahistorical, it's an erasure, and it attempts to aggregate people who
are from completely different continents and ethnic groups with very
different histories, cultures, and "racial" backgrounds.

I have also found in the course of my research that many of my interviewees
find the term deeply offensive (including "of color"/"colored"),
revisionist, or ahistorical, so I avoid using it whenever possible.

Best,
Zola Sohna


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On 9/14/22 00:00, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
>* Date:    Tue, 13 Sep 2022 13:30:05 +0000
*>* From:    Geoffrey Nathan<geoffnathan at WAYNE.EDU
<https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ads-l>>
*>* Subject: Re: diverse-owned Re: ADS-L Digest - 8 Sep 2022 to 10 Sep
2022 (#2022-225)
*>>* Agreed.
*>* And, FWIW, I’ve actually heard 'a diverse student' (used by an
*>* enrollment management official at a university).
*>>* Geoff
*
Yup. Makes me freakin' crazier. Say what you bloody-well mean, is what I
want to say.

Going a little astray here, following up on Zola's response, is the
euphemism also a bit of erasure, if you will? Or an attempt to not
appear racist by using a label like black, AA, Latino, Arabic, Middle
Eastern, North African, Indian, Asian, etc.? Are people avoiding those
labels that call up generalized physical traits (and let's recognize how
inadequate the label Latino/Hispanic is) in order to (appear to) be
color-blind (which we know is not necessarily a good thing because,
well, erasure). I'd say that we have some measure of erasure in the
labels "other" and "non-white" that Zola suggested that "diverse" is the
euphemism for. I dunno. I digress. Apologies.

---Amy West

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