Over the last couple of days I've been hearing the word "Indian" used a lot:
*The Cleveland Indians are just a baseball team, but the name and logo had to come from somewhere...
*Adam Beach plays a Native American Marine in Flags of our Fathers and his character takes constant abuse, nicknamed "Chief". It became annoying after hearing it so much , but it is indicative of the time and was acceptable for that reason.
(plus more...)
The examples I gave above are clearly relating to Native Americans. So, what's the problem? It's offensive. As an African American currently observing many different race controversies, I feel like I should have enough to worry about. But I think it's ironic that not only are African Americans threatened with racial problems, but many other (__________) Americans are being taunted about their ethnicity as well.
Just as I my skin color is not "BLACK", I don't like being called it, (although I don't really mind). So when Native Americans are called "Indian", I'm sure that they're annoyed because they're not from India.
And recently I've heard people talk about how oversensitive Americans are becoming. But I feel that if people are being taunted by ignorance and discrimination constantly, then it's not oversensitivity. It's more like cultural awareness.
Because of this I've been trying not to refer to African Americans as "blacks"; although it is easier to say and has been embedded into our society as an acceptable term. From those two examples alone I realized that words are more powerful and influential than we think. So be careful not to offend someone, no matter if it seems not to bother them.
1 comment:
Hey this post sounds kinda deep. A lot of people call us "yellow" but I don't think it's as common as one being called "black." I still don't see my skin as yellow though... I think it's just how society chooses to categorize us, sadly. I don't know how this started and I wish there could be a way to discontinue such labeling and I want the world to see us as "human beings." There's an excellent example of all of us being connected to one another and that is blood. A brilliant man has a series of documentaries about it on YouTube but I forgot the title so it's tough for me to do a search right now. When I come across his page, I'll be sure to let you know.
I really liked this post that I read it twice. Nice usage of the English language and I think you're a good writer. Have you thought about writing a book :)
Keep up the good work, Corey. Too bad there aren't other devoted readers like me.
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