{"id":10504,"date":"2016-04-25T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-25T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/?p=10504"},"modified":"2017-06-22T00:53:46","modified_gmt":"2017-06-22T05:53:46","slug":"racism-is-trendy-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/racism-is-trendy-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Racism is trendy again"},"content":{"rendered":"

“People of color” is an inherently racist phrase.<\/p>\n

There. I said it. I may get into trouble for saying it, but that doesn’t make it any less true.<\/p>\n

Before we unpack the phrase “people of color,” let’s first define our terms. This is where the heart\u00a0of the controversy lies.<\/p>\n

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary<\/a>, racism means:<\/p>\n

: poor treatment of or violence against people because of their race<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to the Oxford English Dictionary<\/a>, racism means:<\/p>\n

Prejudice<\/a>, discrimination<\/a>, or antagonism<\/a> directed<\/a> against someone of a different race based on the belief that one\u2019s own race is superior.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I refer to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary specifically because they are the two highest authorities\u00a0in the English language. In the interest of impartiality, I’ll include\u00a0the Wiktionary definition<\/a>\u00a0as well, which anyone can edit:<\/p>\n

Prejudice<\/a> or discrimination<\/a> based upon race.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Seems pretty clear, right? Racism is discrimination based on race.<\/p>\n

That is, unless you’re a progressive. To them,\u00a0the only people who can ever be racist are whites, because\u00a0racism is systematic and the systems of oppression benefit whites at the expense of non-whites. This is called “white privilege,” and the fact that most of us cannot see it is further proof that it is true.<\/p>\n

(Pay no attention to the fact that a black man became President of the United States\u2014effectively the most powerful man on Earth\u2014in the face of these “systems of oppression.” How do the progressives justify this? I have no frickin’ idea. The mental gymnastics it must take\u2026 but I digress.)<\/p>\n

Because the system is racist, and all non-white people are oppressed, according to progressive “logic” non-whites cannot be racist. This effectively gives them\u00a0a free pass to discriminate in almost any way, shape, or form against people who are white.<\/p>\n

This is where the term “people of color” comes in. It’s simply a more polite way of saying “non-white.” Don’t believe me? Check out the Wikipedia article<\/a>. It’s right there in the first sentence:<\/p>\n

Person of color<\/b><\/i> (plural: people of color<\/b><\/i>, persons of color<\/b><\/i>, sometimes abbreviated POC<\/b>) is a term used primarily in the United States<\/a>\u00a0to describe any person who is not white<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words, it is a term that was invented to discriminate against whites. What do African-Americans, Punjabs, Japanese, Mayans, and Australian Aborigines racially have in common? Nothing at all\u2014except that they’re all non-white, and therefore fall under the catch-all term “people of color.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I despise the progressive redefinition of racism as much as I despise the term “reverse racism.” There is no such thing as reverse racism, because racism doesn’t have a damned direction! When ANYONE discriminates against\u00a0another person based on ANY race, whether\u00a0black, white, yellow, red, green, or purple,\u00a0it is racism pure and simple.<\/p>\n

Lately, I’ve seen the phrase “people of color” come up in the submissions guidelines of a number of short story markets. Usually, it will be something along the lines of a\u00a0call of submissions for a special issue, though it sometimes appears in their diversity statements as well. To me, it always raises a red flag.<\/p>\n

When all of the major markets are regulary running “people of color” special issues, with diversity statements\u00a0calling for more\u00a0submissions from “people of color,” then\u00a0we’ve achieved a system that is racist to the core.\u00a0If it weren’t for indie publishing and the Sad Puppies, I would be very wary of this trend. And if things change in the indie world to really\u00a0put the squeeze on writers\u00a0(subscription services, exclusivity agreements, royalty cuts, etc), I would be very concerned.<\/p>\n

Make no mistake about it: “people of color” is a racist term. It’s also quite trendy, but that doesn’t make it any less racist.<\/p>\n

I’ll leave you with this hilariously topical video from Sargon of Akkad:<\/p>\n