Every single American having heard "black" would never think of an actual color but rather of a person of color. The same happens with "white". As if tho it would be too lame to call people just people. We always have to add some strange tags thinking that they would describe somebody better.
Look at this white chick, the other day I heard some black men talking. At the same time I heard the white saying "black dude" many times, but none of them was dressed in black or white.
Nonetheless, the idea of calling people colors sounds misleading because actual color of skin is not even close to white, black or yellow. It is not just incorrect to call a person like that but impolite too.
Does the color terminology really necessary these days? John Black, Rita White, Xuyan Yellow... Why people are named as colors?
Color terminology was used to label races and origin. It has spread extremelly among American society between the 18th and 20th centuries when people from different countries were trying to find their luck in the USA. Soon it became to difficult and unnecessary to try identifying every single origin so not to bother themselves too much, people started calling one another by the color of skin each had which at that time was usually just Blak or White. This phenomenon is closely connected to the black men slavery when the white were considered to be the chosen ones. Saying what color are you was considered to be a good way to distinguish between races and, at the same time, to emphasize your social status.
However, in the 21st century referring to a person as a part of a particular race is still very popular. It is sad that humans did not go too far from those time when you needed to tell the color of your skin to be identified as part of one or another social class. It is true that the only way to tell who you really are is adding the color of your skin near yourname, otherwise, how people would know if you really a human being, uhm?
Ages ago, humans descended from Negroid, Caucasoid, and Mongoloid stock. Those were the first three "races". "Black" is shorthand for "dark-skinned person who has more visible negroid features than those of the other three original races", that today has very impolite ramifications because in more recent history, one group of people decided they were superior to another group of people and did some really bad things. Now, everything's all messed up.
There's not really a polite shorthand for "that guy with brown skin". We're so sensitive to those bad things that one group of people did in the past that it's considered rude to even notice a guy's skin color, even in a neutral manner. We're supposed to pretend we don't notice. You can use every descriptor under the sun to talk about someone else, but the second you mention he's a "black" guy, you get dirty looks for admitting that you notice skin color.
So someone might think that maybe we refer to nationality instead of race to avoid being offensive by saying, "African American", but a visibly "black" person of Indonesian descent who's a citizen of France is neither African nor American.
You can point and say, "Look at the blond girl", and that's okay, but "Look at the black girl" earns you dirty looks, all because this one bad group of people did some bad things in the past and now nobody can admit that anybody has different skin color ever again.
Hey, thank you for your comment. Why do we need to emphasize the color of a person that much as if tho there is no other way to tell people that we are all the same humans? :)
It's just another adjective.
If there's a black guy walking next to a white guy and I want to tell you something about one of those two guys, why should people be fumbling for words when there's a perfectly easy descriptor to use?
"Uh...the one who's about one inch taller. The one with brown eyes and slightly shorter hair...what, you can't see his eyes? Uh...okay...the guy with the more athletic back...oh fuck it. The black guy."
Race exists. It's one more thing that makes us different. Some of us are taller than others. Some of us are fatter than others. Some of us are men, some are women. Some are old, some are little kids. We have different color hair. Big noses, small noses, big ears, small ears.
I can say, "Look at the short, fat, bald guy with big ears", and we're cool. But if I say, "Look at that black guy over there", the room gets quiet. It's stupid. People have different color skin, just like they have different color hair.
The complexities of being Correct. So my friend walks in one day and says: "some guy is standing on your doorstep and he wants to talk to you" I say: "what does he look like?" Thats when ethnic based descriptors come into place. Before that question is asked ethnic descriptors are irrelevant and seem to prejudice all on either side. Example: Some white guy is standing on your porch and wants to talk to you" Bad Form in my opinion.
Now when describing people who are "white" I use the term Caucasian even though that is inaccurate being that it is a reference to a certain group of folks coming from a mountain range of the same name. I could say hes Anglo Saxon but that also would be incorrect in the very same way. I'm sticking with Caucasian and I consider that settled. Now when referring to myself calling myself African American isn't quite right. That term refers now and days to my friend sylvan who has recently moved here from the "mother land" and gotten citizenship. I am black American or just black referring to the fact that if you traced my ancestry back some of them were actually in and come from Africa centuries ago but beyond that I don't know Africa anymore then it knows me.
Asian folk get grouped. Making a guess in less I know the verbage of there language would be rude. Indians are only from the sub-Continent and anyone over here who has tribal roots on this soil is "Native" even though theirs hints and signs that they may be from colder climates way back when. this is not entirely correct but it is the form I use and Id appreciated it if all my friends who are white/Caucasian from this side of the ocean or the other would chill the F*** out on telling me how there color neutral. we all should be in my opinion and if I consider you a associate or a friend I assume you are too so no need for explanations in less you got some thing to say in the negative to my assumption.
All I have said should not be considered the correct way of doing things this is just form what I would consider "Good Form" to have it is to follow my Dao.
Quote from the book: The dao of lennex: The path to righteous Kungfu
Next The whole subject of slavery believe it or not reminds me of the movie Pocahontas and the word "Savages". Look no further why slavery got so big then that word. they were viewed as stock animals and so they were treated as such. Human isn't very tasty FYI so no cannibalistic slave masters. Aslo only refer to the most widely known historical account of slavery like it never happened to anybody else at any other time since.