I'm brown. Both of my parents were born in India, but moved here a few decades ago before I was born. We are what are considered "anglo-Indians," meaning that although we share some traditions with India, our culture is primarily European (courtesy of the British rule until 1947).
Up until I was nine, I lived in the largely mixed community of Scarborough, Ont. We then moved east to Whitby, where I spent the next 13 years of my life surrounded mostly by white people.
The reason I'm taking the time to explain this is because I want people to understand that I've lived most of my life with a foot in both worlds one way or another (Indian versus British; non-white versus white). That said, I believe I'm in a somewhat decent position to comment on people's debatable hypersensitivity to racism.
In the last few years, most of you would have heard about various controversies regarding either the media's word choices or something somebody said involving race. Most recently, you would've heard about the hullabaloo surrounding Brad Paisley's and L.L. Cool J's collaborative song called, "Accidental Racist." In all of these situations, particular media attention was paid to the choice of words.
There seems to be a constant tug-o-war lately between groups of people regarding what's right and what's proper to say aloud. Is it okay to describe someone as "black" or "brown" or "white"? Why should people even need a physical description in the first place? What's the politically correct term and what's considered racist?
The North American society seems to be going through a transition right now where they are unsure how to move forward into equality while leaving racism in the past without negating all that happened and continues to happen. While much of society seems to have moved forward, there are still those lagging behind in ignorance, which leaves those in the middle hyper-sensitive as to what they can and cannot say.
To clarify, equality means the colour of skin doesn't matter. You shouldn't feel the need to mention skin colour in most situations. If it is necessary, it's by no means racist to describe someone as black, brown, white, or whatever. It's a physical description that's being used to identify an individual(s), not an insult.
The crux of any racist remark is not the wording itself; it's the intent behind the words. To give an example, anyone who's witnessed "ghetto lingo" would notice that many black people have appropriated the "N" word and now use it as an endearment amongst peers.
In like manner, words can hold or lose power depending on the context. So if you're speaking to someone of a different skin colour and you accidentally say something that sounds racist, the words should be taken at face value depending on the intent behind them. There shouldn't be so much debate.
Now, to avoid being skewered, I'm not saying that the literal definition of racist remarks should be ignored. Just because you aren't actually a bigot doesn't mean you can just go around saying blatantly prejudiced things either.
Beyond that, however, people shouldn't have to navigate a minefield of political correctness just to avoid being publicly shamed as an unintentional bigot. There's no need to apply sanitized blanket terms just to avoid saying the actual colour of someone's skin.
Speaking of which, it's completely ridiculous to describe all black people as African American just because it's the PC term that'll keep you out of trouble. News flash: not every black person is from Africa. It's not an insult to assume that some black people might actually have a different geographical or cultural background.
In this limited space, it's difficult to fully explain the problems hyper-sensitivity is causing and the best ways to avoid it. At best, I've given you a general idea. At worst, I've been too general and now you think I'm ignorant. Either way, I'm going to say that people just need to stop getting so hung on literality and RELAX.
MJ
