Is it racist to describe someone using the colour of their skin?

[mugs]

It is not racist to describe someone using the color of their skin, but in some contexts it can indicate subconscious racism. i.e. if you use it when referring to a person or group in a negative way, and it is the only descriptor you use. Like "that black guy is a thug." You have to wonder why not say "that tall guy" or "that fat guy" or "that bald guy" or what have you. But I wouldn't read anything into it unless I had some other reason to think the person is racist.

 

[DainBramaged]

Originally posted by: spidey07
NO, it is not.

:beer:

 

[sao123]

you cant refer to people as black...burnt sienna maybe... but not black

 

[slackerinabox]

Nah, i refer to myself as brown and my friends as crackers, f@gs, n!ggers, etc. our differences are what makes us unique, in my opinion, and interesting.. I don't get this overly pc world that recently banned some words - words are just words, unless you give them emotional weight (you know, by banning them!).

 

[qaa541]

Since when is "Asian" a skin color?

 

[Literati]

Of course it's not.

The only thing I'd even consider close to being inappropriate in someway, is to describe the color of someone for no reason.

But even that's a stretch.

Like "So this black kid tripped..." Just because it has nothing to do with anything.

When I was in class one day, in a mostly white community, we had one black girl in our class. She was real cool, and we worked on a project together as we had a few classes together and always hung out in between classes.

We were both from racially diverse communities, and not from the area the school was in so I think we got along because of that as we were both really comfortable with each other.

Anyways, I could never remember her name, because we'd always address each other in a "hey you!" playful manner, and one day she was out, and the professor asked who was my partner for the project and I said something along the lines of... "I'm working with, ahh I always forget her name, the black girl." And everybody stopped like I said something offensive.

So during the brief bit of silence I said "Yea you know, the only black girl in class."

And it took me a minute to realize I had thrown a lot of people off just by saying that.

And that's just ridiculous.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
I swear, this PC nonsense is going to be the downfall of western civilization. Either that or a giant asteroid. But I'm betting on the former.

"You can't use the word asteroid on public TV! It sounds too much like 'ass' at the beginning, and 'roid' is short for 'hemorrhoid.' Both are offensive, and you are not to call it that anymore! I don't care if it'll kill us all, my 4 year old can't be hearing all the adults talking about ass-roids or whatever you want to call them!"

 

[Chaotic42]

Things offending people are a good reason to start using them more! You don't have a right not to be offended.

 

[pcnerd37]

I dont give a damn about political correctness, I say what I mean whether or not somebody may think it offensive. People get offended too easily anymore to care. If you want to be offended about something I say, good for you, because I dont give a damn.

 

[dbk]

Originally posted by: Alone

Originally posted by: dbk

Originally posted by: Alone
Ironically, when people try to avoid using the term "black" or "negro" they end up sounding more racist.

yeah i don't think black = negro

Look up the word "negro" for me please. I'll give you a hit: it's a Spanish word.

While you're at it, look up the Latin word "niger".

I know what the word means. I'm talking about using that word to describe a black person. If you're from a Spanish speaking country, I understand.

 

[randomint]

i've seen many an awkward conversations where one person is refering to a non-white 3rd person which the 2nd person in the conversation can't recall but the first person is just too shy to mention the 3rd person's skin color

 

[Aquaman]

Originally posted by: qaa541
Since when is "Asian" a skin color?

Check the J Peterman catalouge page 34 between "Mango" & "Daisy"

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[everman]

You can't say anything about anyone, not color, height, weight, sex, or age. You may only gently motion towards someone without ever pointing or making direct eye contact.

 

[TheRyuu]

No, not really.

Technically, how many "black" people are from Africa, so why do we call them "African Americans"?

Wouldn't the term black be more politically correct?

 

[Tiamat]

no, its when you use nouns that represent the colors that start to border on racism.

 

[CKent]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
I swear, this PC nonsense is going to be the downfall of western civilization. Either that or a giant asteroid. But I'm betting on the former.

I'm hoping for the latter :heart:

 

[dug777]

No.

It's far worse to describe them as 'African American' or 'Caucasian' imho.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

I wouldn't mind if someone pointed me out in a crowd as 'the skinny, brown, tall Indian guy with the Gordon Freeman specs and outta-control hair.'

 

[Kalmah]

I think I would be more offended if somebody of a different race was talking to me about somebody of my race and seemed hesitant to describe the person. If anything, I would think most people would be proud of who they are and if somebody seemed hesitant to describe that race it would almost appear as if they where looking down upon those people.. or something like that. heh
It makes sense in my head! I just can't describe it properly.

 

[necine]

No, it's not.

 

[Brentx]

Nope, not racist at all. As what has been said here, its the context.

This reminds me of a Thanksgiving I had a couple of years ago. I have 2 mexican cousins, and my parents were talking about some people who had moved in across the street. They would always play music really loud when they had parties like once a month. Someone mentioned something about this and I came to the tune and said something along the lines of "Yeah and they blasted that crazy mexican music until 2am" (it was true they did).

Well 1 of the cousins who were mexican took offense to it really badly and would not speak to me. I refused to apologize, because this was not a racist comment in any way, and they should have known this, considering they were my cousins and all.

Lets just say she didn't speak to me until Easter the next year.... how stupid.

 

[KarmaPolice]

no...

 

[Dumac]

Only if it is used in a derogatory manner. Saying someone is black isn't really racist, but implying that something about them is worse because they are black kind of is.

It all depends. When the term 'yellow' is used to describe asians, is it usually (fromwhat I have seen) used in a derogatory manner, which is why I believe most people use the adjective Asian.

Racism isn't really just a black and white issue (no pun intended).