(July 22, 2010 at 7:21 pm)Eilonnwy Wrote: Indian is not politically incorrect. While many Indians prefer to be called by their native tribe, most recognize it's hard to do so because there are so many of them, so they accept the general term Indian.
It does seem to have swung back the other way now, but for a while, it was considered non-PC to use the word 'Indian'. I don't know a single Indian that finds the word offensive, and yet many of them would still prefer to be called 'Native American', because they believe it is PC. I'm talking about the Indians I know personally (there is a large population of Indians in Michigan) and from my own experience, so... that's all I have to go on.
(July 22, 2010 at 7:21 pm)Eilonnwy Wrote: Um, it isn't? Otherwise what the hell do you call black people from Jamaica, they aren't African American, they're Jamaican. I have never heard of black being politically incorrect.
I don't understand. I said that calling every black person in the country 'African American' is inaccurate. And the word 'black' has been considered non-PC... which is why they pushed 'African American' as an alternative. The PC term for 'black person' has probably changed more times than any others. What is PC at one time, will probably change at another. I remember when it was PC to say 'Colored People' in reference to black folks. Fortunately, no one ever seems to actually get offended by the term 'black person'... it is the media that pushes the PC terms.
(July 22, 2010 at 7:21 pm)Eilonnwy Wrote: One thing though, when speaking of minorities in a general way, some people prefer to use People of Color to incorporate Indian, Hispanic, Black, etc...
Yep, if one is speaking about multiple people of varying races other than white, that does seem to be the PC term of choice. I can't even think of another term to use in that situation. 'Non-whites', maybe? That one does sound a bit offensive, doesn't it.