i am a person of color...
Mar. 27th, 2006 09:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mercifulserpenti am a person of color, for what it's worth
i recently read rachel's post that asked if we can come up with another term for "marginalized people." in her posting, she made some comments regarding the term "people of color" that i felt an urge to respond to.
My problem with that term is threefold. First, the term is completely power neutral, and second it reinforces the racial language of color. I also keep thinking: are there people without color? Then I wonder if the term reinforces the normativity of Whiteness and the notion that Whites are somehow raceless.
i call myself a person of color for a number of strategic reasons. the main reason being, it allows me to feel safe--it allows me to feel included--it allows me to feel some sense of solidarity with other people who exist in similar social positions as i do. by calling myself a person of color, i willingly adopt a collective identity that extends far beyond my identification as a black woman. i personally think this collective identity, is no different than other collective identities that are based on shared traits or beliefs, rather they be sexual, political, religious, or cultural. this specific identity is based on a common history of exploitation, the systematic refusal of basic democratic and civil rights, limited political participation, racist legislature, and the overall socioeconomic disenfranchisement of racilized bodies that maintains the instituionalized power held by those who are seen as white.
first off, i think it is impossible to engage in discourses of race while avoiding the issue of skin color. without color, discussions on race would not exist. we live in a racialized society where our skin color defines our experiences--period. that is the essence of amerikkka, the fate of this country since the europeans first arrived with genocide and slavery to follow. if we leave out the issue of color, then we resort to a color-blind critique of racism that ignores the unique histories of people of color, locally and globally.
second, i don't think that the term, people of color is power neutral. it does not erase the racial heirarchies, class differences, citizenship status of all the brown people in this country--and i don't think it intends to. the essence of the term acknowledges issues of difference but speaks to a unity within those differences. it criticizes the black/white binary that seems to dominate discourses of race and subsequently unearths the hybrid and nuanced racial identities, and the intersections of power in a society that privileges white bodies over other bodies.
of course one could argue then, that the term sets up a white/of color binary, and unfortunately it does. but i personally don't see it possible to not have a white vs. other binary, since whiteness is naturalized in every fiber of the amerikkkan structure. whiteness can only exist in opposition to something other than itself. it is in it's nature to be in a constant struggle for superiority if everyone else is seen and treated as inferior. however, i do see racial solidarity amongst similarily oppressed groups as a challenge to destroying this binary. it is within the spaces of the white vs. other dichotomy, that spaces of resistance are allowed to exist--the powerful forces of white supremacy are always at battle with the powerful forces of racial and social justice.
third, i do not think the term deems whites as raceless nor do i think it reinforces white normativity. calling oneself a person of color is an act of resistance that reflects a conscious self-identification that denies the desire to be white and the appropriation of a white identity. whiteness is no longer seen as controlling, as superior, or as normal. instead a transformed racial identity has emerged that celebrates our darker bodies.
finally, i do not intend to suggest that the term people of color is the prized solution in ending white oppression through some sense of racial solidarity. indeed, that is not the case. however, i do believe that there are very real and positive outcomes through the adoption of the people of color collective identity. unfortunately, since racial discourses are so complex, each and every term of identification has its shortcomings and complicit relationship with white supremacy.
------------
from:
http://blackademic.blogspot.com/2006/03/i-am-person-of-color-for-what-its.html
i recently read rachel's post that asked if we can come up with another term for "marginalized people." in her posting, she made some comments regarding the term "people of color" that i felt an urge to respond to.
My problem with that term is threefold. First, the term is completely power neutral, and second it reinforces the racial language of color. I also keep thinking: are there people without color? Then I wonder if the term reinforces the normativity of Whiteness and the notion that Whites are somehow raceless.
i call myself a person of color for a number of strategic reasons. the main reason being, it allows me to feel safe--it allows me to feel included--it allows me to feel some sense of solidarity with other people who exist in similar social positions as i do. by calling myself a person of color, i willingly adopt a collective identity that extends far beyond my identification as a black woman. i personally think this collective identity, is no different than other collective identities that are based on shared traits or beliefs, rather they be sexual, political, religious, or cultural. this specific identity is based on a common history of exploitation, the systematic refusal of basic democratic and civil rights, limited political participation, racist legislature, and the overall socioeconomic disenfranchisement of racilized bodies that maintains the instituionalized power held by those who are seen as white.
first off, i think it is impossible to engage in discourses of race while avoiding the issue of skin color. without color, discussions on race would not exist. we live in a racialized society where our skin color defines our experiences--period. that is the essence of amerikkka, the fate of this country since the europeans first arrived with genocide and slavery to follow. if we leave out the issue of color, then we resort to a color-blind critique of racism that ignores the unique histories of people of color, locally and globally.
second, i don't think that the term, people of color is power neutral. it does not erase the racial heirarchies, class differences, citizenship status of all the brown people in this country--and i don't think it intends to. the essence of the term acknowledges issues of difference but speaks to a unity within those differences. it criticizes the black/white binary that seems to dominate discourses of race and subsequently unearths the hybrid and nuanced racial identities, and the intersections of power in a society that privileges white bodies over other bodies.
of course one could argue then, that the term sets up a white/of color binary, and unfortunately it does. but i personally don't see it possible to not have a white vs. other binary, since whiteness is naturalized in every fiber of the amerikkkan structure. whiteness can only exist in opposition to something other than itself. it is in it's nature to be in a constant struggle for superiority if everyone else is seen and treated as inferior. however, i do see racial solidarity amongst similarily oppressed groups as a challenge to destroying this binary. it is within the spaces of the white vs. other dichotomy, that spaces of resistance are allowed to exist--the powerful forces of white supremacy are always at battle with the powerful forces of racial and social justice.
third, i do not think the term deems whites as raceless nor do i think it reinforces white normativity. calling oneself a person of color is an act of resistance that reflects a conscious self-identification that denies the desire to be white and the appropriation of a white identity. whiteness is no longer seen as controlling, as superior, or as normal. instead a transformed racial identity has emerged that celebrates our darker bodies.
finally, i do not intend to suggest that the term people of color is the prized solution in ending white oppression through some sense of racial solidarity. indeed, that is not the case. however, i do believe that there are very real and positive outcomes through the adoption of the people of color collective identity. unfortunately, since racial discourses are so complex, each and every term of identification has its shortcomings and complicit relationship with white supremacy.
------------
from:
http://blackademic.blogspot.com/2006/03/i-am-person-of-color-for-what-its.html
