This is me.
twitter.com/ayodeejay:
Before I start writing, I want to apologize for neglecting my Tumblr. I’ve been occasionally posting pictures and all of that good stuff, but I really started this to express myself with words & not just replacements of words. I had finals & now I’m taking some summer classes that give you a lot of work in a little bit of time.. you know how that goes.
Anyway, I’m just going to tell a little story that happened a few weeks ago & today, and how it got my brain in thinking mode. I’m sure everyone has heard someone say that a black person “acts white” or a white person is “trying to be black.” Obviously, people are going to get offended by this. I’m not white because I talk proper, don’t rap, I’m not an NBA star, etc. Likewise, just because you can jump over 10 feet and run fast doesn’t make you black. It seems that certain characteristics are associated with whites and others with blacks, even though it’s not always the case. I’m sure people black people (or any other non-white person, for that matter) would rather be called something other than white - like “upstanding citizen” or “sophisticated” or something. And I’m sure other people don’t want to be called black when they’re not. Most people don’t want to be called something they’re not (unless they have an inferiority complex or something).
Here’s the thing though - if people that acted “white” were just called “upstanding citizen” or “proper” or something of the sort, does that really change anything? You still act the way you act, and it still means the same thing as it did before - that you act “white.” It’s just using a different word for the same definition. Sure it may sound better, but you’re still at the same place you started. And eventually a new word will mean the same thing as acting “black.” Like a hamster running on its wheel, you’re still where you were before.
It’s the same thing with other euphemisms. Like when you say someone is “less attractive” instead of “ugly,” a “developing country” instead of a “poor country,” an “urban community” instead of “the ghetto,” etc. I just feel like euphemisms aren’t really progressing anything - they make a bad thing sound better when it’s still bad. It’s false progress. Real progress would be doing something like breaking down the barriers that seem to classify certain actions as black and others as white. Or even helping that “developing country” develop.
Things have just become so politically correct that nothing seems to get done in fear of upsetting someone. It’s definitely a plus to make things better, but I don’t see the benefit in making things seem better than they are. Try to change the situation, not the word.
