One of our Twitter followers asked that I clarify the terms people of color and minorities. Minorities is an easy one. People of color not so much so let’s take the easy one first.
I do not like the term minority as it suggests that those who are so labeled are less than, not just in numbers maybe but also in power and equality. It is truly an oxymoron to say “minorities are now the majority”, which is the case in many geographic regions in The United States. If a group is in the majority, how can they be the minority? What are we really trying to convey? Is the deeper polarizing meaning that even though the numbers have shifted, the new majority will continue to be treated as “less than” as it relates to equal opportunities.
As a case in point, women comprise more than half of the population and half of the workforce but still hold disproportionately fewer seats of power in the global world, and face pay and other inequities. In this regard the majority is treated in a “less than” way. Rather than minority, I recommend we use the term that describes the group. For example, “African Americans represent xx percent of our workforce” and so on with other groups. For me, the term minority is outdated and should not be used.
People of color is a term that was actually used as far back as 1797 and showed up in Martin Luther King, Jr. speeches too but widespread use of the term started in the 1990’s in the US. The term is not commonly used outside of the US and is not readily accepted by all groups in this country who might be so classified. People of color describes those who are not white and encompasses blacks, Asians, Latinos, mixed race, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders (US classifications). Looking at the transition of terms to describe people who are not white, “the use of the phrase “colored people” (most in the US consider this term offensive today, but not so in Europe or South Africa) peaked in books published in 1970. For “minorities,” the top-ranked year was 1997. Since then, the term has steadily declined but continues to significantly outstrip the use of “people of color,” which reached its apex in 2003.”
People who object to this term think it is inappropriate to lump everybody who is not white into one category which assumes that all people who are not white are the same.
I am not sure that I like the term people of color, either, although I do use it. Why can’t we just say Native American, black, Latino, mixed race, if we need to define someone by that aspect of their identity.
What are your thoughts on the use of the terms minority and people of color?
Continued good work. Did you know the origin of the word minority means “minor player.?
Regarding your question I use Hispanic/Latino interchangeably as well as African American and black.
In my own family I have Jamaican, Tongan, so like you I prefer to call out actual skin color or ethnicity.
We are training new groups of people along with some re-treds who are finally having to deal with a changing demographic. Good job my friend.