I know my question doesn’t make much sense so let me giev you an example.
You area at a party and there is is like 30 white guys and one black guy. You want to point out the black guy to your friend for whatever reason. Maybe he is dating your sister or goes to your school or something.
Is it racist to say “That black guy over there” instead of “That tall guy in the corner” or “The guy with the beard” or something simliar?
As far as I know, you always use the most distinguishing feature to describe someone which in this case is that he is black. Very easy for your friend to see who you are talking about.
I was told, by a white guy, that this is a rascist way to single out the black guy.
The white guy who told you that is overcompensating and trying to look “enlightened,” but he ends up just looking foolish.
“Tall guy”? There may be more than one in the room in your example. “Guy with a beard”? Ditto. “Black guy” is as inoffensive as either of the others since it merely describes a physical feature. It’s no worse than tall guy, bearded guy, red-headed guy, guy in wheelchair…
agree with the above posters.
however, i do think it is a borderline case when you hear people refer to peoples colour when it has nothing to do with the issue at hand “this black astrophysist thinks blahblahblah” for example. Unless his or her ethnicity has specific relevance to the story. It is not neccessarily racist in itsself, but it does have me wondering what your point is.
Not necessarily. I once referred to a black friend as being black and she let me know that the proper term was African American. As I told her, I will be happy to use whichever term is excepted - but stop changing it every few years!
As far as the OP goes though, no, I don’t think so. Same friend and I’m at her wedding. I was one of only 3 white men there. I overheard a man tell the DJ that the [insert my type of car here] belonged to “that white dude over there.” I wasn’t offended and can’t see how it was racist.
Mentioning that someone is black is not inherently racist, no more than mentioning that someone is blond. However, the intent behind the remark may make it racist–if, for example, the implication that the blonde is dumb or that the black is athletic is behind the comment. While it makes sense to be aware of innocently meant words that could be hurtful to others, it can sometimes be racist to excessively tiptoe around common sense matters.
Black is it, as far as I know. I think it was Larry Elders who once said that (paraphrasing) most American blacks have never set foot in Africa, most never will, and most know nothing of the culture so calling themselves African in any way is silly. - DougC
It isn’t racist if it’s the simplest way to point someone else. Someone asked Miss Manners this question once, and she answered that people think this is rude because people started objecting to exchanges like:
“the intent behind the remark may make it racist–if, for example, the implication that the blonde is dumb or that the black is athletic is behind the comment.”
A perfect example of people OVERREACTING. Saying “blacks are athletic” may be stereotypical, but racist? Can you imagine a bunch of klansmen at a meeting and trying to use this as an insult? IMO, blacks being athletic or having large birdies is a stereotype I would love to have.
I find the whole discussion foolish. Kind of reminds me of the SNL skit “that black girl,” where John Lovitz keeps trying to describe the winner of an audition, but all of her characteristics are shared by her three competitors. Not until he gets irritated with the confusion does he finally scream that the “black” girl won.
No, it’s not racist. I’m pretty sure people refer to me as the “black girl” behind my back, and I don’t mind just as long as people notice other things about me besides my skin color. Like my big-ass hair.
Blalron makes an excellent point: How stupid would it be to say “do you see that INDIVIDUAL OF INDETERMINATE GENDER up there with a cigar wearing a tux? The one with the mole on his cheek and the beard?”
Would you be offended to be pointed out as “that white guy over there?” Neither would I.
My poor dad. He is 83, and when he was growing up, African Americans were called “colored.” So that is how he referred to them until I explained that was denigrating to a whole race of people. People he genuinely doesn’t think are in any way different from anyone else.
So he made a really big effort to start referring to African Americans as “black.” And he managed to change, too, which I think is pretty remarkable in a man his age. They get kind of set in their ways, you know?
So one day he was talking about someone at our church, and he couldn’t remember the guy’s name. He was trying to tell me who it was, and I couldn’t figure out who he meant. Finally dad said “You know, he is REALLY tall…and he’s black.” I said “Oh, you mean the African American man who works at the college? I don’t know his name.”
The look on his face was just priceless…he said “But you said black people prefer to be referred to as BLACK!”
So I would be eternally grateful if someone would tell me that “black” is the preferred descriptive word. I stumble over African American myself, and I don’t think dad has it in him to change aGAIN! But we also want to honor our fellow man by whatever they want to be called if the situation occurs that we need to describe someone.
I think the problem, if there is one, is not with the term “black” itself. It would instead be with refering to a person’s “blackness” in such a way that it seems to suggest that all that matters about a black person is that they are black, that all black people are alike, or that being black is in and of itself so unusual that it is worthy of remark. It is certainly not always racist to mention a person’s race, or to describe them as being a member of that race, but if you are mentioning it when you would not mention the race of a white person in a parellel situation then you should probably question why you are doing so.
I have noticed that white people rarely mention that another person is white. It seems to be generally assumed that the listener will understand that the person being described is white unless told otherwise. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard one white person point another white person out as simply “that white guy/girl over there”. Given this, “that black guy/girl” seems a bit odd, and not terribly helpful either. In the situation described in the OP I’d probably go with “that tall black guy with the beard”.
