David Wilson writes: > I'm with Jason on this one. Iam more than aware of the power of language. > But I never understood the "of color" adjetive. This politically correct > speech forces people to torture the language.
I disagree on many levels. First I disagree with the premise that the "of..." is a relatively new construct of the "politically correct." I may not be well read in history but I do know that I've never read of the "York Duke" it was always "Duke of York". I understand that the reasoning for the "of..." adjective has to do with the relative importance of each adjective that is being used describe a person or a person in a position, or more broadly a person or a person with a particular characteristic. For example: We refer to a Pope as "Pope John III" not "John III the Pope." This is because it is the position that is of greater importance than the particular person. Likewise we never refer to "Clinton of the Presidency" because the office will always be greater than any individual who has or is serving. Now returning to the Duke of York. Back in the day a person's title or status was far more important than where they were specifically from. So the fact that one was a Duke afforded them specific duties and privileges where ever they were in the kingdom. When the reporter referred to "colored officers," whether intentional or not a person reading that phrase could interpret that the writer considers the defining characteristic of a group of people the color of their skin, and the training and experience they have as officers is less important. Taken a step further, one may interpret that the reporter believes it is impossible for a person of color to do their job in an impartial manner and that the color of their skin will dictate how they do their job. I hope and believe that everyone who has written questioning the importance of the "of..." adjective recognizes that this ridiculous. I hope and believe that we all understand that everyone should be "judged by the character of their heart and not the color of their skin." Unfortunately, not everyone is so enlightened. Until such time as every person sees first a person, and secondarily sees a person of color, the construct of language will remain important. Randall Cutting A human of the male sex A person without physical disability An American from a Blue State (maybe this one should be the other way) A person whose skin color was determined by Scottish/English heritage not character of heart A Minnesotan from Minneapolis A Minneapolitan from Seward REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
