Take it easy Jim. People of color is the term used for those racial minorites who's overt race puts them in a group that has a history (long and recent) of being discriminated against in a systematic way.
Having someone from that group in a position of power or decision-making, can help break down some of those systematic barriers. Having someone who has the heritage, but not the experience (hence my statement of 'overt race') of how that particular group is treated may earn sympathy, but the reality is not the same, and much of the time niether is the commitment. It crosses class, trust me on that. There are African American judges and wealthy business owners who tell the same story as the teenager on the corner or city worker when dealing with cops, and other aspects society where race is an issue. For example: In 2004, I still had to have my white staffers hail a cab for me in Philly and New York. Having a council member experience that consistently will temper his/her view on taxi issues that come before them more so than someone who finds out they have African American heritage a couple of generations ago. Caring people are great, but they are not as committed to right some of the wrongs as those who are subjected to it. You need both. Eric Mitchell- fmr Mpls Civil Rights Commissioner Saint Paul --- gemgram <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I am sorry, but what color is people of color? > People throw around the term > as if it only means Black. Robert Lillegren does > have Indian heritage. Who > knows what other Council Member might be something > other than WHITE? Where > is the drive to get a Hispanic person on the > Council? An Asian? Hey, or > even a poor white person? (I consider poor white > people to have color > also). Hey, and what about us generic mutts that are > several colors rolled > into one. > > We need qualified caring people, what ever the color > of their skin, lets > drop this numbers game and concentrate on quality, > not color. > > Jim Graham, > Ventura Village __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact 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 Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
