In our third post of the semester, we will be questioning and dissecting the current defects within American Racial terminology and historical categorization based on minority racial experiences. The struggle of Anti-Blackness is global and comes from individuals from varying racial and ethnic backgrounds and that often includes individuals who are labeled as POC. We will interrogate the current terms and attempt to present a solution, this will be separated into 3 sections labeled and authored by the following, Problem by Rachel Kopniske, Context by A., and Solution by Obie Stillwell.
Problem: To get at the root of the tension between these two terms, we have to look at who they are used by and how they are employed in social contexts. In the racialized world, the term Black is used to refer to the racial category that was imposed on African people at the beginning of European colonization and imperialism. It currently refers to both African people and those of the diaspora. The signifier, Black, carries the meaning of the racial category, which is tied to a history of political struggle. The term person of color (POC) traces its popular use back to the Civil Rights Movement, where it was used by Black activists to tie together the struggles of racialized and colonized people worldwide. Although first used by Black activists, the term POC is largely used by white western people today.
How can this distinction contribute to anti-Blackness? Anti-Blackness pertains to the beliefs and practices that collectively erode the humanity of Black people (Unapologetic by Charlene Carruthers). What does it say that the majority of the people who use the term people of color are NOT people of color? It has something to do with recognition. The term groups together all non-white minorities and is often employed in the discussion of political issues such as police brutality, gentrification, and wealth inequality, which have been shown to impact Black people at disproportionately higher rates than other racial groups. Because of the political and seemingly moral connotations the word Black carries, POC is used as an alternative that allows white people to sidestep the uncomfortable feelings that naming race in a straightforward way brings up. Why not just refer to people as Black?
Context: Non-Black people conflate being a person of colour with being Black. Historically white supremacists called Black people coloured. This violently anti-Black term was used to solely define Black people by their colour, focusing not on their humanity, but on their race. As a result, Black theorists spoke militantly back to power, declaring themselves people of colour to place the emphasis on being people first. In addition to Black people being deemed coloured people, communities of Asian and indigenous North and South American people have also been called minorities or people of colour. This conflation was heavily popularized by the mobilization of the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense Chairman Hampton’s Rainbow Coalition which worked to unite Black and brown people of colour together to confront the white power structure. Years prior, Black actress and activist, Josephine Baker also theorized that overthrowing white supremacy could be done through people of colour standing as a united front against the white power structure. In fact, she adopted and raised children from different ethnic backgrounds, called the Rainbow Tribe, to accomplish this. She theorized that if children were raised anti-racist, they could tackle white supremacy head on. Although operating as a united front against white supremacy is beneficial, it fails to recognize the very vastly different injustices Black people experience. This results in the conflation of non-Black people of colour pitting their lived experiences with Black peoples’ dehumanization. The injustices non-Black people of colour face pale in comparison to the dehumanization of Black people. Therefore, the experience and identities of non-Black people of colour cannot be conflated with the lived experiences and identities of the Black community.
Solution: It’s interesting that there are so many different variations of “People of Color” v “Black” identifier that bring about variety of emotions from various generations. The response from someone who grew up in the 50s and 60s versus someone who grew up in the 70s and 80s and/or 90s versus those who are experiencing “Blackness” now, varies within the African – American community.
It is significantly different to say, “Colored People” versus “People of Color” we also must be conscious that “Black” or “Blackness” and more specifically Anti-Blackness has had its derogatory identification also. But I believe that from a political standpoint it is important to identify who you are speaking of, who you are speaking for, and whom the policy, law, regulation, or legislation is intended to affirm, progress, or reconcile.
Black people specifically experienced Jim Crow, Segregation and Redlining and these policies were specifically connected to skin color. Today, when many say “People of Color” they are being more inclusive of those individuals who are Bi-racial, Latin X, Asian and of African descent in the past 30 years.
There are still issues today that affect Black people that need to be addressed for Black people. If other racial categories received their “liberation” as a byproduct of “Black liberation;” so be it. But America must be extremely specific when speaking of policies that are to “right the wrongs” of historical Discrimination, Jim Crow and Segregation against Black people. As the wording that proceeds and defines any Legislation must be clear as these words that address the specific disenfranchisement of Blackness; also acts as a healing balm to the wombs of racial discord, in this great country we call America.
With an ever-evolving consciousness we now have a greater understanding of the impact that Black people being the only enslaved ethnic group on American soil has had. A dehumanizing, commercializing and criminalizing ideology of “Blackness” has forced the African American Community to arrest, indict and hold in custody the identifier of “Black” over the identifier of “People of Color”. In a desperate attempt to bring under submission a narrative that has strangled Black progress in America.
So, we as America must continue the plight of re-commercializing, re-defining and re-humanizing both of these terms “Black” and “People of Color” and in doing so, rewrite our own “united” narrative in which we truly begin to judge one another by the content of our character and not the color of our skin.