BRAVE NEW FILMS. Why are white people expats when the rest of us are immigrants? In the lexicon of human migration there are still hierarchical words, created with the purpose of putting white people above everyone else.
One of those remnants is the word “expat”. What is an expat? And who is an expat? According to Wikipedia, “an expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than that of the person’s upbringing. The word comes from the Latin terms ex (‘out of’) and patria (‘country, fatherland’)”. Defined that way, you should expect that any person going to work outside of his or her country for a period of time would be an expat, regardless of his skin colour or country. Africans are immigrants. Don’t take my word for it. The reality is the same in Africa and Europe.
Most white people deny that they enjoy the privileges of a racist system. Mawuna Remarque Koutonin is the editor of SiliconAfrica.com, where this blog was first published. Join our community of development professionals and humanitarians. Derogatory Racial Terms to Avoid in Public. "Spanish" Is Not the Catch-All Term for Spanish-Speaking Peoples Ever heard a person referred to as “Spanish” who isn’t from Spain but simply speaks Spanish and has Latin American roots?
In some parts of the country, particularly cities in the Midwest and on the East Coast, it’s commonplace to refer to any such person as “Spanish.” Sure, the term doesn’t carry the baggage that terms such as “Oriental” or “Indian” do, but it’s factually inaccurate. Also, like the other terms covered, it lumps diverse groups of people together under an umbrella category. In actuality, the term “Spanish” is quite specific. 15 Phrases “Progressives” Need To Ditch (And What We Can Say Instead) One of the most frustrating things about being a progressive has been watching conservatives win the big fights over and over again over the past four decades.
Why do right-wing extremists keep winning when their agenda has proven so bad for America? It’s partly because they’ve taken over the conversation and have set the terms of the debate by choosing the actual words we use to discuss the issues we care about. We need to take a long, hard look at phrases we keep using, and that we seriously need to ditch. Male as the Neutral Default. A new example prompts us to re-post this fun one from 2010.
We’ve posted in the past about the way in which “male” is often taken to be the default or neutral category, with “female” a notable, marked, non-default one. For instance, the Body Worlds exhibit, “regular” t-shirts are men’s, Best Buy assumes customers are male, stick figures on signs are generally male, and default avatars tend to be male. We’ve collected several more examples of the tendency to present men as the norm, while women are a marked, non-default category. 3 Common Complaints About Political Correctness (That Completely Miss the Point) My most (and least) favorite thing about the term “political correctness” is that it’s basically meaningless.
It’s become shorthand for saying “Ideas that I happen to find ridiculous are being taken seriously by a lot of people, and it’s ruining this country,” which makes its definition entirely subjective – and therefore arbitrary. For example, a person who’s all for same-sex marriage might scoff at gender-neutral restrooms as political correctness gone too far. Because apparently, political correctness only goes “too far” when it applies to the unfamiliar, the not-often-talked about, the marginal, the stigmatized.
The thing is, there is nothing so sacred or precious about language or communication that people can’t seek ways to be sensitive and inclusive about its use. If White Characters Were Described Like People Of Color In Literature. 14 Annoying Things Native Americans Hear From Non-Natives. Linguists to New York Times: 'Illegal' Is Neither 'Neutral' nor 'Accurate' Updated 10/14/2013, 12:08PM José Manuel Godínez-Samperio, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico says that he wants to be called "undocumented" because "illegal" is "dehumanizing," and "justifies the oppression against immigrants.
" For some, his mere preference for the term "undocumented" over "illegal" is irrelevant. But, the technical accuracy of terms may hold more weight in this ongoing debate over these words. In response to the Associated Press and The New York Times' continued use of the term "illegal immigrant", a group of linguists have taken a stand, arguing that the phrase "illegal immigrant" isn't as neutral or accurate as the two media companies claim it to be. After immigration activist Jose Antonio Vargas launched a campaign to monitor the use of the term by major news outlets, The New York Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan started an investigation of her own.