Re: Amerind an offensive term (was: Early Amerind assimilation

Gerold Firl (geroldf@sdd.hp.com)
13 Aug 1996 19:42:31 GMT

In article <hegeman-1008961716390001@ts19-7.slip.uwo.ca>, hegeman@wchat.on.ca (Toby Cockcroft) writes:

|> People whom for so long have been at the mercy and control of a dominant
|> culture have begun to assert themselves and gain control of their lives
|> through the act of self naming. However, the dominant culture always acts
|> to maintain control and the status quo. The hegemony of the dominant
|> culture appropriates the new terms diminishing their symbolic power.

So, when the negroes declared that they found the term "negro"
offensive, and wanted to be called "colored", and mainstream culture
said "ok, if that's what you want to be called, that's what we'll call
you", that diminished the symbolic power of the term? Then the colored
people decided that "black" would be better, but whitey was a little
too accomodating, so the blacks declared that they were "afro-american";
do you see how silly this is?

If you see bars in front of your eyes, then you're in a cage, even if
you're not in a cage.

-- 
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=---- Gerold Firl @ ..hplabs!hp-sdd!geroldf