The term "people of color"
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The increasing use of the term "people of color" does not have the same meaning as the older "colored people" either in its definition or its connotation. The term has emerged for the same reason as a number of other terms to refer to different ethnic groups in recent years, because of increased sensitivity on the part of affected people who object to certain older terms but whoa t the same time want to have a group identity that sets them apart in some way. The idea of completely eliminating all ethnic and racial labels is not possible because members of different racial and ethnic groups want to have a separate group identification as part of their expression of racial and ethnic pride--they might object to certain terms, but they want a term that does give them a special identity. The term "people of color" has come into being as a broader term than any specific racial or ethnic label. It refers indeed not to any specific racial group but to all of those groups that are not considered white. People of color is an inclusive term drawing different groups together, showing that they have a common bond because on the one hand they have been discriminated against, treated as different, and probably denied full participation in American society, and on the other hand because they take pride in their differences and want to express that pride through the use of this term. The older term "colored people" referred specifically to blacks and to no other group, while "people o
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those who can be considered "people of color" find that they have much more in common because they are people of color than might be evident under a different system of labeling. The labels usually used for these different groups are divisive, while this term is inclusive.
At the same time, the use of the term can give the impression that people of color have more in common with one another than they actually do. In many ways, the term perpetuates old ideas about skin color and the supposed value of the person beneath differently shaded skin. While it brings together people of color, it pushes away those who are white and contributes to the gulf between whites and others in society.
The overarching topic of Ward Churchill's article is embodied in the title--"Crimes Against Humanity"--and it is in this title that he is able to link such seemingly disparate elements as sports team names and the Nuremberg trials. He begins by discussing the growing controversy over various names and symbols used by sports teams to evoke images of Native Americans--the Atlanta Braves, the Cleveland Indians, the Washington Redskins, and so on. Churchill notes how Native Americans oppose the use of these names and the images that evoke a fal
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1590
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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