5 ms·
> why don't we call "white" people "European-Americans"? Because black was considered denigrating/slur, and white isn’t.
by tgv 5y ago
> why don't we call "white" people "European-Americans"?
Because black was considered denigrating/slur, and white isn’t.
- imbnwa 5y ago> Because black was considered denigrating/slur, and white isn’t. The argument is that "White" is necessarily a denigrating term in its primary use of absolving European bodies of emplacement/embodiment/historicity over and against virtually everyone else on Earth. That "White" is a synonym for "European" is a more tenuous and fragile link than it may appear and much intellectual labor has gone into the maintenance of this link over time; hence why the apparatus of Race is so concerned with demonstrating that "race has always existed" and hence why "White" does not appear to be a denigrating term (to certain people). The history of Irish and Italians in America and their ultimate integration is another concrete demonstration of this negotiation.
- allturtles 5y agoBy whom, when? I'm not aware of 'black' ever being considered a racial slur. It's still used in mainstream, left-leaning publications like the New York Times.