4 ms·

Not the OP, but someone else who was unaware BIPOC was problematic. TIL! Read up a bit on it -- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_of_color#BIPOC https://en

Not the OP, but someone else who was unaware BIPOC was problematic. TIL! Read up a bit on it -- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_of_color#BIPOC https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_of_color#BIPOC has some more context.

lost_tourist 4y ago
It isn't problematic, only a tiny percentage of people will take issue with it. I think POC is just more common and good enough for informal discussion on the internet.
- rayiner 4y ago
  It absolutely is problematic. It’s a term adopted primarily by white people to articulate a racial hierarchy that places certain groups as “first among equals.” Most people won’t take issue with it only because they don’t know what it is. (My entire family is “BIPOC” and I don’t think any of them are familiar with the term.) “People of color” is only modestly better. It’s also a new term adopted primarily by white people. It lumps together groups that have little in common except from the perspective of white people. Virtually no minorities outside of white-dominated spaces (universities, etc.) identify as “people of color.”
  - milky-taste 4y ago
  - PhasmaFelis 4y ago
    > “People of color” is only modestly better. It’s also a new term adopted primarily by white people. The History section of the Wikipedia link above seems to disagree. It sounds like "people of color" was heavily promoted and endorsed by black groups during and after the civil rights movement.
    - rayiner 4y ago
      Most non-whites in the US today are not black and have no connection to the black civil rights movement. Applying black civil rights terminology to all non-whites is definitely a white people thing. I suspect my experience with the term “person of color” is typical: the first time that label was used on me was by the overwhelmingly white administration at Northwestern University. I had never encountered the term before.
    - oneoff786 4y ago
      It varies wildly by geography what sub cultures prefer.
    - lost_tourist 4y ago
      It's mostly only the most progressive white people I've met that have all this "trouble" with descriptions like POC. Same people who like to push LatinX

lost_tourist 4y ago

It isn't problematic, only a tiny percentage of people will take issue with it. I think POC is just more common and good enough for informal discussion on the internet.

rayiner 4y ago
It absolutely is problematic. It’s a term adopted primarily by white people to articulate a racial hierarchy that places certain groups as “first among equals.” Most people won’t take issue with it only because they don’t know what it is. (My entire family is “BIPOC” and I don’t think any of them are familiar with the term.) “People of color” is only modestly better. It’s also a new term adopted primarily by white people. It lumps together groups that have little in common except from the perspective of white people. Virtually no minorities outside of white-dominated spaces (universities, etc.) identify as “people of color.”
- milky-taste 4y ago
- PhasmaFelis 4y ago
  > “People of color” is only modestly better. It’s also a new term adopted primarily by white people. The History section of the Wikipedia link above seems to disagree. It sounds like "people of color" was heavily promoted and endorsed by black groups during and after the civil rights movement.
  - rayiner 4y ago
    Most non-whites in the US today are not black and have no connection to the black civil rights movement. Applying black civil rights terminology to all non-whites is definitely a white people thing. I suspect my experience with the term “person of color” is typical: the first time that label was used on me was by the overwhelmingly white administration at Northwestern University. I had never encountered the term before.
  - oneoff786 4y ago
    It varies wildly by geography what sub cultures prefer.
  - lost_tourist 4y ago
    It's mostly only the most progressive white people I've met that have all this "trouble" with descriptions like POC. Same people who like to push LatinX