The person who told me I used it offensively didnt really explain why to me. I've avoided saying the word for years straight now. I still don't know how to say the word ethnic appropriately.
I can't help but think I might have said it with a colonial perspective
Btw, why is it perfectly fine here?
Okay so not using the word ethnic to say "nonwhite" is about tearing down the curtain on whiteness and its nature.
This makes complete sense. Thanks for getting it across to me.
That's a sad yet kinda funny way to put it, the sinister nature of Whiteness is so dumb. So even though many white people feel they're not racist, many won't acknowledge how they take advantage of their whiteness and how its imposed on people of color. Sneakily, it's in lack of acknowledgement of privilege that Whiteness can thrive. It's in lack of acknowledgememt of the "othering." You won't look at the problems of "othering." Resulting in continuation of white-centric societies.
I was conscious of some of this, but didn't know how to put the pieces together into one picture.