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?

  • HexaSnoot [none/use name]
    hexagon
    ·
    edit-2
    3 days ago

    "Thus, Whiteness, White supremacy, and White privilege are three interlocking forces that disguise racism so it may allow White people to oppress and harm persons of color while maintaining their individual and collective advantage and innocence. If we are to overcome, or at least minimize the forces of racism, we must make Whiteness visible. As long as Whiteness remains invisible and is equated with normality and superiority, People of Color will continue to suffer from its oppressive qualities."

    Okay so not using the word ethnic to say "nonwhite" is about tearing down the curtain on whiteness and its nature.

    "The problem lies in otherizing non-white cultures by lumping them together as ethnic."

    This makes complete sense. Thanks for getting it across to me.

    "Whiteness is implicitly seen as normal, default, and idealized while Blackness is lumped together "over there"."

    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.