Ah yes, by all means let's use terms that are respecting of people, and as
someone reminded us, there is always the all important Cross reference to
direct people to the proper heading.
By the way, after all these years the LC heading "Afro-American" was
finally switched officially to "African American". This seems to be the
most common term these days. I'd never heard of the term "Afro-American"
myself, which I imagine could cause some trouble finding materials, unless
cross reference effectively..
-Karen
McCandlish
Monroe
Community College
Leroy V Good
Library
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Susan Gilbert Beck [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2001 1:27 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Why People first language is needed
You have forgotten "People of Color." (How does LC handle
that one?) And for
many, Black is not positive--for various reasons. African
American was once
all right, but I've read and heard that it is not always
preferred. The
point is that we are all people, and that humanity, the
right to live and be
received at some democratic mode of operation and
acceptance, and (as a
result) adaptive solutions, should spring from that vantage
point: people
first.
You can always get a pair of glasses if you have two ears to
support them.
No one thinks of that as a disability or, even, a handicap.
But if you are
lacking an ear in addition to needing those glasses, the
kids might make fun
of you beyond calling you "four-eyes," forgetting that you
are a person
(with an unusual challenge of having to hold your glasses in
place without
two ears). Think of it as building self esteem. This
discussion began re the
use of the word "People" and where that word should be
placed to remind us
of that very basic, important point.
The little boy with just one ear, by the way, is only 4.
He's a kid. Other
kids' perceptions are important. It's my experience that if
you present a
kid as a kid to other kids, that's how they treat him. If
you put him into a
group with goggles and no reminder that he's a kid first,
other kids, unless
they are super well brought up, bright, and sensitive, are
likely to treat
him as an oddity, forgetting that he is a person. I'm not
even going to
touch on people with psychological disabilities, but they
are people first,
too.
The hidden point here is that everybody's got something . .
. It's just
easier for some to appear as what the majority think of as
(able or normal)
people first in terms of our existence. We all need
reminding, and language
is a great place to begin. Presentation is everything to all
of us people
with . . . Think of it. Do you want to be identified first
by your
inabilities or abnormalcies? Like "unmusical Ted." Or "rude
Rita." Or
"hairless Hal." Or "bad driver Daisy." Or "huge-ego Hugo."
Maybe someday it'll be more relaxed, and that 4-year-old
will go to school
without introduction and explanation. But until he can, and
to build toward
that day, we'd better use the arrangement of language to
remind all of us of
the correct perception. In other words, he is NOT the
"ABSENT EAR,
weird-goggle-wearing kid," He's a KID with goggles because
he lacks an ear.
Even better, he's the kid with the beautiful blue eyes
behind the goggles,
great at running the 5 yard dash.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Library Access -- http://www.rit.edu/~easi
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Drew,
Bill
> Sent: Monday, July 23, 2001 11:37 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Why People first language is needed
>
>
> >Colored, Negro and Black mean the same thing.
> >There is a reason for using the correct terms!
>
> I don't think this is a fair comparison to handicapped and
disability.
> Colored and Negro have a definite negative meaning in
society. Black is
> positive. What I am asking is if the meaning of
disability is really any
> more positive than handicapped? I don't think so!
>
> Bill Drew
>
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