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
>