Shaira Tasnia
Some people have falsely assumed that even saying “Black” or “Brown” is an act of racism.
In a workshop I attended two years ago or so with a black social studies professor, she had us say “Black” out loud, and call her “Black” as an exercise. She said that she is proud to be Black, and that people shouldn’t be scared to call her so. All that does is impede important conversations and discussions.
Just saying these words neutrally to describe others is not inherently racist, since it doesn’t necessarily inspire hostility, discrimination, violence, et cetera.
In fact, assuming that these words are racist might be the actual racist sentiment, since that would be saying you feel negative things when you hear “Black” or “Brown,” which should be objectively neutral or even positive descriptions.
For example, “brown” as a term has connotations of South Asian culture.
If someone is proud to be South Asian, they may relate to or feel positive about this label.
At the very least, they would feel a sense of acceptance towards the fact that their skin is brown, and see it as a neutral description.
Think about it. If you were trying to describe someone to another person that has never seen them before, would sharing the colour of their skin not be very helpful, especially in a diverse city like Toronto? What else would you do, assume their ethnicity based on looks? A person that looks brown or black can be a plethora of specific ethnicities. In the Bangladeshi community especially, we have a spectrum of physical appearances. I have Bangladeshi friends that look Afghani, Mexican, East Asian, Tamil, African. We have extremely light-skinned people, but richly dark-skinned people as well.
Although wanting to use the correct words is a commendable sentiment, let us not be afraid to label and name things in moderation. Labelling things and having words for concepts is essential to discussing and understanding them. If you don’t believe me, which I can understand since I sometimes don’t believe myself, believe the black social studies professor that imparted this wisdom to me, and many others.
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