P.C. and People by S. G., Saco, ME



African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, Native American, Caucasian - these are (if they have not changed recently) the politically correct terms used for different races in the United States. I disagree with, and I refuse to use any of them. Let me tell you why.

Simply, they are eurocentric and racist. What? How? Well, let me tell you. They preach what I would call mental segregation. Simply, they are a way of separating people. They build a wall between peoples. Let me give you an example.

I am standing next to a person of about the same age who has a dark brown skintone and slightly different standard facial features than I do. We are standing side by side, no barriers, just people. Suddenly someone comes along, maybe it's you, and calls me Caucasian and calls the person standing next to me an African American. Suddenly there is a wall between us. We are no longer just two people standing side by side, now we are a Caucasian and an African American standing side by side. You have separated us. You have just practiced mental segregation.

While it is true that we are different from one another physically, we know that this is not what defines a person as a person. It is rather the thoughts and emotions that dwell in one's heart and mind that make one truly a person. A person, not a Caucasian, or an African American, or any other term for that matter, just a person. Just another human being with both vices and strengths for the world to see.