People WITHOUT Color

We’ve all heard it, we’ve all said it: “People of Color.” I’ve thought about that phrase a lot.

When anyone uses the phrase “People of Color,” they are referencing non-white people or more specifically, non-white-people-of-European-origin.

The thing about language is that it shapes our worldview and in this case, using a phrase like “People of Color” automatically sets “white” as the baseline for what should be considered “normal.” So non-white people are automatically differing from the norm and all too often, are seen as “less than” or “abnormal.”

It’s hard to see unless you flip the script. Just for fun, try referring to white people as “People WITHOUT Color” whenever you refer to any white person or group of white people. What this does is reset the baseline of normal to whatever NON-white is so now white people are the ones who are different.

If we all said “People without Color” when referencing white people and just referred to non-whites as “People” (just as we currently do with white people), then the worldview we have unconsciously accepted will be turned on its head and maybe, just maybe, some of this racism that’s literally woven into the fabric of our language will eventually go away.