Racist issue 2

Letter by Donald Rooum, London

ImageYour triumphant heading, ‘an issue created entirely by people of colour’, suggests that people of colour (other than pink) are a special interest group. It may be said to imply, that everyone knows that pink people are superior to brown people, but nobody says so for fear of causing offence.

It is illogical and unpleasant, to segregate journal contributions according to the colour of the authors’ skins. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Editor response:

Thanks for your letter, Donald. All terminologies for race have problems. ‘Ethnic minorities’ can carry the implication that most humans are white, which is why some folk prefer ‘global majority’ to ‘ethnic minority’.

There’s a significant body of people of African, Asian (including West Asian or Middle Eastern), Latin American and indigenous descent who feel connected by their experience of dealing with and resisting white racism, who use the term ‘people of colour’ to signify our connection, and who feel empowered by it. We are a ‘special interest group’ and I’m proud to have edited the first issue of Peace News for us. I hope that the issue and the discussions around it will lead to more empowerment for people of colour. – Milan Rai

Topics: Race