- By Jim Evans
- Entertainment
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Smart TalkSMART TALK by Dr. Viva Palaver
MINORITIES: What do we mean by minorities? And who is "we"? As staff psychologist at the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired, I always listen closely to patients' answers to these questions. One's language reveals more than education and social class.
Most white Americans use minorities to mask their racial prejudice, laughably claiming that any nonwhite group is a minority. The same white Americans try to show off their political correctness by saying African-Americans instead of Blacks or, say, Jamaican-Americans; and Asian-Americans instead of, say, Korean-Americans.
Apparently, white Americans have agreed to refer to groups of people by continent. By any measure, then, European-Americans thereby become a minority.
When my patients suddenly learn this, they often reveal insecurities, and we can begin to make progress.
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