The above descriptors are quite lucid in foreign countries, so why should the Western World have to convolute them? Why should I be offended at being called a white man? When visiting the multi-racial country of Mexico, I am regularly called "white man."
I was probably travelling in different countries and reading different things, but I missed the discussions on political correctness. However, I do think it would be simpler to get back to the designation of black man, rather than colored or Afro-American or whatever is deemed politically correct. Why should that be derogatory? I would respectfully invite the opinion of the bright writer, Oliver Willis to comment on this issue.
Why can't we call white people white and black people black, as in many other countries in the world? If you travel the world and listen to the local people talking about each other and you will find that the color of a person's skin is a useful descriptor and by no means offensive.
The foolishness of bending to people's whims on changing the language can be seen in the stupidity that Mitch Wagner reports in reference to an article on nomenclature.
Laugh at, but please do not ignore such reports. Do something about it, by contacting your political representative. We do not need more insane laws being passed. It costs taxpayer money in their enactment and probably in their enforcement too. Besides, it would cost not only big businesses, but also small businesses a tidy fortune to comply. Look at video, computer, automotive parts, etc. It just makes life too complicated and is really too frivolous.
So at the risk of offending the person who filed the discriminatory action and those who carried it further, I would politely suggest to forget it. Their attitude is narrow minded and although the filer's ancestors quite likely originated from another country, his actions suggest that he has not traveled much. Nobody can influence their origins, nor change history.
He clearly has not considered that if such a law were enacted, it would affect small companies more than larger ones. Many small company owners are inundated in keeping up with bureaucracy and this definitely affects their profitability. Large companies are better equipped to deal with this, so the result will probably be fewer small companies competing in the marketplace. You can judge whether that is a good idea.
Furthermore, readers should demand that the judiciary throw out frivolous actions, so that unscrupulous politicians cannot use such cases to further their personal careers.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
