General Etiquette > Life...in general

Isn't this a little too PC?

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Ko-Ko:
Wow, I've started so many threads in one day! This is a record for me. Anyway, today I went to the colorguard show at my school and my aunt went with me. I mentioned that a friend of mine was in it. When we saw the team standing together, she asked me who my friend was. They were all in their uniforms and all had the same hairstyle, so I couldn't identify her by that, so I said, "She's near the edge of the group, next to the Mexican girl."

My aunt then told me that I shouldn't be calling her Mexican, that the proper word was hispanic, and that I shouldn't be identifying people by their race. I told her that I was pretty sure that that only applied if you weren't sure of the person's actual nationality, like you shouldn't go calling all Hispanics Mexican, but I do know that she's from Mexico. And I don't go around calling people the Chinese guy, the Mexican guy, the black guy etc, but if somebody is looking for someone, and they ask me to describe them, one of the first things I will mention is skin color. After all, if someone is looking for Bob, and they find out Bob is black, they can ignore anybody who isn't black. I never thought of this as being rude. Thoughts?

Ko-Ko

caranfin:
It could be taken as rude because, while you knew she was Mexican, your aunt didn't, so it sounded like you were using the word "Mexican" interchangeably with "hispanic." (BTW, I knew a woman who thought the word "Mexican" itself was rude because her mother had used it as a derrogatory term.)

But referring to others by their nationality isn't really a good idea IMHO. First, it ends up feeling inappropriate because, if you live in a predominantly Caucasian country, you tend to use it only for non-white people. If she had been from Germany, would you have said "the German girl?" And second, it's not always understood. If she had been from Laos, and she was in a group with friends from Korea and China, would you have referred to her as "the Laotian?" Why not say "the one in the red sweater?"

Ko-Ko:
But I did explain to her the girl was definitely Mexican, yet still thought I was rude. And this case, all the girls were dressed exactly the same, so there was no other way to identify them.

Ko-Ko

FoxPaws:
I remember reading somewhere that Robert Rodriguez (film director) hated being called Hispanic - his family was Mexican, he had no idea where Hispan was. :-\

My point is, everybody is so ultra concerned that something is going to sound racist, you're bound to offend somebody no matter what you say. I don't think you did anything wrong, although next time you could say something like, "She's third from the left on the second row."

IndianInlaw:
My best friend is Mexican and everyone in her family says they are Mexican.  It's what they are!


My dental clinic, by the way, is PC.  When I first started going there, I had to call and ask a question.  The receptionist asked me which dentist (out of 2) I had seen.  I couldn't remember her name (I'm bad at names), so she asked me if I had seen the blonde one or the dark haired one.

Uh...the blonde one is white and the dark haired one is black.

Aspiring to be ruthlessly polite, I said the dark haired one.

I have since learned her name.

Thank goodness ::)

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