Why is it that whites are "white"...

[KrazyHorse]

and blacks are "black", but "the red man" and "yellow devils" are deemed offensive?

[Drake Tungsten]

Well, putting "devils" after anything seems like it would be offensive.

That being said, I'm not even sure First Nations and Asians are really that offended by being called "red" or "yellow". The perceived offensiveness of the terms might just be a white point-of-view that hasn't been countered with a minority view due to the lower cultural profile of First Nations and Asians in comparison to blacks.

[Drake Tungsten]

I find the term "First Nations" to be hilarious, btw. Is there anything more Canadian than following an American trend (in this case, the PC decision to phase out the term "indian") while making sure you do so in a way that really, really shows everyone that you're not American? You could've just used "Native American" and claimed it referred to the continent and not the country, but that wasn't pointlessly independent enough for you...

[Ben Kenobi]

Don't get me started on 'First Nations'. God I hate the term.

I usually use Indian or Native, or the name of the tribe I happen to be referring too.

[Theben]

Invoking God's name to call down hate? Tsk tsk...

[Imran Siddiqui]

Red is also the color of communism, so I can see why Native Americans would be loath to be referred to by that term

[KrazyHorse]

I find the term "First Nations" to be hilarious, btw. Is there anything more Canadian than following an American trend (in this case, the PC decision to phase out the term "indian") while making sure you do so in a way that really, really shows everyone that you're not American? You could've just used "Native American" and claimed it referred to the continent and not the country, but that wasn't pointlessly independent enough for you...

As I recall, there was some resistance by Native groups in being referred to as "Native"...

[KrazyHorse]

Also, did you know that the UN council on racism (or whatever) objects to the term "visible minority" used in Canada to refer to blacks, Natives, Asians (South and East), Hispanics, Arabs, etc.?

[MikeH]

I'd have thought that invisible people are a very small minority. But hard to count them.

[Caligastia]

Red is also the color of communism, so I can see why Native Americans would be loath to be referred to by that term

Bearing that in mind, I find it weird to hear Republican states being referred to as "red states"? Surely the Democrats should be "red"?

[KrazyHorse]

I'd have thought that invisible people are a very small minority. But hard to count them.

[KrazyHorse]

Hmm. Apparently First Nations peoples are not counted in "visible minorities" according to Statscan.

Also, one point that I did recall: the Metis and the Inuit are not First Nations; together, all three groups are "aboriginals".

[Imran Siddiqui]

Bearing that in mind, I find it weird to hear Republican states being referred to as "red states"? Surely the Democrats should be "red"?

According to wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_states_and_blue_states

As late as 1996, there was still no universal association of one color with one party.[7] If anything, by 1996, color schemes were relatively mixed, as CNN, CBS, ABC, and The New York Times referred to Democratic states with the color blue and Republican ones as red, while Time Magazine and the Washington Post used an opposite scheme.[8][9][10]

In the days following the protracted 2000 election, major media outlets began conforming to the same color scheme because the electoral map was continually in view and conformity made for easy and instant viewer comprehension. On Election Night that year there was no coordinated effort to code Democratic states blue and Republican states red; the association gradually emerged. Partly as a result of this eventual and near-universal color-coding, the terms "red states" and "blue states" entered popular usage in the weeks following the 2000 presidential election. Journalists began to routinely refer to "blue states" and "red states," even before the 2000 election was settled.[citation needed] After the results were final, journalists stuck with the color scheme, as the December 2001 The Atlantic's cover story by David Brooks entitled, "One Nation, Slightly Divisible" illustrated. Thus, red and blue became fixed in the media and in many people's minds,[11] despite the fact that no "official" color choices had been made by the parties.

[Caligastia]

Interesting...I didn't know it was such a recent thing.

[Caligastia]

Hmm. Apparently First Nations peoples are not counted in "visible minorities" according to Statscan.

Also, one point that I did recall: the Metis and the Inuit are not First Nations; together, all three groups are "aboriginals".

What about Eskimos?