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The independent student news site of San Diego Mesa College.

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The Mesa Press

The Mesa Press

Subliminal racism lies within everyday speech

Many people go about their lives, saying assortments of phrases without ever thinking too much about what is being said. There are times people spew out combinations of words that are subliminally negative. Then there are microaggressions which are subtle, yet offensive comments. These phrases are typically reserved for those who do not have western features, or are perceived to be outsiders.
For example, we can look at the phrase “you’re cute for a latina girl.” This type of statement has no positive connotation, but people say it. Variations of this phrase, “pretty for a black girl,” “attractive for a white girl,” and the like, are backhanded compliments.
No matter how it is said, it is literally a way of saying that this individual is good looking for someone of that race. Whether or not it’s a “race thing,” or however you look at it, it is a terrible comment to make, even with good intentions.
It also does not matter who says it: whether they be black, white, male, female. These comments fall into the list of comments that, actually, should not be said. And it isn’t even under the pretenses that the person getting offended by it is “sensitive,” or a “snowflake.” What’s being said is actually a drag on an entire race— as if that race isn’t attractive or nice looking.
That being said, it doesn’t mean that one isn’t allowed to lack attraction to a race, they just don’t get to impose their standard of beauty on everyone else. It isn’t racist either, but people should be accountable for the things they say.
One can instead go about it in a way that gets the point across without being offensive. Just by saying the individual is attractive or cute. No one asked for the extra part about how you don’t find a certain race all that attractive— you can keep that to yourself.
Other commonly used phrases that should be taken out of every day speech are the ones that are used to classify the actions of a race. Such as calling an angry, or upset, black person “ghetto,” or a loud latina girl “crazy.”
In terms of the use of the word “ghetto,” the word actually means “a quarter of a city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure.” According to Merriam-Webster. In no way does this word mean to be loud, or angry. Meaning, people should stop being so generalizing of a race, and calling them that.
Regardless, there are parts of everyday language that should most definitely be reevaluated in terms of if we should actually start, as a society, to restrain from saying them.

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