July 17, 2023

Recently, Arizona Republican Eli Crane was rebuked for referring to “people of color” as “colored people.”

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That’s a controversy which would, at any other time in the history of the English language, be incomprehensible to a sensible reader.  After all, there’s no practical difference in the phrases.  In fact, the choice to give preference to the phrase “people of color” is worse than practically useless to an English speaker — it’s needlessly more burdensome to both the talker and the listener.  

Consider this formula with any other trait.  Would you refer to yourself as a “person of dark hair,” or a “dark-haired person?”  Would you call your wife a “woman of devotion,” or a “devoted woman?”  Or your friends that you admire in your community: would you refer to them as “people of good hearts,” or “good-hearted people?”

You know the latter of all those examples to be the most coherent because you speak English, and you would rightfully look askance at anyone who tells you that your kid is a “child of talent” rather than referring to him or her as a “talented child.” 

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But the point for the leftist language police isn’t about efficiency in communication.  It’s about power.  You will amend your language and speech patterns in uncomfortable and nonsensical ways in order to conform to a peculiar social order, or you will be socially pilloried for your refusal to do so by submitting to stupid new language rules that apply only to you.

In Eli Crane’s case, it was clearly a slip of the tongue.  But that doesn’t matter.  If Crane were a black man, he likely could have spoken the n-word without objection.  But, since he is a not, different rules apply to him. 

Democratic representative Joyce Beatty, who was once the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus asked for “unanimous consent to [strike] the words of referring to me or any of my colleagues as ‘colored people.’”   

And, so, the supposedly offensive reference to “people of color” as “colored people” was unanimously stricken from the record.  Eli Crane was forced to self-flagellate, telling Americans that he “misspoke.”  “Everyone is created in the image of God and created equal,” he said. 

That’s an odd sort of non-sequitur.  Black Americans are certainly created in the image of God, and created equal regardless of whether they’re referred to as “people of color” or, more in accordance with our language’s customary usage, as “colored people.”  But nonetheless, his explanation and penance were unacceptable to this high priestess of the DEI ministry.

“He didn’t misspeak,” Beatty said.  “He said clearly what, in my opinion, he intended to… it shows us directly why we need DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion).”