Is BIPOC the new term to use? What happened to just POC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember when it was preferred to refer to folks as black. Then it was changed to african-american. Than, apparently, we went to black again. I guess BIPOC is the latest iteration.

I'm happy to call people whatever they prefer, but if wish folks would settle on one term.

The way that we think and talk about race has always and will continue to evolve. Black people endured hundreds of years being defined by white people. Please allow us our nuance now.

And this is where people like my family give a hard NO.

We are a multi-racial family. We find the term BIPOC incredibly offensive. Like only our black children may be discriminated against? Really? Since when did discrimination and racism become a contest?

This new term BIPOC reflects a bad turn for the protest movement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m confused too. Does this mean black, indigenous people of color, or black, indigenous, AND people of color? As an Asian-American, I assume I’m included in the second but not in the first. I’ve googled and the first two results seem to indicate different things.

This is a definition I found on thebipocproject.org:

“ The BIPOC Project aims to build authentic and lasting solidarity among Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), in order to undo Native invisibility, anti-Blackness, dismantle white supremacy and advance racial justice.

“We use the term BIPOC to highlight the unique relationship to whiteness that Indigenous and Black (African Americans) people have, which shapes the experiences of and relationship to white supremacy for all people of color within a U.S. context. We unapologetically focus on and center relationships among BIPOC folks.”

So I think... Asians are included but the term “centers” black & indigenous.

That statement is even more confusing.

If it means its inclusive of all categories, Asians and Hispanics should refer to themselves as BIPOC rather than POC?

If it's supposed to just categorize Blacks with familial ties to American slavery, then maybe just Original Black or Black of original American History (BOAH)? Indigenous Black means there would be Indigenous Whites and that confuses everything with actual Indigenous Native Americans.

I'm interested in getting back to the topic and discussing the above post. What exactly is BIPOC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m confused too. Does this mean black, indigenous people of color, or black, indigenous, AND people of color? As an Asian-American, I assume I’m included in the second but not in the first. I’ve googled and the first two results seem to indicate different things.

This is a definition I found on thebipocproject.org:

“ The BIPOC Project aims to build authentic and lasting solidarity among Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), in order to undo Native invisibility, anti-Blackness, dismantle white supremacy and advance racial justice.

“We use the term BIPOC to highlight the unique relationship to whiteness that Indigenous and Black (African Americans) people have, which shapes the experiences of and relationship to white supremacy for all people of color within a U.S. context. We unapologetically focus on and center relationships among BIPOC folks.”

So I think... Asians are included but the term “centers” black & indigenous.

That statement is even more confusing.

If it means its inclusive of all categories, Asians and Hispanics should refer to themselves as BIPOC rather than POC?

If it's supposed to just categorize Blacks with familial ties to American slavery, then maybe just Original Black or Black of original American History (BOAH)? Indigenous Black means there would be Indigenous Whites and that confuses everything with actual Indigenous Native Americans.

I'm interested in getting back to the topic and discussing the above post. What exactly is BIPOC?

BIPOC = ADOS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m confused too. Does this mean black, indigenous people of color, or black, indigenous, AND people of color? As an Asian-American, I assume I’m included in the second but not in the first. I’ve googled and the first two results seem to indicate different things.

This is a definition I found on thebipocproject.org:

“ The BIPOC Project aims to build authentic and lasting solidarity among Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), in order to undo Native invisibility, anti-Blackness, dismantle white supremacy and advance racial justice.

“We use the term BIPOC to highlight the unique relationship to whiteness that Indigenous and Black (African Americans) people have, which shapes the experiences of and relationship to white supremacy for all people of color within a U.S. context. We unapologetically focus on and center relationships among BIPOC folks.”

So I think... Asians are included but the term “centers” black & indigenous.

That statement is even more confusing.

If it means its inclusive of all categories, Asians and Hispanics should refer to themselves as BIPOC rather than POC?

If it's supposed to just categorize Blacks with familial ties to American slavery, then maybe just Original Black or Black of original American History (BOAH)? Indigenous Black means there would be Indigenous Whites and that confuses everything with actual Indigenous Native Americans.

I'm interested in getting back to the topic and discussing the above post. What exactly is BIPOC?

That’s what we’ve been discussing.

[Anonymous]

I agree we should get back to the topic. I think BIPOC could mean either:

Black, indigenous people of color (so, black people who were born here and are descendants of slaves, right, not recent immigrants from, say Nigeria.
This would not include the traditional definition of POC, which would includes people of Asian and Hispanic descent.

OR

Black + indigenous + other people of color (so black people, Native Americans, and other people of color, including Asians, Hispanics...)
So this would include the old POC group but put extra preference and emphasis on black POC and Native American POC.
Is this right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree we should get back to the topic. I think BIPOC could mean either:

Black, indigenous people of color (so, black people who were born here and are descendants of slaves, right, not recent immigrants from, say Nigeria.
This would not include the traditional definition of POC, which would includes people of Asian and Hispanic descent.

OR

Black + indigenous + other people of color (so black people, Native Americans, and other people of color, including Asians, Hispanics...)
So this would include the old POC group but put extra preference and emphasis on black POC and Native American POC.
Is this right?

We’ve been discussing it. We’ve been discussing how to define POC and who is white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree we should get back to the topic. I think BIPOC could mean either:

Black, indigenous people of color (so, black people who were born here and are descendants of slaves, right, not recent immigrants from, say Nigeria.
This would not include the traditional definition of POC, which would includes people of Asian and Hispanic descent.

OR

Black + indigenous + other people of color (so black people, Native Americans, and other people of color, including Asians, Hispanics...)
So this would include the old POC group but put extra preference and emphasis on black POC and Native American POC.
Is this right?

Okay, I read a bunch more websites and the conclusion I came to is that it is the latter. The whole point, like someone else said, is to emphasize how black and indigenous peoples have suffered MORE than other people of color. It is an acknowledgement thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree we should get back to the topic. I think BIPOC could mean either:

Black, indigenous people of color (so, black people who were born here and are descendants of slaves, right, not recent immigrants from, say Nigeria.
This would not include the traditional definition of POC, which would includes people of Asian and Hispanic descent.

OR

Black + indigenous + other people of color (so black people, Native Americans, and other people of color, including Asians, Hispanics...)
So this would include the old POC group but put extra preference and emphasis on black POC and Native American POC.
Is this right?

Okay, I read a bunch more websites and the conclusion I came to is that it is the latter. The whole point, like someone else said, is to emphasize how black and indigenous peoples have suffered MORE than other people of color. It is an acknowledgement thing.

So we’re playing the suffering Olympics? Got it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree we should get back to the topic. I think BIPOC could mean either:

Black, indigenous people of color (so, black people who were born here and are descendants of slaves, right, not recent immigrants from, say Nigeria.
This would not include the traditional definition of POC, which would includes people of Asian and Hispanic descent.

OR

Black + indigenous + other people of color (so black people, Native Americans, and other people of color, including Asians, Hispanics...)
So this would include the old POC group but put extra preference and emphasis on black POC and Native American POC.
Is this right?

We’ve been discussing it. We’ve been discussing how to define POC and who is white.

But what is BIPOC???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember when it was preferred to refer to folks as black. Then it was changed to african-american. Than, apparently, we went to black again. I guess BIPOC is the latest iteration.

I'm happy to call people whatever they prefer, but if wish folks would settle on one term.

The way that we think and talk about race has always and will continue to evolve. Black people endured hundreds of years being defined by white people. Please allow us our nuance now.

And this is where people like my family give a hard NO.

We are a multi-racial family. We find the term BIPOC incredibly offensive. Like only our black children may be discriminated against? Really? Since when did discrimination and racism become a contest?

This new term BIPOC reflects a bad turn for the protest movement.

I didn't create the term lady. But I think that people of color should generally get to control the language around how they are identified. That is the point that I was making to PP, and I believe you should call yourself and have others call you whatever you like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree we should get back to the topic. I think BIPOC could mean either:

Black, indigenous people of color (so, black people who were born here and are descendants of slaves, right, not recent immigrants from, say Nigeria.
This would not include the traditional definition of POC, which would includes people of Asian and Hispanic descent.

OR

Black + indigenous + other people of color (so black people, Native Americans, and other people of color, including Asians, Hispanics...)
So this would include the old POC group but put extra preference and emphasis on black POC and Native American POC.
Is this right?

Okay, I read a bunch more websites and the conclusion I came to is that it is the latter. The whole point, like someone else said, is to emphasize how black and indigenous peoples have suffered MORE than other people of color. It is an acknowledgement thing.

So we’re playing the suffering Olympics? Got it.

WHY DON’T WE JUST SAY ‘POC’?

The term BIPOC stands for ‘Black, Indigenous, People of Color,’ it is meant to unite all people of color in the work for liberation while intentionally acknowledging that not all people of color face the same levels of injustice. By specifically naming Black and Indigenous people we are recognizing that Black and Indigenous people face the worst consequences of systemic white supremacy, classism and settler colonialism.

https://www.sunrisemovement.org/bipoc-gnd-crash-course

[Anonymous]

Just a note that "indigenous" includes a lot of Latinx folks here in the United States, which I think is part of the point.

While "Hispanic" or Latinx is even more of a social construct than Blackness, emphasizing the fact that Latinx people of indigenous descent are more likely to suffer from institutional racism than Latinx people of European descent is part of the equation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree we should get back to the topic. I think BIPOC could mean either:

Black, indigenous people of color (so, black people who were born here and are descendants of slaves, right, not recent immigrants from, say Nigeria.
This would not include the traditional definition of POC, which would includes people of Asian and Hispanic descent.

OR

Black + indigenous + other people of color (so black people, Native Americans, and other people of color, including Asians, Hispanics...)
So this would include the old POC group but put extra preference and emphasis on black POC and Native American POC.
Is this right?

Okay, I read a bunch more websites and the conclusion I came to is that it is the latter. The whole point, like someone else said, is to emphasize how black and indigenous peoples have suffered MORE than other people of color. It is an acknowledgement thing.

So we’re playing the suffering Olympics? Got it.

WHY DON’T WE JUST SAY ‘POC’?

The term BIPOC stands for ‘Black, Indigenous, People of Color,’ it is meant to unite all people of color in the work for liberation while intentionally acknowledging that not all people of color face the same levels of injustice. By specifically naming Black and Indigenous people we are recognizing that Black and Indigenous people face the worst consequences of systemic white supremacy, classism and settler colonialism.

https://www.sunrisemovement.org/bipoc-gnd-crash-course

I thought “black and brown” did this and in a more inclusive way. I like that “black and brown” also acknowledges that darker skinned POC, including Hispanics and South East Asians get treated more badly on the whole than lighter skinned.

[Anonymous]

As a person descended from european immigrants (with classically "white" skin that sunburns) ….

Many posters are making me ridiculously uncomfortable because they are basically advocating for the Paper Bag Test, 2.0 They don't say that of course, but in effect that's how they select who gets to self identify as a "POC" and who doesn't.

Basically, a rule out / rule in test on the explicit basis of physiological features, starting with skin tone. (super pale skinned Egyptian woman with thin nose and wavy, shiny hair? Nope. Dark olive skinned Egyptian woman — say, the color of a PAPER BAG — with 4c curls and a wide nose bridge? YES.).

Yes I understand that this is about self identity, but, it's undeniable that there are multiple posters who want to act as the hall monitor for others' racial labels

[Anonymous]

Somewhat related, can someone explain to me why POC is now a no-no term? Is it because it doesn't center blackness? A black woman who seems to consider herself a spiritual leader on my FaceBook feed announced she was going to unfriend the next person who used the term POC. Why?