What misnomers can you think of? 1. I found out recently found out the official title North Korea is The Democratic Peoples Republic of North Korea. It is a repressive dictatorship and an absolute monarchy. 2. Roofing iron aka corrugated iron. It is actually steel. 3. Tin and zinc are often confused. Two different metals.
I tried for a minute here and all I can think of is... yes, you guessed it. "Black". The confusion here is that many African Americans actually still use the term. It should be retired, or at the very least publicly disambiguated. Critical race theory informs us that the term "Black" is a "SOCIAL CONSTRUCT". If ever you take sociology or behavioral science or social psychology, you might be interested to learn that "gender" (not biological sex, but gender...) is a "social construct". And we get a load of transphobic peeps who will argue about that. It's a fact. This distinction, "gender", was established over time. Some will say it was established logically and rationally out of practicality; and that may be true. But gender isn't genetic, biological, internally determined by enzymes or hormones. It's not in your DNA. I would argue it's determined by your upbringing and your socialization in groups of peers and role models and mentors. Your religion helps form your ideas of gender roles. Your parents help form relationship ideals. Your friends determine linguistics. And of course, what is socially acceptable is determined by all of these combined. This is Morgan Freeman. He is famous. He is an actor who I remember from my childhood. He is revered and universally understood. He is a good person, a philanthropist, and a 5-time Oscar winner. Why is he "black"? His ancestry isn't mentioned by that terminology. Morgan is African American today, but his ancestors were not. They were from West Africa. Morgan speaks English and is educated but may be very accustomed and understands that he is "black". Morgan is in his 80s. From what I understood in some lectures from college : Historically, we have attributed black to darkness, darkness to evil, and evil to "the devil". And while all of these are easily identifiable as socially constructed, we continue to refer to ourselves or African Americans as being "black". But we aren't "black" or "white". Our skin color helps us identify with others in terms of similarity. What will it take for us to divest from the inaccurate socially constructed language? It may never heal, but we can spread awareness. "Black" is a misnomer. "White" is a misnomer.
Dumb init. People from the West Indies could be called black skinned, but otherwise “black people” are generally brown skinned. I grew up in the UK and there was the odd person who had pale skin and could be labelled white skinned, but generally most Caucasians are a light brown occasionally turning damask in parts.
Like the crayons they call 'flesh' color, white folks are usually sort of pinkish but with brown undertones. Asians are a lovely golden brown color, and as you said, most 'black' people are various shades of brown. I only knew one guy, from Jamaica, who was actually black. In the sun, he looked almost bluish! People are a rainbow. God's pallet is varied and beautiful.
