Colored people

That was an OK, acceptable term when I was young. Versions of it still are. I frequently see terms like "people of color" and "communities of color." Odd that you can use the noun in a round about way to modify, but not the adjective "colored." Then there was NOLA Mayor Nagin talking about his "chocolate city," as a way to send a message about who was going to be welcome in the rebuilding. Saturday I read in the paper that we in Columbus will be treated to "the Chocolate Nutcracker." Isn't this getting a bit silly?

Hearing about the tribal killings in Kenya last year instigated by the followers of Odinga, Obama's cousin, and the genocide in Rwanda based on tribe, you see that color isn't the great divide we think it is. The Germans and the Jews were the same color; the Irish Catholics and Protestants were the same color; the Hutus and Tutsis were the same color. In Darfur you have Arab Africans killing black Africans but they are the same religion. Trying to google this topic is slogging through a swamp that wants to blame everything from 19th century imperialism to Bill Clinton to ancient tribal practices. I think it proves even sane, well educated people who have been living side by side for years in cooperation and understanding can be whiplashed into a frenzy of hatred by clever leaders. And it starts with word games.