That same volatility dogs more specific racial designations than those describing all people of color. A term like "minority" might ruffle some folks because we're entering the age of pluralities, with no clear majorities. A designation like "nonwhite" is often criticized because it makes white people a kind of neutral default from which other people might deviate. These terms also become outmoded because of our shifting politics. We will know that they have achieved mutual respect when the names stay put." Names for minorities will continue to change as long as people have negative attitudes toward them. Give a concept a new name, and the name becomes colored by the concept the concept does not become freshened by the name, at least not for long. The euphemism treadmill shows that concepts, not words, are primary in people's minds. because it was deemed disparaging to nonwhites. Even the word 'minority' - the most neutral word label conceivable, referring only to relative numbers - was banned in 2001 by the San Diego City Council. "People invent new words for emotionally charged referents, but soon the euphemism becomes tainted by association, and a new word must be found, which soon acquires its own connotations, and so on. "If a word that refers to something always appears in sentences where that thing is framed negatively, then that term will take on that negativity," Lauren Hall-Lew, a sociolinguist at the University of Edinburgh, told me over email. Linguists refer to this process as "pejoration." Each replacement was meant to be less loaded than its predecessor, only to eventually take on all of that predecessor's anxieties - and some new ones. Each of those terms came into wide usage in the 20th century, only to fall out of vogue and be replaced with a new one. In some corporate-esque sectors, you might even hear someone use the term "diverse" as a modifier - as in, "We're really interested in hearing a diverse voice on this issue," as though an individual person might be diverse. Census forms that prompted the bureau to announce last year that it would be removed from future questionnaires.) (You might recall a similar controversy over "Negro's" appearance on U.S. On this side of the border, the Army found itself in hot water after it updated its regulations to prevent discrimination, noting that some people who are "black or African-American" might also identify as "Negro." The story was widely reported as Army says 'Negro' is OK to use, and although that's not exactly what happened, the Army felt compelled to issue an apology and remove the motive.
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