In response to comments posted in reference to my agreement with beardedbruce that his experience on Mudcat might be quite similar in to my experience (as an African American on an almost all White discusion forum), note that I wrote "quite similar" and not "the same as".

What I was referring to is the experience of being "other than" almost all the rest of the people posting on the forum, that is to say being "the only one" or "almost the only one".

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I recognize that individuals who are People of Color (like any other individuals) have political views that run the political spectrum. I've never said otherwise.

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Although I believe that you meant well, Sugarfoot Jack, your use of the phrase "emancipation of a people" sounds dated to me.

I suppose your comments were directed to beardedbruce, but I'm interested in knowing what you meant by your use of the phrase "true blue" when you wrote that "being a true blue does not make you part of an oppressed minority any more than it does the rest of us."

I recognize that at this point in time there are fewer African Americans in the United States than Anglo-Americans. And while I believe that this country still is not post-racial (in that there is still a lot of personal & institutional racism against Black people and other People of Color (and there are still some Black people and other People of Color who are prejudiced against White people and other people), I vehemently reject the idea that being African American means that I am part of an "oppressed minority".

Maybe it's just the paternalistic, and hopeless connotations that I associate with the words "emancipation of a people", "oppressed minority", or any other kind of "minority". But for what it's worth (and I recognize it's not worth any more than anyone else's opinion), those words don't sit well with me.