‘Colored’ description been OK’d before
In reference to your Nancy Cook Lauer article Saturday, Oahu columnists Lee Cataluna and Chad Blair calling out Mayor Kim for using the term “colored guy” puzzled me.
I belonged to the NAACP and the ACLU from about 1963 and I’ve always fought for civil rights. I knocked on doors in 1964 for the California fair housing legislation. I participated in a NAACP housing study. I had a black partner … she would try to rent an apartment and if she was refused, I (a white woman) would try. We reported the results. Anyway, I’ve always been very sensitive about prejudiced and racist attitudes and behaviors.
The media and legislators often use the phrases “community of color” and “persons of color.”
The Civil Beat story included “Alphonso Braggs, president of the NAACP Hawaii Branch, said it’s important to understand the context in which a word like ‘colored’ is used. If it is used disparagingly, Braggs said that would be a problem.”
From Wikipedia: The term “person of color” is used primarily in the United States to describe any person who is not white.
In 2008, the NAACP communications director Carla Sims said, “the term ‘colored’ is not derogatory; The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chose the word ‘colored’ because it was the most positive description commonly used (in 1909, when the association was founded). It’s outdated and antiquated but not offensive.”
Gail Jackson
Waikoloa
Creative housing options need to start up
It’s time for our government leaders to start thinking creatively about housing the hundreds, possibly thousands, of lava refugees/evacuees. I’m not a housing expert, but I’ve been thinking a lot about short and intermediate term housing. One size cannot fit all.
1) Make available the UH Hilo dorm rooms that are not currently occupied this summer.
2) The Army or National Guard can quickly build a tent city in a safe zone. Allow people to bring their pets.
3) Hotels that are losing visitor bookings could be subsidized by the government to house lava refugees. I believe FEMA has done this many times during other natural disasters.
4) Open parks for free camping. Add a campground host and possibly security to keep the area safe and organized.
5) For evacuees with limited resources, help them relocate to other parts of the state or Mainland if they have friends or family who can house them.
Lynn Beittel
Waimea