April Diversity Word of the Month
By Jessica Bray
The Word of the Month feature represents a collaboration between DiversityCentral.com and Intercultural Press, Inc. Each month, we feature a word, term or phrase related to diversity or other aspects of culture selected from sources published by Intercultural Press.
In The Color of Words: An encyclopaedic dictionary of ethnic bias in the United States, the phrase "devil" or "foreign devil" is defined as:
Devil, foreign devil
"In ethnic discourse, someone of another group hated or feared as the spirit of evil; in use among many groups throughout history. In the United States, references to "Satanical Jesuits" (Jesuits or Catholics in general), red devils (American Indians), blue-eyed devils (white people), and the demonization of foreigners, especially enemies in time of war, attest to the tendency of groups to attribute special threatening powers to outsiders. These powers are said to destroy, ruin, oppress, dominate, and even seduce (for instance, sexually or politically)."
"In black use, devil is a derogatory reference to a white person, often a male and sometimes a Jew. Black Muslims have referred to white people as white devils."
"Foreign devil is perhaps most frequently associated with Chinese usage in reference to non-Chinese. The Chinese word fan qui, "foreign devil" or "barbarian wanderer," has been used for foreigners, especially white people—whether visitors to China, those in America under whom Chinese people worked, or white people in general."
Read more:
- For information on women in the workplace, view the article "Theory F": A Leadership Style for the Future: Are Women Better Leaders for Diverse People?
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