P

people of color: Acceptable use as a synonym for minorities. May also use to describe groups such as journalists of color or women of color. (See minorities.)

primitive: Avoid using potentially insulting term to describe a person or people.

projects, the: Abbreviated slang for housing projects. Do not use either term to describe a persons dwelling. Better to say housing development.

Q

quotas: A specific or presubscribed number than must be met to reach a certain goal. A buzzword often used in the affirmative action debate, however, it is not synonymous with affirmative action, which is a practice, activity or program aimed at correcting the enduring effects of discrimination and helping to diversify businesses, organizations and schools.

R

race: See ethnicity, race.

Rastafarians: Members of a political and religious movement among blacks in Jamaica and several other countries. This messianic movement dates back to the 1930s. Rastafarians believe that Haile Selassie (originally known as Ras Tafari), a former emperor of Ethiopia, is the only true God and consider him the messiah. They believe that black people are the Israelites reincarnated and have been subjected to the white race in divine punishment for their sins; they will eventually be redeemed by repatriation to Africa. These beliefs, first enunciated in 1953, can be traced to several independent proponents, particularly Marcus Garvey. Some Rastafarian rituals include the use of marijuana, considered a holy weed, and the chanting of revivalist hymns. Reggae music is the popular music of the movement.

reparations: Government-issued funding and social programs intended to compensate black people for past injustices of slavery and discrimination. In 1988, America issued a national apology to Japanese Americans placed in American internment camps during World War II and paid each victim $20,000. This prompted many black Americans to press for similar reparations. Some also cited as grounds for reparations the unfulfilled Civil War promise that each slave receive 40 acres and a mule; the millions of dollars of German aid to Jews following the Holocaust and the Marshall Plan that rebuilt Europe after World War II. Reparations advocates have proposed packages ranging from $700 billion to $4 trillion. Most favor investing the money in education and economic development for black communities. This proposed use of reparations contrasts with that of some earlier reparation movements that sought to create and fund an independent black state (in Africa or the southern United States) or to secure pensions for ex-slaves and their descendants.

Reconstruction: Period after the Civil War in which attempts made to rebuild the South and solve the political, social, and economic problems arising from the readmission to the Union of the 11 Confederate states that had seceded at or before the war. Most historians consider Reconstruction to have taken place 1865-1877. Newly emancipated blacks with the help of government and supporters assisted in reconstructing society.

redneck: A derogatory term for whites. Do not use.

reverse discrimination: Used to describe discrimination against whites.