I received an email this afternoon from the Democratic National Committee’s Eric Salcedo, whose title is “AAPI Coalition Director.” The email encouraged me to join with Salcedo during “this AANHPI Heritage Month in recognizing and celebrating the impact of AANHPI communities.” Fortunately, for those of us who are culturally illiterate, the email provided this give-away greeting: “Happy Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month!” I couldn’t have said it better myself.
But I guess it’s hard even for Mr. Salcedo to keep up with the latest acronyms, ‘cause his own title, AAPI Coalition Director, leaves out the initials of that key Democratic demographic, Native Hawaiians (NH). What a horrific faux pas! Also, Eric can’t seem to keep straight whether these lumped-together people from very different ethnic backgrounds and distinct cultures constitute one community (“the AANHPI community”) or multiple communities (“AANHPI communities”). Which is it, bro’?
Perhaps it’s time to stop slotting human beings into assorted politically-correct (and increasingly unpronounceable) grab bags: WASP, LGBTQ, LGBTQIA, POC, BIPOC, BME, BAME, AANHPI, etc. We’ve all grown accustomed to living with corporate and organizational acronyms – ACLU, DNC, IBM, KFC, MAAD, NAACP, NATO, NRA, UNICEF, YMCA. But when it comes to human beings – our ethnic backgrounds, religious beliefs, sexual orientations, and political affiliations, I say DOWN WITH ACRONYMS! [DWA! 😉]