Folks?

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Jerboa

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Very interesting thread - I had no idea 'folks' meant something different over the pond. I'm with Los Pollos Hermanos. Folks = parents. Or 'old folks' home.' Older people.

Or, because I'm a working-class scummer, I also see it as something posher people say, along with 'chaps.'
 

Thorberta

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I've never heard in any racist sense, and really, I haven't heard it used much in the context of 'white folks' and 'black folks' in general.

I'm Canadian, I spent my childhood in Nova Scotia (so East coast) and that's where all my extended family live, but have lived most of my life in Ontario. I've found using 'folk(s)' is way more common out east. My accent semi-returns when I go to visit family and folks is one of the words I use way more often. Like others have said, it's a more pleasant way of saying 'people' or a substitute for 'guys'. I might say to a friend or family member, 'We were thinking of coming down tomorrow to visit you folks.'
 
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Stacia Kane

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It seems to me that I hear the term "folks" used a lot when Black people are being discussed, but rarely when White people are being discussed. Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on it.

Actually, this is something I've noticed in the past, and have commented on elsewhere, too. I wouldn't say it's something I see constantly, but I've noticed enough articles or forum or blog posts that talk about "white people" and "black folks," that it's hard for me to think there's not some element of casual, even unrealized, racism there.

I think a lot of the time it's either not conscious or not intended as a slur, but it's still patronizing and offensive; IMO it treats black people like some sort of simple-minded, shantytown hymn-singing "other," (they're just folks, they're all earthy and real, unlike those snobby white people with their mayonnaise and bad rhythm; it's almost like a Magical Negro sort of thing, if you know what I mean?) whereas I think the intention of the white people using it often is to seem like they're totally down with the black people, yo. Which is just as offensive. It's like saying, "to prove I'm totally okay with black people and see them as equals to me, I'm going to use special terms and phrases to talk to them, because they probably don't really understand proper English and need casual alternatives."

Or as Captcha put it:

I think for me there is a possible racist connotation. Not EVERY time the word is used, but, yeah, because it is kind of simple and folksy, if someone uses the word who isn't him/herself simple and folksy, it could sound as if the speaker is talking down to the audience.



So...yeah, maybe I sound a little overzealous here, but this has bugged me for a long, long time, so it's nice to see that at least one other person has noticed it, too. I see this all the time, and it's almost always used by white people, and rarely do those same white people describe other white people as "white folks."
 

slhuang

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Interesting. I've consciously edited "[black/white/other demographic qualifier] people" to be "[demographic qualifier] folk" because it sounds more inclusive to me.

I'd say when I use "folk(s)" (or "guys" or "gals" or "dudes" or "dudettes" or "brethren" or "sisteren" or "peoples" or "kids" or "families" or any other slightly more casual or more specific term) with a racial qualifier instead of with the word "people," it's explicitly because the word "people" can sometimes sound othering to me -- as in, "those people."

If I say, "white folks . . ." that sounds less to me like "those people not like me" and more like, "folks who are folks like me but who happen to be white." Cuz we're all just folks, you know? :D

As another for-instance, I feel like you might hear, "Asian people can't drive" but "my church has a lot of Asian folk." Or "I don't know any disabled people" but "this convention is making a big effort to be great for disabled folk."

Like any word I'm sure it can be used in multiple ways, and I can see where people might use it to be patronizing rather than inclusive; additionally, just because I try to use it this way doesn't mean I succeed -- intent doesn't mean much yadda yadda. But I do find that a lot of times I find it less othering -- and less accusatory when talking about sensitive topics (like, I'd probably prefer to write "white folk might not realize....[x thing about white privilege]" rather than "white people might not realize...."). That's just my perspective though, which might be wrong :D, and this also might have regional differences, so. *knows nothing*
 

Stacia Kane

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Sorry, just to clarify (in case my ramble was confusing) I don't think "folks" is always racist or othering or whatever, just that it really bothers me when I see someone refer to "white people" and "black folks" in the same post/article/essay, or to suddenly start talking about "black folks" when they have never referred to whites as anything but "people."

I don't think the word "folks" is offensive in and of itself, in other words; just when it's used exclusively to refer to African-Americans or other POC.

But again, I'm white, and this is something I notice or pay attention to when it's used by other white people. It bothers me when they do it, but I certainly don't mean to imply that any POC should be offended or bothered by it if you/they are not. It's not my place to tell you what "should" offend you, and I hope I don't seem as though I'm trying to do that.
 

slhuang

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Well, like you said, institutional biases can be unintentional and unaware, and I think you brought up some really good points! This thread is definitely going to make me make sure I think about the way I use "folks" versus "people" in the future, just to make sure.

But again, I'm white, and this is something I notice or pay attention to when it's used by other white people. It bothers me when they do it, but I certainly don't mean to imply that any POC should be offended or bothered by it if you/they are not. It's not my place to tell you what "should" offend you, and I hope I don't seem as though I'm trying to do that.

To be fair -- when we talk about things unique to the Black experience (in America or any other country), I certainly benefit from white privilege along those specific axes, and I am sure I am affected by institutional racism as well. Though being a POC may give me an understanding of cross-demographic issues, it would be ridiculous for me to try to claim it gave me an understanding of anything specific to the African-American or Black experience or authority to speak on that. :) In other words, I'm sorry if it sounded like I was saying "you're wrong because I'm a POC and that gives me the authority to say so" -- eep! -- as that wasn't my intention. I was just trying to offer my perspective, which has no more authority of experience in this case than yours. :D
 

shaldna

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It seems to me that I hear the term "folks" used a lot when Black people are being discussed, but rarely when White people are being discussed. Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on it.

I'm Irish, so everyone is 'folks' around here.
 

PinkUnicorn

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I use the word "folks" all the time, both in conversation and writing. I almost never use the word "people" either.

I say: "Thems folk down the road" not "Those neighbors down the road" or "Those people down the road"

I say: "Folks around here..." not "People around here..."

I say: "We has got new folks moving in over there." not "There are new people moving in next door"

But I never use the term "hi folks" that just sounds weird on my ears and before reading this thread, I can't recall ever seeing it or hearing it used before.

Maybe we Mainers just talk funny? (Tourists from the lower 48 are always telling us Maine folk we talk weird.) I can't say as I've ever heard anyone other tourists who didn't use the word "folk" every day. It's just normal way we talk around here and we always find the summer tourists to be the strange ones even though they tell us we be the strange folk.

I write the way I talk too, and it drives editors crazy. Editors always do a jaw drop when they see my manuscripts, they say I have the worst English they've ever seen. My books read the way I talk too, because I won't let editors edit out my "bad" or "broken" English as they call it. This is the way my people talk and the characters in all my books are the same race & culture as me (I don't write white characters) and all my characters live in my hometown as well. If I let editos change the way my books were written, they'd be editing out the "local flavour" which says, "these characters are from this town". This is who we are. This is how we talk. I don't like it when editors try to make my stories "appeal to mainstream readers". I'm not writing for white folks, I'm writing for local folks, and local readers want characters who ACCURATELY represent how we think, act, and talk, even if we do think, act, and talk in bad or broken English.

I wondering if editing out regional lingos of authors, causes our books overall to be less diverse? I think it does, that's why I won't let editors remove the regional "speak" of my characters dialogue.
 

Layla Nahar

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I don't go to Maine enough.

I say 'menfolk'. But I rarely say 'womenfolk', though I could... I just haven't had much call for sentences with it. But I often say 'I like the menfolk'.
 

Layla Nahar

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You say merfolk, I say menfolk
you say dumdadum, I say eyepoke

merfolk, menfolk
something, eyepoke

Lets call the whole thing off!
 

Angela

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Around here (south Georgia) it's used just as frequently as "people" by just about every ethnic and age group, or at least by those who have been here a while.

"You people", "you folks", "black people", "black folks", "white people", "white folks", the frequency seems to be roughly equal. You also hear "womenfolk", "menfolk" (and the peculiar "ladyfolks"), as well as "my folks", "your folks", "old folks", "young folks", "these folks", "those folks", and even the incorrect "them folks".

You're also just as likely to hear "your people" and "my people", as in "Who are your people?", "Are your people the _______s?" or "My people originally came from ________." when someone's asking you about your family tree or telling you about theirs. Usually, they're trying to figure out if they know your family or if you're related somewhere down the line. :)

ETA: Just realized this is a revival. :gone:
 
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At the risk of continuing a necro, I'd imagine the "folks" issue is a regional one. I here it plenty in the South, and also in my home state in the Midwest. A lot of African Americans speak dialects that developed in the South, so it's not that odd to here them using it. If it matters, I here black people saying "black folks" and also "white folks" a lot more than white people in my area. Not because it signifies being dumb or simple, but because it reflects their dialect.

However, also:
https://medium.com/matter/how-a-onc...ks-became-a-quiet-sort-of-insult-c54e05b6a069
 

heza

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I'm not sure what she's saying in that article. If it's that Obama is turning "folks" into an insult because he uses it strictly in an "us vs. them" way, then I think that's wrong. If you read his speeches, then it's apparent that he just uses folks for people (or his speech writer does). He doesn't seem to use it only for groups he feels negatively about.
 
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