To not know if describing a person as coloured is politically incorrect.

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasHorrid]

Was talking to a friend today and I mentioned I had met one of his colleagues (but I wasn't sure who). He said. Oh was she a coloured lady?

I said yes and we each knew who it was I had met. I was a bit taken aback as you don't really hear the word coloured used anymore. But it was probably the best way to describe her (kind of Mediterranean / Indian).

Was I being too politically correct for being at the way he described her?

Do people still use that expression?

well given that we all have a colour of some sort I don't think it was the most useful way of describing her..

no the best way would be Asian or Mediterainean or by her name

Saying coloured is old fashioned and Not On.

However I'm far more offended by the ridiculous and nonsensical "political Correctness" term.

I did know her name. Once we worked out who it was I met he told me her name.

Coloured was polite when I was growing up - black was offensive, now it's reversed. TBH unless any term is said with malice I CBA to be professionally offended.

Meant to say didn't know her name

Woohoo- is that a record? Political Correctness AND Professionally Offended within the first six posts!

Do I win £5?

'Coloured' is no longer acceptable and using it marks you out as either old fashioned, ignorant, or massively racist.

I'm happy to be old fashioned ... cant see it correlates to 'racist' though.

I would be pretty at someone using coloured as a description. Most of the people i know use either black, white or nationality eg indian/ghanaian to talk about ethnicity. But we'd all probably only mention ethnicity as a last resort unless ot was directly relevant to the conversation. It is difficult sometimes to know what is polite as it does seem to change!

Depends who you're talking to. It's not a description I'd use but it's absurd to be offended by people who aren't up to date on the latest fashionable terms.

If there is no racist intent, it's not racist.

coloured is horrible - has overtones from apartheid S Africa. Although there was a poster on here whose dh was Zimbabwean who said coloured was the right word where he came from.

He is not old fashioned or racist (maybe ignorant). If she had been black if she was Indian he would have said Indian. Think he said coloured because it was actually the most accurate way to describe her.

I hate the term politically correct, can we please substitute "not offensive"

No it's not accurate, and it has nasty undertones of the categorisations given to people in South Africa

"Black" was very offensive and a dismissive term when I was growing up (and Im pushing 50) - so I find it a distasteful term to use because of the connotations 30-40+ years ago. However I accept it's now common usage.

I try to refer specifiically - ie West African, West Indian etc if I can.

A lot of people seem to always want to be offended on behalf of other people.

I could do chapter and verse on DHs god mother who persists in phrases that make you choke on your coffee - but she's not deliberately trying to offend ... eg "the school for mongoloids" as opposed to the "residential unit for specifically for Downs adults" (one can only hope she doesnt come out with such phrases in the outside world, but she is in her 70's and I haven't a scoobys hope in hell of changing her)

Original

We can substitute it but what will replace none offensive in 5 years time when we all get sick of that?

but how can 'coloured' be an accurate description? Was it used as short hand for skin which is 'browner than the average caucasian'?

I'd regard it as uniformed, archaic & unacceptable in polite company thb.

"I'm happy to be old fashioned ... cant see it correlates to 'racist' though."

I said 'or', trois; but if somebody has it pointed out to them that it's offensive- and it is- and continues to use the term, they will be thought of as racist. If they are happy to be thought of as racist, well, that says a lot.

"If there is no racist intent, it's not racist."

That's just not true. Plenty of racism is borne of ignorance. Many people do not mean to be offensive, but are. What they do when it's pointed out is another matter.

"A lot of people seem to always want to be offended on behalf of other people."

So- you cannot point out that something is offensive unless it refers specifically to you?

I hate Political Correctness with every fibre in my body but I thought it was common knowledge that to describe black people as "coloured" was deeply offensive.

I understand the offensiveness stems from the segregation that was once the norm in the American deep south.

Having said that being PC can tie people up in knots, at a recent staff meeting there was an issue with the ladies toilet that required attention to the "person-hole cover". Took me a few minutes to realise they meant "man-hole cover".

'coloured' assumes white is the default and everyone else is different. Also it just lumps all non whites into one. Very wrong.

I was having exactly this conversation with an elderly relative last week.

They had it drummed into them that "coloured" was the correct term (as it was) and the consequence is that that is what they think of first should they ever want to describe that aspect of a person's appearance.

And it wasn't that long ago that the change was made; like troisgarcons I can still remember "coloured" as the preferred usage and when black was offensive.

Its probably ignorant and dated, only racist if intended to be. I wish the government would produce an official guide to this kind of thing and consult the people it concerned on what terms they prefer to describe them! My children are half white and half black I call them mixed race, some people say now it has to be dual heritage others still say half caste.