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?

chocolategateaudeluxe do your coloured frinds like golly's too and love nothing better than to watch reruns of Love thy neighbour

ArtVandelay loving your name :)

I had a friend who continued to call my boyfriends coloured even when told they refered to themselves as Black. She said she was brought up to believe it was polite.

I went out with a Nigerian doctor, a Black British architect, then a Black British businessman over the course of 10 years.

One chap was mentioned in conversation at a party (we were very drunk) and I answered a question about him. The other 2 were mentioned and I turned to talk to someone else, however I heard someone say to her 'visa hunters' and turned to see her nodding vigorously.

Needless to say she is no longer a friend and I am now sceptical that anyone would continue to use the term coloured after they have been corrected!
BTW she knows I will never marry again purely because it will invalidate an 'attachment to pension' I agreed to as part of a divorce settlement!

Visa hunters indeed!

I have pointed my brother out at a party as ''the one who wishes he was black" (tanned to the extreme). (It was immediately obvious who was meant.) :o

perceptionreality - Once you know a person, you never 'reduce' them to their colour, it's not about defining a person. But exactly situation's like the OP's, when you don't know the name, nor where they actually/vaguely come from. And to pussyfoot around skin colour is equally embarassing -> 'the brown haired guy, with the white shirt', 'do you mean the black guy', 'err, yes'

Tethers - CHRIST - why don't you think they aren't?

Sorry am clearly totally missing any cultural awareness.

So is 'black' or 'brown' skinned an ok description?

giveitago; um, because it's common sense, sort of like I said?

I wanted to know what was wrong with Britain, but you're not going to say are you?

Oh jesus - my own mum calls me coloured. LOL. She's not a racist but she has no UK english language skills whatsoever. Really none.When she refers to me as coloured she certinaly dooesn't mean it as a bad thing at all - it's her african word for mixed race.

If that makes her a racist - well there you go.

oh, ffs, of course i don't mean every black/coloured person, just a selection of people i know personally! my friends actually laughed to hard, i felt embarassed to have even asked the question! and they said it was only a discussion white people would have that they wouldn't give such things a second thought...

Sorry love - why is a non white person of british origin saying coloured is really fucking bad. It's our culture that told them to think it isn't it"

Yes I will say it - it's full of people who think that being politically correct makes lthem somehow superior.

To me britain is this - I'm an older mum -gave birth - took my ds to park in a carrier - young white girl with mixed raced baby and she's going on and on about it. She#s flirting with young black kid who thinks it's oK to tell her she's lucky to have non racist kid (because her kid is visibly mixed) while the old fat bird (aka me) has a light skinned kid and so is racist.

To me - that is british culture full stop. Fucking dumb. Really fucking dumb.

I was laughing though!

'they said it was only a discussion white people would have that they wouldn't give such things a second thought...'

oh, that old chestnut. Same as only white middle class people care about the ill effects of prejudice in society and it is they who cause all the trouble.

She's using a racist term- she is being racist.

This could be due to ignorance- ie she doesn't know it's offensive; or it could be that she does know it's offensive and doesn't care. I don't know which it is. I don't know your mum.

What I do know is that her using it does not stop the word 'coloured' being racist.

I have had to re-write this 3 times as I cannot express what i want to without sounding like a twat.

The shortest thing I can come up with is this:

If Alan Hanson was in the news recently about his use of the term coloured on BBC and why it was frowned upon, how come your colleague hasn't heard of it?

I don't think I'm superior - rather, I would hate to upset anyone by using terms which have derogatory or clearly offensive meanings.

The original title was "Colour."
It was composed by Malcolm X.

COLOUR

When I was born, I was black.
When I grow up, I'm black.
When I'm ill, I'm black.
When I go out in the sun, I'm black.
When I'm cold, I'm black.
When I die, I'm black.

But you -

When you're born, you're pink.
When you grow up, you're white.
When you're ill, you're green.
When you go out in the sun, you go red.
When you're cold, you go blue.
When you die, you're purple.

And you have the nerve to call me coloured?

I have blended children, I don't know what the correct term is except for gorgeous. They are half chinese half British. and NOT yellow in any way (although jaundice wasn't picked up by midwife who thought he just looked a bit chinese!!!!!

DS1 and I were recently chatting to a friend of mine, and his son, who happen to be Asian, about racism in football. My friend referred to himself and his son as coloured, which surprised me as I thought that this term was no longer used, but thought no more about it and just carried on with the conversation.

Later that evening, my son continued discussing the subject at home, and referred to black and Asian people as being coloured. I had to correct him on this and explain it was a word which was no longer considered acceptable. He found it difficult to understand how a word could be racist, but it could be used by someone to describe themself, and they weren't being racist! I just said that us parents are so old that it was different when we were young, and he just had to accept that it was something he shouldn't say.

DS1 has promised not to use the word coloured, but obviously now thinks us over 40s are completely mad!!

On MN a while ago, someone posted a link to a video explaining the distinction between being a racist and having said something racist. It was extremely illuminating.

As a child, I was under the impression that coloured meant white people. Reason being, I knew that I was white and that my skin was a colour. Part of me thinks this shows how self centred I was, since the fact that black people also have skin that is a colour didn't occur to me until I was about 6. Part of me thinks it's a fucking stupid way to describe people anyway, so of course a child can misunderstand. Everyone's skin is a colour, so it's illogical. At least with black and white, some people genuinely are those shades or very close to them. I am, bits of me anyway.

Hi kingbeat

He isn't into sports so maybe hasn't heard about the Alan Hanson story (I haven't either and I constantly listen to Radio 4 (Mon to Thurs)

Not trying to defend him I agree he shouldn't have said it.

Okay, you met her in a work context but found out absolutely nothing about her? So if you met me you could say 'she's tall' or 'she has big glasses' there are several things you could say about me without having to resort to guessing my skin tone or heritage. I can't believe that skin colour was the only defining feature of this person - not possible!

She was running an exhibition for the company he works for. I just said to him I met one of your colleagues on Tues and he then described her.

Tethers -my mother is nothing like ignorant ta - just because she doesn't suffer from the english disease of political correctness (which many people find racist) doesn't mean she's ignorant.

Tethers love it's like this - when people have lived in many countries and speak lots of languages and generally have a good time it means they communicate with people of other cultures very well. And they get on in life withoput having to be politically correct - why ? because they don't perceive people of other cultures or countries as different.

Very glad my folk are not racist or ignorant - over to you.

Arf at 'love'- nice arguing style

giveitago, if your mum does not know that 'coloured' is offensive, then she is ignorant of the fact. That is not an insult.

The word 'coloured' is racist. Someone who uses it is being racist. No matter how many countries they have been to.

This is a really interesting post. Terminology is so rapidly changing and there is no public campaign to inform people of current preferred words, hence the reason for the confusion. What clouds the issue further is when words that are generally considered unacceptable begin to reappear particualry in music. This makes it very difficult especially for young people to know what is preferred. Older generations struggle to understand why words they had drummed into them as being correct are now considered offensive. Give it ten years and we will probably be rethinking the words we use now.
I believe that it is the intention in which words are used that defines them as being racist. The word handicapped is considered offensive and outdated, but is still widely used without the intention of causing offense.
I suspect 'coloured' is the same.

This is a really interesting post. Terminology is so rapidly changing and there is no public campaign to inform people of current preferred words, hence the reason for the confusion. What clouds the issue further is when words that are generally considered unacceptable begin to reappear particualry in music. This makes it very difficult especially for young people to know what is preferred. Older generations struggle to understand why words they had drummed into them as being correct are now considered offensive. Give it ten years and we will probably be rethinking the words we use now.
I believe that it is the intention in which words are used that defines them as being racist. The word handicapped is considered offensive and outdated, but is still widely used without the intention of causing offense.
I suspect 'coloured' is the same.

I always laugh at the term "blended"
Oit makes me visualise people being crammed into a liquidser!!

People soup anyone?

Tethers love it's like this - when people have lived in many countries and speak lots of languages and generally have a good time it means they communicate with people of other cultures very well. And they get on in life withoput having to be politically correct - why ? because they don't perceive people of other cultures or countries as different.

I have lived in a number of different countries, speak several languages and have a very multicultural family. I too communicate with people of other cultures very well, but that does not give me carte blanche to be offensive to others.