To have gone right off Benedict Cumberbatch

[UsedToBeAPaxmanFan]

I read today that Benedict Cumberbatch has had to apologise after using the phrase "coloured actors". Coloured? Seriously?

He did apologise and said that he knew it was wrong, but the fact that it was in his head in the first place is what's so troubling. I am older than him and have always known that "coloured" is an offensive term. Yes, I am aware that it wasn't considered so until the late 60s, but it hasn't been acceptable in his lifetime.

What was he not thinking?

I don't know if everyone is aware that in the US most people only use "black" (if they dare to use that word at all) to refer to people of African ethnic background. A very dark skinned Indian person would not be described as "black" in the US. I guess maybe "people of color" is a way of including all people of non "Caucasian" ethnic origin.

"Caucasian" people are not necessarily "white", though, that is not what it means.

All sorts of Americans "dare to use" black all the time in the US, including our black president.

It's true that "people of color" was developed to replace "non-white."

Caronam, that's why I put Caucasian in inverted commas. Yes, Scone lots of Americans use the word "black" (including me, sometimes). A couple of years ago I would have only used African American, as quite a few black people in my area would not have liked "black". It is kind of a pain to say all the syllables of "African American", but definitely worth it if people prefer it.

I find it all very confusing. My elderly mum refers to some people as coloured. I beg her not to as it's considered racist by many in the UK these days. She knows this but she was from a colony where this term was routinely used. Her English is stuck in the '60's when she came here. She would have been regarded as coloured from the country she originated from, governed by the UK.

Some people have used the word black to refer to my mum. Many people wouldn't refer to her as black.

Recently we had a woman join our company and she was from overseas. She used the word coloured and we all cringed. she went ballistic and said she was from SA and that she was cape coloured and proud - she was not interested by our political correctness.

We choose lots of words to refer to people who look a certain way. I don't look any particular way but I could be coloured, mixed race etc.

I don't give a shit unless someone is being offensive.

The worst people for this imo is white mothers of children of other races. I don't want to catagorised by anyone, least people of one race imposing their so called 'multicultural' view on me. That's a pretty new thing.

This bloke was actually highlighting the fact that in the UK our media doesn't fully represent the variety of UK people. Valid point. Now completely invalid as he used an out of date word routinely used by the british. He's apologised and probably won't use that term again - yet we're going to concentrate on his out of date terminology and not his meaning.

Perhaps, howrude, it's that society finds it much more straightforward to discuss what descriptive word is currently acceptable, than to actually have to face up to, and deal with, the real problem.

In fact this article by Claire Fox addresses this exact point.

have never liked the term mixed race because I don't understand who it applies to.

Me neither. It seems inherently racist as there is only 1 human race. We're all a part of it, just with different skin tones and facial features.

In his place I would have said it is difficult for actors of non- white European origin.

Buffy

I have had that too. I shared an office with someone roughly the same age, height and build as me. One of us was white one of us was black. It was pretty much the only descriptor you'd be able to use to separate us.

When visitors were sent to the office, the receptionist used to tie herself in kbots trying to avoid saying black or white.

'Go and see Paul he's the one with the curly hair'

But if the uk population is 3% black, and the population of people on TV is more than 3% black, how are black people under represented on TV anyway?

It's true that "people of color" was developed to replace "non-white

Scone is " non white" wrong as well?

ingrid - this is what upsets me. We spend all our time on terms and almost zero tackling racism in terms of expectations, education and outcomes. I find that racist and sometimes think it's done deliberately to divert from the issues that actually affect society now.

When I was growing up, it seemed like there were very few black actors on TV, as I always seemed to recognise them from something else they had been in, it was the same few actors getting all the parts, but now that doesn't happen, there seem to be a lot more.

Coloured is no longer acceptable in UK but in the states The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has a fine history of combating racism.

But if the uk population is 3% black, and the population of people on TV is more than 3% black, how are black people under represented on TV anyway?

Is it only 3%? It depends on which ethnic group you are referring to when you say 'black. If you are referring to those of African or Caribbean origin then t might well be close to 3%, but if you include other ethnic minorities, including Asian then the figure is much higher than 3% according to the last census. In London, which is the most populated city over 40% of people are of ethnic minority origin.

www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-for-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/rpt-ethnicity.html#tab-Ethnicity-across-the-English-regions-and-Wales

When I think of soap operas and tv dramas I don't think they represent the ethnic ratio. If London has a population which is made up of over 40% ethnic minority then eastenders should reflect that. Is it 40%? I don't know what it is because I haven't watched it for over a decade so perhaps somebody can correct me if I am a decade out of touch. I would be pleased to hear that I am wrong and that it is 40% or thereabouts.

It seems inherently racist as there is only 1 human race. We're all a part of it, just with different skin tones and facial features.

Well technically, if there is only one race, then 'racism' can't exist unless you are being derogatory and predjudiced against other types of animals!

In his place I would have said it is difficult for actors of non- white European origin.

Oh god tha is such a mouthful, there is loads of potential to get it wrong! Plus he wasn't talking about non-white European origin was he? I thought he was talking about all 'non-white' actors?

Somebody might already have posted this so apologies if I am repeating (I haven't RTFT in its entirety).

I like this poem and it sums up the inaccuracies of the word colored to me.

Written by an African child and nominated by The United Nations
as the Best Poem of 2006.

And you calling me colored??

When I born, I black.
When I grow up, I black.
When I go in sun, I black.
When I scared, I black.
When I sick, I black.
And when I die, I still black.

And you white people.
When you born, you pink.
When you grow up, you white.
When you go in sun, you red.
When you cold, you blue.
When you scared, you yellow.
When you sick, you green
And when you die, you grey…

And you calling me colored??

Hopeless, you still hear "non-white" and "minority" but "people of color" is generally preferred over "non-white," as it is thought better to describe people as what they are rather than what they are not.

It's also important to remember that within the designation of "people of color" will be groups with different experiences within American society. African Americans, most of whom descend from slaves, have a history very different from some other groups, especially those that may have come from positions of relative privilege in their home countries.

Oh wait, I think I see what you mean now, do you mean non 'white and European' origin? I thought you meant European but not white!

*When I born, I black.
When I grow up, I black.
When I go in sun, I black.
When I scared, I black.
When I sick, I black.
And when I die, I still black.

And you white people.
When you born, you pink.
When you grow up, you white.
When you go in sun, you red.
When you cold, you blue.
When you scared, you yellow.
When you sick, you green
And when you die, you grey…

And you calling me colored??*

This is what I would consider racist!

This is what I would consider racist!

Clearly the United Nations didn't think so.
The pone was written by an African child and gives her view on why she is no more coloured than the people using the term coloured. Is that racist or is that accurate?

Mr Agbetu, an Afrucan Britsh human rights campaigner summarised why the term coloured is offensive:

The term was common parlance in the 1960s, but its origins are the problem, says Mr Agbetu. It comes from the ideology of racism, that white people are white, and everyone else is somehow other coloured. It fails to recognise that everyone has an ethnicity and is an inadequate "one-size-fits all" description.

Nor was it a term chosen by those it refers to, but instead imposed by the wider - and white - society.

But if a white child wrote a poem detailing and mocking features of black people's skin colour, it wouldn't go down quite so well with the UN I guess. The poem is not very nice because it is attacking people by being rude about their skin colour, which is what we'd be hoping to put an end to.

Of course in context it can be seen as a reply to racism and it's also a well-constructed poem. But it doesn't leave a good taste in the mouth for me. It's not something I'd want to hold up as a good example.

And since "person of colour" is used and seen as acceptable, it also make no sense.

It's neither it's just a poem of her view.

Call people what they want as individuals.

The poem is funny but not exactly a deep meaningful i have a dream is it?

sorry makes no sense that was a typo not mocking the poem's style!