The term 'coloured'

[Ticktock12]

So I'm a new member of a team and one of my colleagues described someone and said 'Oh the coloured lady'. I corrected her obviously stating its offensive.
Aibu or is this a term people still use?

I actually think in 30/ 40 years 'black' won't be seen as an acceptable term and we'll all be seen as the bigots.

I'd never use 'coloured', but it confuses me a bit that 'person of colour' is okay - isn't that basically an inversion of 'coloured person'?

www.buzzfeed.com/bimadewunmi/coloured-is-not-the-same-as-people-of-colour?utm_term=.hm8DwWZ74#.gmZogw17Y

In South Africa coloured & black are 2 different things. During apartheid in Cape Town people were split into coloured / white / black & those communities still exist today. I sometimes use the word coloured out of habit but I try hard not to in the UK.

I've only ever heard it once, a friend at a baby group who is in her 40's (30's back then) described her father in law and consequently her husband as "coloured". Her fil is from the Carribbean but she and her husband grew up in a small midlands village. I grew up in London so I put it down to possible regional differences. She's certainly not racist but possibly just too middle England to know the term is outdated.

'People of colour' 'person of colour' I understand the context that can be used in, however describing someone as 'the coloured one' is what the lady said.

People are hostile because they feel they are being accused of being racist when all they are doing are using the phrases they used when they were young

That's a shit argument.They've presumably lived in the same world for the intervening 50 odd years, they haven't been cryogenically frozen.

People are hostile because they feel they are being accused of being racist when all they are doing are using the phrases they used when they were young

You see, I don't understand this at all. If someone told me a term I use to describe someone is actually quite offensive, I'd be grateful that they told me so I could avoid using it in future, and maybe a bit embarrassed. But hostile? No.

Is she British. My DP (not British) was shocked to the core when I said someone was black as that is still considered very offensive where he is from

A relative of mine who is in their 60's and from London would never use the word 'black' to describe someone as they reckon in their day, that it was the worst thing you could say and very offensive. They were taught that 'coloured' is the polite term.

I heard someone say it at a kids club the other day "Whose is the little coloured boy?" Because his parents wasn't in the room at the time she couldn't work it out. But she was granny of another child there so the group leader very tactfully told her the boys name and to her credit she did refer to him my name after that.

My DParents have used the term on occasion but are getting better about it.

I do have a friend who has mixed East Asian heritage but due to a complicated family history doesn't know exactly what mix she is. She calls herself Oriental even though others would find it offensive. I've always found plenty of other ways to describe her, her heritage isn't her most distinctive feature imo.

When I hear the term 'coloured' I always think of Alice Walker's poem 'Song':

books.google.co.uk/books?id=0FcuEl00A7gC&pg=PT285&lpg=PT285&dq=alice+walker+poem+song+%27people+of+colour%27&source=bl&ots=AHXju89FuJ&sig=wfEcd4kTCHvsyZO3PU_f67kQsbg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjw882-z9DPAhVlOpoKHcqRDhQQ6AEIEzAE#v=onepage&q=alice%20walker%20poem%20song%20%27people%20of%20colour%27&f=false

I think, genuinely, it depends on how it was meant. If she was being dismissive or derogatory, then obviously it's not ok. If she was trying to use what she thought was the appropriate term but is just a bit out of date, then I would leave it. Language does move on, and it can be confusing. I got (gently) told off by a friend the other week for saying 'person of colour' as she thought that was the same as 'coloured'. I don't think I used an offensive term, but it might be in a few years, who knows.

no biggie just correct her politely. it is offensive but if they don't realise the 'new' terminology better to correct them.

I think people don't always know what's correct.

If I went through school and was told to be polite and correct you use 'X terminology' yet I get into the work place and get torn to shreds for a comment (describing a person whose name I don't know) because in between leaving school and spending 5 years at work everything has changed how could I possibly foresee that situation?

No one sends out a letter or sticks anything on the news and people are expected to just 'know ' what is correct/offensive and what isn't. Of course people will get offended if you correct them because often they think they're being polite and they are being told they're actually offensive. No one likes that. Times do change but it doesn't happen over night. Entire generations may pass before everyone understands and that takes time. That's why we still come across people who use the wrong terminology.

If someone uses the wrong phrase then I just reply using the correct one. I would never 'tell' someone that they were saying something offensive or wrong (unless they were mouthing off deliberately obviously).

I learnt coloured as a child. What you said was fine. I don't think you aggressed her. She needed educating. Everyone has a right to feel comfortable at work. Maybe she felt embarrassed, which perhaps looked like something else?

It's only acceptable in the UK when describing multicoloured horses.

She's the same age as me. Maybe younger. The generation of Rock Against Racism. We aren't all sweet ignorant little old bigots, you know.

Someone I interviewed the other day used the term - she was in her late 60s and under the circumstances I didn't query it but I was shocked.

I'm 50. I know it's not the way to describe anyone.
Tall, short, wore a blue top last time you saw her, likes/hates Bake Off. whatever.

I probably wouldn't say "that's offensive" but I would probably say "Black is the accepted terminology these days"

Agree, I would same the same as this pp.

I know some people see 'coloured' as racist, but I try to interpret something as racist or not in terms of the context in which it is used. If it's being used pejoratively, to say someone is 'lesser' then it is racist. If it's being used purely as a descripter, ie if you'd say 'John the red haired man' or 'John the tall man' that to me is no different than saying black or coloured.

I know this is simplistic and some words have cultural connotations, eg the word 'nigger' or 'paki'.

But if it ain't meant to put someone down then in my book it isn't racist (I realise I am probably in the minority on this)

I nearly wrote about half caste in my post MrsD. Ugh. I learnt this as a child too and used it before I realised what it meant. Poor little girl in my class was known as the half caste girl. I didn't realise the derogatory nature and yes, it makes my hackles go up too.

Mandela used the word 'coloured' once, but he got away with it. Because he was old, obviously... Then there was the NAACP, I imagine it has changed its name.

But it's a no-no. There was a funny scene on MoTD when Alan Hansen was talking about racism in the game, and referred to 'coloured' players and the player next to him looked visibly awkward.

People of colour is fine but not generally used in conversation.

"Coloured"- coined by white ppl to segregate & oppress
"People of colour"- coined by people of colour to resist this oppression #NotTheSame

www.buzzfeed.com/bimadewunmi/coloured-is-not-the-same-as-people-of-colour?utm_term=.pkBxJEaLY#.vyoP6wKkE

It's one of those things isn't it. I think you did the right thing because it's very possible she had no clue it wasn't the right word to use, and now she knows.

That being said, I think you have to judge it based on who you're around. I don't tell my dad in his own home not to say "coloured" because I know what he means and I know he isn't being malicious and that he'd use the right word outside of his home. That and his black friends use it as well.

I have a similar situation. I'm part of a friendship group which is predominantly gay with just a few of us who are straight. They call me a "fag hag" and I call them "big poofs" or "old queens" - obviously none of us would do this to anyone outside of the group but we're all comfortable enough with each other that we can call each other these things and we know we're not doing it to be nasty or out of ignorance.