Why Is Coloured Not Respectful?

[ivan edake 13]

This question was briefly discussed on Jeremy Vine last week, but the so called experts couldn't come up with an answer. Apparently to refer to someone as coloured is disrespectful,a person of colour is the correct term.I couldn't see the difference, so I checked to see what was on the internet and there were umpteen different opinions .Some sites said coloured was the disrespectful one, others said people of colour was the disrespectful one, so I am still at a loss .I know  Dianne Abbott asked for an apology when Amber Rudd referred to her as coloured but I heard Matt Hancock use the term last week. Whatever term is used it would seem that some people will be upset, so it would be really interesting to know what is the correct and accepted version so that no offence is caused.

[Pettytom 1]

Putting all non-white people into a group called “coloured” is a pretty arrogant thing to do. It implies that there are two sorts of people, white people and the rest.

 

Its not very helpful and pretty disrespectful really.

 

That said, some people use it innocently and I think we should be kinder towards them than we are. A little education goes a long way.

Edited November 22, 2020 by Pettytom

[melthebell 862]

The term coloured has connotations with the slave trade i believe? 

 

Black people tend to prefer being called Black

[Becky B 31]

Surely "person of colour" is putting all non-white people into a group, in the same way as saying "coloured"?

 

I heard someone saying that BAME shouldn't be used, because minority has negative connotations.  I can't remember where I heard it though, I'll see if I can track it down...

[Pettytom 1]

38 minutes ago, Becky B said:

Surely "person of colour" is putting all non-white people into a group, in the same way as saying "coloured"?

 

I heard someone saying that BAME shouldn't be used, because minority has negative connotations.  I can't remember where I heard it though, I'll see if I can track it down...

I’m not sure that “person of colour” is all that welcome these days. At least it opens up the possibility that the person being described is a person. And that there might be more than one colour.

 

[Longcol 598]

Interesting perspective from a black woman (self described).

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/black-women-people-colour-racism-beyonce-coachella-black-lives-matter-a8316561.html

[RiffRaff 10]

It's an interesting question.

The only "correct" answer can surely only come from a "non-white".

[redruby 279]

8 hours ago, Becky B said:

Surely "person of colour" is putting all non-white people into a group, in the same way as saying "coloured"?

 

I heard someone saying that BAME shouldn't be used, because minority has negative connotations.  I can't remember where I heard it though, I'll see if I can track it down...

I also read that a lot of people don’t like being described as BAME as it lumps a diverse group of people into one.  
 

Edited November 23, 2020 by redruby

[bassett one 449]

before i retired our tara was always asked to refer to non-white people as black,this was the correct term they said,but its not easy especially with older folk,but i thought it made sense and was easy as you dont like to offend people.

[Phanerothyme 12]

In this context "coloured" is a transitive verb  - it's done to the object by the subject. 

That's one reason it's problematic as a phrase.

 

[cressida 1,554]

When I first heard the term 'person of colour' I thought it sounded the same as 'coloured person' and thought people would be offended,  I think 'black' is preferable.

[El Cid 215]

11 hours ago, melthebell said:

Black people tend to prefer being called Black

What do brown people like to be called?

7 minutes ago, cressida said:

When I first heard the term 'person of colour' I thought it sounded the same as 'coloured person' and thought people would be offended,  I think 'black' is preferable.

The issue is that many people are brown and different shades of brown.

We should not call people something that they themselves find insulting, but when discussing/talking about brown people and people different shades of brown, coloured is one term which was once quite accurate.