[scewLacysmazy]

I remember back in the day, people used the term "people of colour" as a derogatory term synonymous with "coloured" and as such it meant Africans and Afro mixed people, and maybe also very dark Indians. Now it seems to be a preferred term used in the USA, but it's much more inclusive than the old British term (as I heard it, only in movies and such).

So, people nowadays actually label themselves "person of color" which seems rather weird to me. Maybe it's because the label "white" is much used and accepted in the US, so it's just another weird label for non-white. The problem is that it's colourism (white is as well) which seems to be so important in the USA, unlike elsewhere I know of.

So, what is it exactly?

[Deseassaugs]

Any person whose skin color ranges from light brown to dark chocolate brown.

[emexiagog]

It's a term still used by Al Sharpton & Co. It makes it sound like white isn't a color.

[Rithlilky]

jibarodepr: Well, so to you it's entirely based on skin colour? But many Hispanics who aren't dark are called people of color in the press - how does that work?

[bUqLfXRI]

Well, so to you it's entirely based on skin colour? But many Hispanics who aren't dark are called people of color in the press - how does that work?

Because they aren't white according to US society(as majority of us are mixed blood)

[AllAdobeOEMSoftDownload]

In US history, "colored" wasn't only reserved for blacks, as most think. It just means non-whites, so people that lived in America, during the segregated era, who were non-white were referred to as "colored" (blacks, Asians, Amerindians, Hispanics, etc.) That's the reason why most segregated signs in the South said "colored" and not just "black". Although, the target was mainly blacks, since they were the biggest minority group at the time.

It's not used often in the US anymore. The only time "people of color" is used is if it's referring to a group of non-whites, like if it's including blacks, Asians, Hispanics, etc. When referring to just one group, people tend to say "black", "Asian", "Hispanics" etc. I only really hear the "colored/people of color" reference being mentioned in classes, when learning about history and such.

Signs in the Jim Crow South.

[appleiphoneees]

@Jam
White is not a color. Technically, pure white is the absence of color. In other words, you can't mix colors to create white. Therefore, white is the absence of color in the strictest sense of the definition. Black isn't a color either; a black object absorbs all the colors of the visible spectrum and reflects none of them to the eyes.

Anyway, when I think of a ''person of color'', this comes to my mind:

[rfceicizgm]

No Spanish...

[97dYA9L3]

No Spanish...

perhaps they used it as synonymous of Mexicans or Hispanic Americans.

[raspirator]

Any perosn whose skin color ranges from light brown to dark chocolate brown.

Would light skinned Indians or East Asians count as people of color, in your opinion? I'm assuming dark skinned Indians and SE Asians are counting, correct me if I'm wrong.

[ELURNSERB]

No Spanish...

Yeah...

---------- Post added 2011-09-28 at 09:31 ----------

perhaps they used it as synonymous of Mexicans or Hispanic Americans.

I'm assuming that too lol.

[DoctoNilsonDen]

it means your black. case closed..

i really don't understand why black is no longer considered acceptable to say on news channels.. its alot less syllables than african american and yet you convey the same thing when you say it.


edit: habesha pointed out that colored didn't always mean just black but when people refer to "people of color" they are almost always talking about blacks. i've never really heard hispanics referred as such unless they were black hispanics.

[wp6Eg2Fm]

perhaps they used it as synonymous of Mexicans or Hispanic Americans.

Yeah, but if they heard a real Spaniard talking Spanish (even if he was Blond/Blue eyed) he'd get kicked out.

[w3QHxwNb]

Yeah, but if they heard a real Spaniard talking Spanish (even if he was Blond/Blue eyed) he'd get kicked out.

ignorance at its peak for their part.

[sbgctsa]

Because they aren't white according to US society(as majority of us are mixed blood)

What and who is white, then?

Do you suggest that a Hispanic person who happen to be 100% Euro descend is a person of colour, just because they speak the "Aryan" Spanish language, and because other of his countrymen are mixed?

But in that case they may not be light brown, but as pale as any other European - not that all Europeans are pale.

It does smell a bit like a one drop rule, extended edition, to me. Now it even may include people who have no biological relation or cultural relation at all.

What about Southern Europeans, how do they relate to this, in the US?

And about "colored" - it's just none-white, but it's from the perspective of the white person. "Person of color" seems to be a self designation, and I've seen it used on tv a whole lot. First time I saw it used in this way was Halle Berry's acceptance speech at the Oscars. But I've seen it in articles and in interviews a lot, always as a self designation. It seems to be an extremely PC way of saying "non-white minority American" to me, but it's still a colorism, at least as a term.

[FreeOEMcheapestPHOTOSHOP]

To me it always meant: a person of non-European descent, or a person with mixed European and non-European descent.

[wallyfindme]

What and who is white, then?

Do you suggest that a Hispanic person who happen to be 100% Euro descend is a person of colour, just because they speak the "Aryan" Spanish language, and because other of his countrymen are mixed?

But in that case they may not be light brown, but as pale as any other European - not that all Europeans are pale.

It does smell a bit like a one drop rule, extended edition, to me. Now it even may include people who have no biological relation or cultural relation at all.

What about Southern Europeans, how do they relate to this, in the US?

And about "colored" - it's just none-white, but it's from the perspective of the white person. "Person of color" seems to be a self designation, and I've seen it used on tv a whole lot. First time I saw it used in this way was Halle Berry's acceptance speech at the Oscars. But I've seen it in articles and in interviews a lot, always as a self designation. It seems to be an extremely PC way of saying "non-white minority American" to me, but it's still a colorism, at least as a term.

In the Us society, Anglo Saxon whites, I am not the one suggesting it, US people society is the one who suggests it, I know there are White Latinos and then you have Spaniards, the US society seems to be the one who fails to see it.

[softy54534]

it means your black. case closed..

i really don't understand why black is no longer considered acceptable to say on news channels.. its alot less syllables than african american and yet you convey the same thing when you say it.


edit: habesha pointed out that colored didn't always mean just black but when people refer to "people of color" they are almost always talking about blacks. i've never really heard hispanics referred as such unless they were black hispanics.

It might be because "black" is quite broad. It includes a lot of different ethnic groups, not just Aframs.

For example, if a news channel is talking about a study, say on health, done on Aframs, it would not be correct to say "black" because the study was specifically targeting Aframs and by saying "blacks" they would have included other "black" non-Afram ethnic groups, who would not have participated in the study, since it was just about Aframs. So, it wouldn't be conveying the same message.

[grinaJanoDant]

Would light skinned Indians or East Asians count as people of color, in your opinion? I'm assuming dark skinned Indians and SE Asians are counting, correct me if I'm wrong.

I think so, as also white in the US is having white skin and Euro pheno and no non-white ancestry.

[feqlmwtuqx]

(not aimed at you Jam but generally) People generally take 'person of colour' and 'coloured' literally and this is confusing, but you have to remember that even 'white' is a non-literal term, no one is literally white, similarlily many 'coloured' people would have light skin.

Confusing racial terminology is not simply there because the terminology itself is confused, but because the issue of race (IE the social construct not the biological aspect) is not clear or set in stone, never has been, never will be.