Is it seen as racist or non-pc to refer to someone as 'coloured'?

[scrummyyummy]

What is the correct terminology these days? I'm sure I heard on the ITV lunch time news today the reporter talking about the recent racism row between the football players and he used the term 'coloured coaches'.

[RATTER15]

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??

[Mick-Talbot]

So if my car is black. what do I say to someone who asks

"what colour is your car"

AOG?

[d9f1c7]

anyone remember "Love they neighbour"?

[scrummyyummy]

I do! They can't get away with that now!

[Zeuhl]

Yes. It was c**p

[RATTER15]

It appears that black is not a colour because it is not within the 7 basic colours of a rainbow that make up white light but is nearly always referred to as a colour.

[Brinjal]

Kaffir is the offensive word in africa

[RATTER15]

"Love they neighbour" was amusing in its day but it is just so dated now, I did watch it though, you can still see clips on youtube.

There would be an uproar if it was aired today even though the racism was well balanced.

[Zeuhl]

It's clearly you Old Git who is lacking education (as well as many other things)

Definition of BLACK

a : of the color black b (1) : very dark in color
b: a black pigment or dye; especially : one consisting largely of carbon
c: the achromatic color of least lightness characteristically perceived to belong to objects that neither reflect nor transmit light

Definition of WHITE

1: the achromatic object color of greatest lightness characteristically perceived to belong to objects that reflect diffusely nearly all incident energy throughout the visible spectrum

source: Merriam-Webster

[pastafreak]

Depending on how black is 'made'-the reflection of light,or via individual pigments-it CAN be defined as a colour.

http://www.colormatte...lack-and-white-colors

[trt]

scrummy, I thought mind your language was hilarious!

When I was a kid I used to hate going for a haircut, my dad said if you dont go in I will send the black-man to chase you!

[Mick-Talbot]

So I'm not going to look stupid if I tell them my car is black then ?

[DTCwordfan]

Christ, AOG, then I had better go and throw out the black and whites in my Winsor & Newton painting boxes, be they oid, acrylic or watercolour.....and W&N need to re-write their catalogues or the reference "Colour palette" if they can't include those hues.

[pastafreak]

You'll be fine Mick-now you just need to determine the exact shade of black ...;-)

[venator]

Can somebody answer the PO, please? What correct terma are there these days?

[Ann]

Ratter - I love that poem you found :-)

[sp1814]

Doncha just love it when a thread goes flying off the rails?

scrummyyummy - there's someting about 70s comedies that should be remembered - many of them are simply not as good as you remembered them.

I tracked down a few episodes of 'Mind Your Language' for a 20-something at work last year, and the thing that struck him wasn't anything about race - it was about how poorly cobbled together it was comedicly.

If you compare Mind Your Language to Fawlty Towers, Dad's Army, Porridge, Open All Hours, Butterflies, George & Mildred and the awesome Are You Being Served - it's kinda left standing.

Although, I accept that comedy preference is subjective, I still think MYL was pretty feeble.

[Mick-Talbot]

It's taken from a video that has done the rounds at half time during football matches.

[Mick-Talbot]

True SP ....But the French bird was really fit.

[sp1814]

Oh and to the original question. 'Coloured' isn't racist. It's just terribly old fashioned. If I heard that term, I would assume it was from someone 50 and older because as someone else has posted, back in the 70s, the term 'black' was genuinely seen to be offensive.

'Half-caste' doesn't actually make any sense semantically, because black and white aren't part of the caste system. Mixed race or latterly 'bi-racial' are the correct terms to use.

Also, wasn't there a term 'mulatto'? I am fairly certain that's fallen into disuse too.