Help with question from my Nan!........?

Question

My Nan was relaying a conversation she'd had with her friend, and identified her as "my friend Lil, the coloured lady across the road". I told her that she couldn't say 'coloured' but must refer to her as black. My Nan asked "why?", and I realized that I didn't really know! I'd just always been told through school that 'coloured' is racist, but it's never been explained to me.

This is a genuine question, as I really don't know the answer. I know the older generation are stuck in their ways as it's all they've known, but I'd like to be able to qualify my statement to her! Thanx!!

I do agree with most of you guys - PC has gone mad! I would never want to offend anyone, but I think people are now terrified to say anything for fear of saying the wrong thing! I know it's a bit different, but did anyone read the news article about the bakery that had to re-label their 'Paradise Slices' because they didn't come from paradise!

Oh yeah, also, did any of you watch Life On Mars? Because it was set in the 70's it was about as un-PC as you could get - and it was great!! The characters just got on with life, calling a spade a spade (be it race or gender) instead of standing there with a clip-board wondering who to sue next for offensive speach LOL.

Answer 1

Ha! I think that's cute. My grandma still refers to Asians as "Orientals".

They're from an older generation. They think they are using the correct terminology.

I don't think anyone can argue that the term "colored" is more offensive than the term "black" in and of itself.

For black people, it's the painful association of the word with racist times that made people stop using it. There used to be a time where society was segregated and there would be "white" drinking fountains and "colored" drinking fountains.

Thus, the word "colored" triggers painful memories and stopped being acceptable to use.

Answer 2

There is nothing wrong in what your Nan said so don't try to change her.
Political correctness has gone completely mad and we are all scared of what we can and can not say.

Your Nan I should think has been around for many years why should she change her ways after all this time??? I know my Nan use to say different words which I would cringe at due to political correctness, they were not rude and she meant no harm after 94 years I think she deserved not to be told oh you can not say that as it might upset 1 person as it is not the in thing now.

Leave your Nan be she has done no harm what's so ever. Ask the older "Black" community if they find being called "Coloured" offencive and I bet they say no,

Answer 3

It is not so important what you say, as to how you say it.
Your nan started the sentence 'My friend Lil, ' That demonstrates in itself that it wasn't a racist statement.
I will never use the term 'black' for most dark skinned people, because they are not black, they are brown. Neither will I refer to light skinned people as White, there are no white people anywhere.
We are all coloured, we are all skin coloured, I would not be offended by being called coloured, but it doesn't clarify that a person has dark skin. But when your nan said it to you, you knew what she meant, so it was effective.
If you treat people with respect they will not be offended.

Answer 4

I think it is political correctness gone mad, surely we should be more worried about how people are treated. I have always had friends from all over the world and we all look very different, be it skin, hair, height. I believe that if everybody treated everyone else as equals people wouldn't feel insecure enough to worry about it so much. I mean how boring would life be if we were all exactly the same!

Answer 5

Black, coloured,white...aren't offensive to anyone except the PC brigade.They are the ones who wanted to 'outlaw' the term 'blackboard' in case it offended black people. It didn't of course, it's just a board whose colour happened to be black. It's crazy, let your Nan use 'coloured' for her friend, it obviously isn't meant to be offensive.Ignore the PC lot.
What next?..ban 'greengrocer' as it may offend Martians???

Answer 6

I don't know neither and I think this is political correctness gone mad.

Black is black, white is white, yellow is yellow and I can see no reasons why it should be racist to call "green" green.

I have black friends and they told me you must not say black and not even any longer coloured but "person of colour". In my opinion it's all rubbish - I respect all persons equally, no matter what colour of skin or creed and I do not express less respect if I refer to her / his actual colour.

Answer 7

You're wrong, sorry.
Colored is not racist, ask any colored person in South Africa. That must be something made up by someone who has never been there. They are a racial grouping themselves. Mostly known as "The Cape Coloreds"
They were created from black sleeping with white when the settlers landed.
And if everyone who has any black blood in them must now be referred to as black, the same goes in reverse. That makes me black, since the guy who'se name I bear married a black woman when he landed. My passport says Caucasian. Need I say more?
Good luck, keep well.

Answer 8

It's the world gone mad, as usual. Your nan has been around a lot longer than you so I actually think it's disrespectful of you to try and correct her.
I wouldn't worry anyway, the term only offends white lefties.

Answer 9

In line with islamic teaching we can not say or call someone with his/her physical shortcomings such as his/her color skin,certain race,deaf,dumb,cripplred or blind because his/her shortcoming is given by God.We do not know why we are not born by a white and beautiful women.God determined our birth from a certain womb of a woman.We do not like to be born by ugly and colored women,but we can not avoid it because everything determined by God.Why I was to be a black son that I do not want to,but God has decided me as a child of a black mother.Black,white and brown color humans are decided by God without our permission.Man proposes but God disposes..In front of God all humans are the same and the difference lies only in the belief and good/bad doings.of a human without pay attention to his/her skin color.

Answer 10

i dont know, but i think coloured was thought of as the more polite term by the older generation, but times have changed and it seems this is no longer the case.

whenever i hear black people talking about themselves and ethnicity they refer to themselves as black, not "coloured", or "of african origin", so i guess black is the most appropriate word.