Thread: Some people are so inconsiderate....

I was born in the 50's and "colored" was the term used growing up. When it was said to be unacceptable, I evolved. It's not that hard to do.

Originally Posted by speedygirl

I was born in the 50's and "colored" was the term used growing up. When it was said to be unacceptable, I evolved. It's not that hard to do.

well, i grew up in the 70's and i'm ashamed to say that my parent's used the n word a lot so that's what i grew up on. needless to say, i evolved as well. and in turn........educated my children and even my own mother. my mother was very racist until i enlightened her. that's how she grew up. she was born in 1930 in the south..........

Originally Posted by jedmatters

I rarely use ethnic words to describe someone.
Being a slightly darker skin than me, means you are colored.
Due to the fact the person may be African-American, Jamaican, Black Foot, Dark Latin American, or a version of any ethnic mixing.

I can not be certain someone has African ancestry, and I am not going to ask.
People do not refer to me as that Viking Scottish Cherokee Canadian Jew French German American.


As for MLK day. I believe we celebrate the day because his message was of peace for the entire world. He was an amazing man that had a powerful mind and a great plan for the world.

Originally Posted by iluvmybaby

Thats a mouthful! I am a "mutt" so I hear you on that, lord knows WHAT people would call me

Another mutt here,I always thought how funny it would be if we referred to ourselves that way.

people say too much

it is easy to insult and easier to feel insult by another.

if this is a problem that is growing mention it to the people in charge, little things like this can grow into bigger problems and escalate our patience with each other.

Originally Posted by katgirl3

Okay. I'm just trying to understand something here. The OP called herself a woman of color. So ....why was it so wrong for someone else to call a black person colored? Really not trying to be difficult here. It just caught my attention. If someone could explain the difference to me (without being snippy, please) I sure would appreciate it. Just seems like the same thing to me.

As far as the MLK thing. That was just insensitive on her co workers part.

This is what I was wondering too!

And how old was this coworker? Seriously, some older people don't care to know what is now PC. No , I don't agree with that, but knowing some people they say what they always say and nothing changes.

And I agree the MLK thing was just stupid... But again , who are these people? Do they know anything about MLK?

I live in a very non politically correct area , And I bet many people around here don't really know who he was or what the importance of celebrating him is.
so I have seen and heard it all.

Luckily I grew up in an area where I actually learned about this stuff, and I just ignore any comments about anything.

Originally Posted by Njean31

well because to me it's an antiquated term. something my grandma might have said. maybe slow wasn't the right word.....perhaps uneducated would be a better term. i think really old white people (and maybe even some really old black people refer to themselves as colored because it IS how they grew up...being divided away from white), racists people, and uneducated people use the word. it's very degrading.........something they used back in the days of slavery and segregation. if you were brought up on it, i hope you quit using it. it's offensive and makes a person sound racist....IMO.

it reminds me of this:

I don't think it makes a person sound racist. I think it makes a person sound like they grew up with that term. I didn't say I used it. But I know people who do, and they are hardly uneducated. Saying someone is colored is no different than saying they are black, African American or whatever will be politically correct in the future.

The OP called herself a woman of color. So she's a colored woman. I'm becoming a little baffled why this thread was started in the first place. And this is all just IMO.

Originally Posted by katgirl3

I don't think it makes a person sound racist. I think it makes a person sound like they grew up with that term. I didn't say I used it. But I know people who do, and they are hardly uneducated. Saying someone is colored is no different than saying they are black, African American or whatever will be politically correct in the future.

The OP called herself a woman of color. So she's a colored woman. I'm becoming a little baffled why this thread was started in the first place. And this is all just IMO.

Probably because she was really offended and needed to vent. Accordingy to Wikipedia there is a difference in saying colored or people of color. It is contradictory considering what the C in NAACP stands for. I won't post the whole thing but there are some interesting points. What they say in parts of Africa is interesting. Colored is mixed race and black is well, black.
As far as I'm concerned, I'll respect someone's choice to be called what they deem acceptable.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colored

Colored is a North American euphemism once widely regarded as a description of black people (i.e., persons of sub-Saharan African ancestry; members of the "Black race"), and also Native Americans.[1] It should not be confused with the more recent term people of color, which attempts to describe all "non-white peoples", not just blacks.

Today it is generally no longer regarded as a politically correct term, however even that is debatable, due to its continued occasional appearance, most notably its use in the acronym NAACP. Carla Sims, communications director for the NAACP in Washington, D.C.,said "The term 'colored' is not derogatory, [the NAACP] chose the word 'colored' because it was the most positive description commonly used at that time. It's outdated and antiquated but not offensive." [2]

The term "colored" appeared in North America during the colonial era. A "colored" man halted a runaway carriage that was carrying President John Tyler on March 4, 1844. In 1863, the War Department established the "Bureau of Colored Troops." The first twelve Census counts in the U.S. enumerated "colored" people, who totaled nine million in 1900. The Census counts of 1910–1960 enumerated "negroes."

Free people of color were sometimes accorded higher status than blacks, because of the association of the latter with enslaved status. In addition, free people of color were sometimes the children of planters who may have passed on wealth in the form of property or education, including apprenticeship to a trade. In the well-established Creoles of color community in New Orleans and southern Louisiana, many people became educated and owned property, including their own businesses. but were more often considered lesser than people of separate ancestry.[citation needed........



Some struggle to identify with the term, arguing the word color merely refers to level of skin melanin, and so fails to define correctly those who are not noticeably non-white or whose racial background includes both races of white and non-white. It should be further noted that terms such as colored people or people of color are technically misnomers; all white people have color in their skin as well, with the exception of albinos.....

The term women of color has been embraced and used to replace the term minority women. Some also prefer the term of color to the term minority because they see the latter as describing a stance of subjugation and objectification.

As far as I'm concerned, I'll respect someone's choice to be called what they deem acceptable.

Ok, so how do you go about finding out what is acceptable to them?

do you say "what term would you like me to refer to you as?" (that could be construed as offensive)

I mean, no matter what, someone is going to get offended -- I have more than a few get offended when I made a comment where I directed someone to someone else by using either / both "Black" and "African American"...

for the AA part, I was cursed at that "their peoples weren't from Africa" -- which in my opinion is totally ghetto (and gets no respect from me).

But how in the world can you guess what would be acceptable without stumbling first?

The only term that I find offensive, really, is the N word...but yet, those of color often call others of color that and aren't offended at all ... it's a double standard, which I am sure is probably best suited for another vent thread.

Originally Posted by atprm

Ok, so how do you go about finding out what is acceptable to them?

do you say "what term would you like me to refer to you as?" (that could be construed as offensive)

I mean, no matter what, someone is going to get offended -- I have more than a few get offended when I made a comment where I directed someone to someone else by using either / both "Black" and "African American"...

for the AA part, I was cursed at that "their peoples weren't from Africa" -- which in my opinion is totally ghetto (and gets no respect from me).

But how in the world can you guess what would be acceptable without stumbling first?

The only term that I find offensive, really, is the N word...but yet, those of color often call others of color that and aren't offended at all ... it's a double standard, which I am sure is probably best suited for another vent thread.

A good old white liberal b*tch, thank you. What I said was that it was contradictory and when I read or hear from a spokesperson that they prefer to be called, black, african american, person of color...I'll do so out of respect. Yes, it is confusing and easy to offend because in our lifetimes we've been told to use a new term several times. My DD's bf is biracial and I'd probably be politically incorrect if he didn't keep me informed, lol.

Originally Posted by Njean31

well because to me it's an antiquated term. something my grandma might have said. maybe slow wasn't the right word.....perhaps uneducated would be a better term. i think really old white people (and maybe even some really old black people refer to themselves as colored because it IS how they grew up...being divided away from white), racists people, and uneducated people use the word. it's very degrading.........something they used back in the days of slavery and segregation. if you were brought up on it, i hope you quit using it. it's offensive and makes a person sound racist....IMO.

Is the OP racists & uneducated for referring to herself as such?

I can understand where the confusion comes in. It seems every other year "african-americans" want to be called something different. It's a bit difficult to keep up with being politically correct. I have "african-americans" in my family. They refer to themselves as "black" or interracial. I, for the life of me cannot figure out why "african-americans" what to be reffered to as "african" when they are from America. Not one single "black" person in my family calls themself "African-american."

Sorry you got your feelings hurt. If it bothers you for your co-workers to call "black" people, people of color. You need address the matter..I'm sure they aren't doing it out of ignorance or to hurt your feelings.