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	chibikaijuu 2006-05-23 02:02 am UTC (link)
	Because, you know, race relations and the connotation of certain words are exactly the same all over the world. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	gal_montag 2006-05-23 02:05 am UTC (link)
	I can't think of a place where referring to people as "colored" is okay. Is there one? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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chibikaijuu, 2006-05-23 02:09 am UTC

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gal_montag, 2006-05-23 02:11 am UTC

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chibikaijuu, 2006-05-23 02:17 am UTC

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chibikaijuu, 2006-05-23 02:31 am UTC

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mookie, 2006-05-23 02:41 am UTC

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gal_montag, 2006-05-23 03:29 am UTC

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miss_padfoot, 2006-05-23 02:25 am UTC

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gal_montag, 2006-05-23 03:30 am UTC

(no subject) - pink_lightning, 2006-05-23 03:35 am UTC

	gal_montag 2006-05-23 02:04 am UTC (link)
	Is that making a comeback or something? (Reply to this)

	symbeline 2006-05-23 02:14 am UTC (link)
	I think you can still say 'person of color' or maybe that's only an out-dated census term. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	(Anonymous) 2006-05-23 02:15 am UTC (link)
	I've seen people of color say "person of color." Because that defines them first and foremost as a person. But "colored person" is a no-no. - onaga (Reply to this)(Parent)

	amyheartssiroc 2006-05-23 02:16 am UTC (link)
	As far as I understand, "person of color" is the accepted PC term for any non-white minority. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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grand_sealink, 2006-05-23 03:22 pm UTC

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sithwitch13, 2006-05-23 04:51 pm UTC

darthmaligna
2006-05-23 03:17 am UTC (link)

It strikes me as an acceptable term to use in contrast to "white" when discussing race relations, but I'd never use it in spoken conversation because it's easier just to say "non-white."

I always thought it was a little bit racist, though, because the only "colour" race words in the first place are black and white, and "person of colour" kind of implies that eastern Asians and Pacific islanders are yellow, southern Asians are brown, American Indians are red, Hispanic people are... brown as well, I guess, and white people are "standard" and colourless. But other than using "brown" to refer to Middle Eastern people when I'm being sarcastic to criticize US foreign policy, I'd never say any of those things.

Particularly because I don't want people calling me pink. I'm sensitive about my skin colour. :(

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puipui, 2006-05-23 04:08 am UTC

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ladysorka, 2006-05-23 07:19 am UTC

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made_by_kali, 2006-05-23 10:58 am UTC

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chibikaijuu, 2006-05-23 02:22 pm UTC

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sheep, 2006-05-23 05:52 pm UTC

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squib, 2006-05-23 01:31 pm UTC

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chibikaijuu, 2006-05-23 02:21 pm UTC

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smo, 2006-05-23 01:40 pm UTC

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zuzu, 2006-05-23 06:39 pm UTC

	mcity 2006-05-23 11:18 pm UTC (link)
	I immediately thought "B, I'm Black! three snaps in Z-formation*" (Reply to this)(Parent)

	ymfaery 2006-05-23 02:25 am UTC (link)
	Is this race week or something? Damn. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	toph 2006-05-23 02:34 am UTC (link)
	Race AND boobies. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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mookie, 2006-05-23 02:40 am UTC

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darthmaligna, 2006-05-23 03:18 am UTC

	mastervex 2006-05-24 01:08 am UTC (link)
	Every week on the internet is race week. And incest week. And furries week. And crazy fuckers who like Harry Potter week. And the list goes on. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	(Anonymous) 2006-05-23 02:34 am UTC (link)
	In my Native American History class (this was just a little more than a year ago) there was a young woman who said something about "colored people" when we were discussing Civil Rights. I don't know if nobody else was offended or if everyone else was struck dumb from shock, but nobody said anything about it. -JabberwockyPie (Reply to this)(Thread)

	frau_eva 2006-05-23 03:32 am UTC (link)
	I'll guess "struck-dumb and want to pretend like it didn't happen, OH GOD MAKE IT STOP." I've been in all-white classrooms that have frozen up when a teacher reads "Huckleberry Finn" as written. Yet you can cut the tension with a kinfe. Boyyy, is that awkward. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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smo, 2006-05-23 01:42 pm UTC

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kittikattie, 2006-05-23 05:18 am UTC

OT: My Thoughts On Finn Yaoi -

queencallipygos, 2006-05-23 05:09 pm UTC

Re: OT: My Thoughts On Finn Yaoi -

frau_eva, 2006-05-23 05:47 pm UTC

Re: OT: My Thoughts On Finn Yaoi -

drhenryjekyll, 2006-05-23 09:16 pm UTC

pink_lightning
2006-05-23 07:08 am UTC (link)

When 'Parade' rehearsals (up at summer camp in '03) got to the cakewalk scene, the choreographer referred to it as a 'negro' dance. Everyone just went, "BZUH? O.o"

The only thing to make it weirder is that everyone in the show was white and Jewish, and I think the only black kids at camp at the time were too young to audition for the show and get a role, or they didn't audition at all. They got rid of "Rumblin' and Rollin'" as well, which sucks cos it's one of the best songs in the show.

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smo, 2006-05-23 01:45 pm UTC

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smo, 2006-05-23 07:40 pm UTC

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queencallipygos, 2006-05-23 05:12 pm UTC

	rotten_fish 2006-05-23 02:42 am UTC (link)
	Isn't zakken a troll? (Reply to this)

Ramble:

eclair
2006-05-23 03:46 am UTC (link)

Man, I'm now unsure if I've offended people before.

I've never seen anyone use/say the word "colored" so I'm not really aware of the full impact of offensiveness that it brings. I live in a predominantly Hatian/Dominican Republican community in the middle of the Caribbean, so I hear different words for them.

I hear "Prieta" and "Negrita", which to me translates to almost the same thing. (So... I'll have to keep this on my mind to make sure I don't offend anyone. :x) I remember the one year I was studying in Miami, I would just call EVERYONE "African American". I thought it was rude to use the word "black". It made me feel awkward.

"Prieta" will always make me think of pennies too. So yeah, its "copper" down here to describe darker skinned people. Huh. I think I'll stick to "trigeñita" when describing people.

(and we can't use the word "colored" in Spanish, because you guys have a state named that in the United States. Heeh. )

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	Re: Ramble: amyheartssiroc 2006-05-23 12:43 pm UTC (link)
	I go to a college with a sizeable population if international students, and I know quite a few of them who get offended when people say "African American," because you are assuming that all black people are African (many of them are from the Caribbean) and American. I usually use "black" myself because of that. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

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eclair, 2006-05-23 01:48 pm UTC

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herdivineshadow, 2006-05-23 03:39 pm UTC

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frau_eva, 2006-05-23 04:25 pm UTC

kylenne
2006-05-23 04:43 am UTC (link)

I don't know. I'm willing to give this chick the benefit of the doubt because some words just don't have the same negative connotations everywhere. My ex was a white Australian and used the term colored once in a completely naive manner when he introduced me to his family (I'm black), and I had to gently point out that the phrase was totally unacceptable over here and would likely get him clocked in the mouth.

So yeah...I don't think she met anything by it.

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dana, 2006-05-23 08:52 am UTC

	dana 2006-05-23 08:49 am UTC (link)
	This must be an American thing, I didn't even realise that coloured was an offensive term. Of course, up until being in England, I didn't realise that Gypsy was also non-PC. (Travelling people, or travellors is the appropriate term). (Reply to this)(Thread)

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smo, 2006-05-23 01:49 pm UTC

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smo, 2006-05-23 07:39 pm UTC

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mcity, 2006-05-23 11:16 pm UTC

	adora_spintriae 2006-05-23 12:28 pm UTC (link)
	We're watching a TV programme, and a coloured man drops his trousers. She could be talking about the Wiggles... Mmmm Wiggles slash. ... What? (Reply to this)(Thread)

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mookie, 2006-05-23 01:00 pm UTC

Stupid Question Time

isntitironic
2006-05-23 03:14 pm UTC (link)

Y'know, I live in a rather 'ethnically diverse' city. About half the people at any given bus stop on any given day are white, most of the rest are Asian, there are quite a few Middle Eastern people of assorted extractions, and there're a few blacks, a few natives, the occasional sasquatch, and that guy at the Centre Street Train Station who says he's an alien. But I've only ever met one person I would have described as a racist - that being the guy who wanted to have 'white power' engraved on his bracelet (needless to say, I told him no). I've never had anyone pull race on me over the rules of any establishment I've worked in. I've seen lots and lots of homophobes, my parents among them, but only the one racist.

Am I just really, really sheltered, or is this one of those things I miss by living in Canada?

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Re: Stupid Question Time -

toph, 2006-05-23 04:12 pm UTC

Re: Stupid Question Time -

isntitironic, 2006-05-23 05:25 pm UTC

Re: Stupid Question Time -

sheep, 2006-05-23 05:58 pm UTC

Re: Stupid Question Time -

queencallipygos, 2006-05-23 05:37 pm UTC

	Different languages, different codes (Anonymous) 2006-05-23 06:27 pm UTC (link)
	In my language coloured is totally acceptable, even preferred to black - which sounds slightly racist to my ears. So I would probably use coloured in English too simply because I didn't know better. I do now, though. (Reply to this)

(Anonymous)
2006-05-23 10:49 pm UTC (link)

I was visiting relatives in Norway, and my cousin and I were explaining some British slang to his mum (I was studying abroad in England at the time, and he was finishing up 3 years at a uni in Wales). We were telling her how if someone was good looking, you could refer to that person as "mint." Her response was, and I quote, "and if he was a negro, you could call him mint chocolate chip." I have no idea if she's actually racist or not, but as this was in a little mountain community in Norway, I imagine she would never have been in a situation where someone would take a great deal of offense at that. Edvard and I, of course, pointed out she couldn't say that, but it's entirely possible that, like her, the OP was using the term in a fully innocent way.

--meleth on LJ

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	mcity 2006-05-23 11:11 pm UTC (link)
	checks Yep. I'm colored. I'm colored brown. /wait, when did I start using American spelling? (Reply to this)

	didodiva 2006-05-26 02:50 am UTC (link)
	Like others have said, different cultures, different terminology. Poor thing, I'll bet she didn't know what she was walking into. At least the didn't use the really offense word, the one that starts with N and isn't nergo. (Reply to this)