When was the last time you heard someone say "colored people"

[LittleClarkie]

For me, it was last night at work. The knuckle-dragging regular courier came in, a man so stupid he believed Santorum when he said there were WMDs found, and thought that one of the pressmen had waved at him. So he wasved back, but then realized the pressman hadn't actually.

I heard him mutter something, then say "oh, black person or whatever you say now," then "I'd better be careful. That's not politically correct". He said "politically correct" in a mocking tone.

So I asked what the hell he was talking about. And he explained that he'd originally said "colored guy" then corrected himself, since that wasn't politically correct (the tone again)

I couldn't talk. I got him his manifest, remained professional, all the while thinking "YOU FUCKING NEANDERTAL! YOU MORON! YOU IGNORANT FUCKING MORON"

Oooooh, I was so pissed.

An overreaction, or no?

[POAS]

1. Under-reacted in my opinion

Ny the way I think he's a Moran not a Moron...It's a freeper thing.

[LittleClarkie]

17. Indeed

I suppose I underreacted because I have to see and work with this person each day. I don't believe in being unprofessional to someone I have to work with.

And I suppose I thought it was an overreaction, since it wasn't exactly the "N" word or anything.

But still, what a moran.

And these fools are trying for the black vote?! Who ARE they kidding!?

[Name removed]

2. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[tularetom]

3. Before my dad died in 2003

And we used to kid him about how stupid he sounded, but he couldn't break the habit. However my cousin is married to a black woman who insists we refer to her as a "person of color". So I wonder what we have really accomplished.

[lamp_shade]

8. My mother....

She's 83... and thinks it's just more respectful than calling somebody black. I love her so very much... but... oy!

[LostinVA]

49. But, that was respectful when she was younger

I posted downthread about my 89-year-old grandfather. He's said "Black" ever since I can remember, but now that he's older and getting forgetful, he often says "colored." Again, to him he is NOT being derogatory, but respectful... just like your mom.

[demosincebirth]

10. A person of color as opposed to one without color? Isn't white a color?

I think, we are getting paranoid to the point that we have to really stop and think if what we are going to say might offend something or someone.

[Der Blaue Engel]

29. The key distinction is that one is a term applied by whites

and usually intended as a perjorative, the other is a label of choice created by the people in question. It's been in use for a few decades, probably more on the coasts than elsewhere. The first time I heard the term "people of color" (in 1988) I was taken aback as well, but many people feel it is empowering, and I'm all for that. I don't think most who use the term expect everyone to refer to them that way, though. It's more of a self identification.

It's not so much a matter of worrying that we might offend someone if we don't say the right word; it's a completely different matter when someone deliberately uses a term known to be offensive and pretends they don't mean to offend (as with Allen and "macaca"). That's when people usually start complaining of being oppressed by the "PC police," when they've been called on their shit.

A little more on the topic from Wiki:

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

[left is right]

13. My dad is still alive at 88 years old

and once in a while he slips up and says colored person. I have never gotten the impression that he was racist. I have never heard him say the "N-word" or any other racist term. He owned a business for many years and always said that at the end of the day, when counting the money, he wasn't able to tell what race his customers were. The money all looked the same. If he was going to have repeat business he had to treat all of his customers well.

[Solly Mack]

4. And you have the nerve to call me colored.

author unknown


When I was born I was black,
When I grew up I was black,
When I'm sick I'm black,
When I go in the sun I'm black,
When I'm cold, I'm, black,
When I'm scared, I'm black,
When I die I'll still be black.

When you're born you're pink,
When you grow up you're white,
When you're sick, you're green,
When you go in the sun you turn red,
When you're cold you turn blue,
When you're scared, you're yellow,
When you're bruised, you're purple,
and when you die you turn grey.
And you have the nerve to call me colored.

[rfranklin]

7. I guess I'm just one of those "rainbow people"

yay!

[never_get_over_it]

5. Within the last year

from my 12 year old bi-racial nephew - and I can't remember what the story was he was telling me - anyway he said something about the colored kids of which he included himself and I said good God child why are you saying colored - people stopped using that term long before you were born

Man I wish I could remember the rest of the story....

Don't think you over reacted - unfortunately there have been WAY too many prominent racist stories in the news lately and it is getting on my last nerve....

[MichaelHarris]

6. It

was on CaddyShack when Ted Baxter was telling that joke and the shoe polisher guy started grinding his shoe into sparks.

[Cobalt-60]

9. Yesterday

From my 90 year old Grandfather.
He was speaking about New Orleans, specifically the Super Dome videos.
Hey he knocked off a kamakazie and a half from his 4cm mount, so I say we cut this one a little slack.

[savemefromdumbya]

11. haven't heard it since 1970s

[morningglory]

36. Heard Oprah saying it. She also never stopped saying "girl" when

the feminists would poop their pants if anyone called them a girl. In the South "Colored" and Negro were polite when I was growing up. I used to work with a very nice black man. When we would say "somebody robbed the Piggly Wiggly last night", he would invariably ask "were they colored?" MLK used "Negro". The day the black people said the words "colored" and "negro" were pejoritive, I used "black", from that day on. Whatever they wanted, I felt they had the right to ask to be called something else. However, when they started with the "african-american", they had gone too far for me. I refuse to call puffy p-diddy. Just cause he says he has a new name. What Prince has gone through, lawd, chile, I am not going along with it. I called him Prince through all the re-births, and see, I won. He has had to go back to Prince from whatever he changed it to. I am 60. I call white males under 50 "boy". But I am willing to go along and call all black males over the age of 6 "man", though it is silly to me. So that's my opinion. Go ahead.

[annabanana]

42. excellent synopsis and historical perspective there

It coincides with my recollections and predilections.

[lithiumbomb]

12. my late 98 year old grandmother

But like one of the other posters and their relative, she gets a little slack. :) Her best friend in the world was an african-american (and jewish! ) lady for the past 30 years or so. Actually people she knew today and, say, post civil rights era, she'd refer to as 'black.' But if it's someone she knew from before that period (like neighbors or friends from the 30s and 40s) she'd refer to them as 'colored.'

[Jamastiene]

14. Not overreacting, IMHO.

It infuriates me too. My suggestion: Get a punching bag or just punch a pillow every time you think about it. Otherwise, the feelings you are holding back will become toxic to you. I used to suffer that way and since I have started either punching a pillow or doing the primal screaming thing every once in a while, I have felt much better.

[LittleClarkie]

15. I am fully aware of having to see this person each day

and I believe in remaining civil and professional to someone I have to see every day.

But you're right. I need to vent. That's sorta what I'm doing here, actually.

[Jamastiene]

24. That is exactly how I handle it too.

Some way to get those feelings out in private is a positive thing. Good luck.

[lonestarnot]

28. Sorry, but I'm past that. It's show no fucking mercy to anyone

like that ever again. I will fight them day in and day out. Does not matter to me if I have to run into the son-of-a-bitch every day.

[LostinVA]

51. I would complain to UPS or whomever it is

Businesses do NOT want their employees acting like that. Lost business and lawsuit city.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

16. Not for a long time

that I recall. Mommie Dearest uses the term "nigra" which makes me want to snort vomit out my nose. I could let "colored" pass with someone her age (94) but not the other.

[kellenburger]

18. I live in Indiana so.....

I hear that and much worse all the time.

I have to bite my tongue so much that I have
a callous tongue.

[lonestarnot]

19. Coward.

[LittleClarkie]

25. Who?

?

[lonestarnot]

30. You!

:rofl: Why didn't you do something differently? Are you going to next time?

[LittleClarkie]

31. I'm so glad insulting me has you rolling in the aisles

I might call his manager, at the least.

But I fail to see how confronting a moron will do much of anything. It won't give him more brain cells.

[lonestarnot]

32. It will let fuckhead know that you for 1 will not put up with that shit.

[seriousstan]

20. Right after they said "National Association for the Advancement of".

[CTyankee]

21. My late brother, after his stroke

introduced me to his health care attendant in his nursing home, with great enthusiasm, as "this little ole colored gal." I was so mortified I could barely speak. She was great, not embarrassed at all (from what I could tell). She was a real professional, not taken aback at all by the racist slur that came out of my brother's mouth. This was in the spring of 2004, right before he died. His caregivers at his nursing home were wonderful people.

[dipsydoodle]

22. You lot are losing me here

As far as I'm aware the expressions "coloured" and "coloured folk" are not offensive in the UK. If someone here in the UK wants to correct me on that feel free. I use both black and coloured when I'm chatting with my friends - if it was causing any offence I'd soon pick up on it. In specific instances I use Rasta as well so's they know to whom I'm refering - usually one of the DJs with dreads.

[SmokingJacket]

23. I think the problem is in the attitude more than in the term.

I remember getting flailed in college when I used the term "Oriental" rather than Asian. I didn't mean any disrepect by it; it was just an out-dated term and I didn't know any better. I wasn't a racist, or at least I wasn't any *less* of one when I started to use the correct term.

ANY term used derisively is wrong, and people who attempt to be respectful should be given credit.

Obviously, your courier pal is not respectful, but not solely because he used an old term.

[LittleClarkie]

27. I think it was the mock concern and the "oh excuse me"

without meaning it, like "gee, ain't I just adorable" that got me more.

[CTyankee]

47. My mother used to call her Asian American doctor a "chinaman"

so "oriental" is a step up from that! I heard both growing up. Now they sound weird to me.

[LostInAnomie]

26. Everytime my Grandma watches TV

Of course she 86, and will probably never change.

[driver8]

34. My grandmother was born and raised in Texas and used to use

the "N-word". I remember the first time I heard her say it and I said, "Grandma, you can't say that -- that's a bad word!" (We were the Yankees from back east.)

She didn't change, either.

[NewJeffCT]

33. My grandfather said it

He passed away in 1995, but used it his whole life, from what I can recall. I do not think he was intentionally derogatory when he used it - as nobody said "African American" in that era - It was more like "colored people" was what you called people of African descent back in the 20s & 30s, and beyond. He probably even thought he was enlightened for not using "Negro" or the other "N" word.

But, he would say things like, "That King fella did a lot of good for the colored folks" He was talking about Dr. Martin Luther King, and it was said as a compliment to King.

I'm not saying he was a saint, as I'm sure he would have freaked out if my mom, or her sister, dated somebody that was black (heck, he might have freaked out if they dated a non Catholic... )

[wellstone dem]

35. My daughter said it

when she was about 13. She was so used to hearing people say "people of color", so she shortened it on her own. I explained why that might be offensive and she never said it again.

[kskiska]

What about the NAACP?

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Martin Luther King referred to "Negroes" constantly.

[OregonDem]

44. Words are just words, they are only a problem when they are hateful.

I think its entirely appropriate to have a conversation about racist words, such as their meaning and why they were used, and don't see why anyone should be offended by hearing racist words used in that context. However when racist language is used to spread racist ideas then we need to stand up and call it for what it is.

[kitty1]

37. I've actually heard the term darkie used by someone when...

I was a kid. I thought that term left with the civil war.
Thank God we've evolved somewhat since then.

[Swamp Rat]

38. Every time I hear Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, et al

open their mouths.

[Aristus]

39. A patient came in a few months ago pissed off because she skipped

her appointment and got charged with a no-show. She insisted that her missing her appointment was somehow our fault. Our front-office staff gave her better than she deserved by giving due diligence to a stupid complaint. The scheduler on duty asked her: "Who made the appointment for you, ma'am?"

"It was some colored girl."

Wow. You could have heard a pin drop in the front office after that. Several people (including me) emerged from side offices just to confirm we'd actually heard what we thought we heard.

Forget "politically correct" for the moment and stop to consider what a person might or might not consider offensive. I don't think this woman did that. She was probably one of those cretins who shakes off accusations of being thoughtless and hateful by saying she's just "telling it like it is."

"It was the bees-knees, Daddy-O, the cat's pajamas." I don't use expressions like that. Not because they might be offensive, but simply because nobody uses them anymore. BUT if they WERE considered offensive by somebody, I'd make a special point not to use them. Common courtesy, after all.

[StellaBlue]

40. Every time I talk to my grandparents about any issues possibly involving

black Americans.

They usually are using it to refer to something some black people did in the past, though, strangely. In the present, they would just say "the blacks." Weird, huh? The don't use to the N-word, although just about all my eldery relatives have started using it when they're all cooky in the home. :eyes:

My other grandmother actually said "darkies" to me once. :wtf:

Welcome to East Texas.

[OregonDem]

41. You should of said - What do politics have to do with you being a bigot?

Bigots want to be free to be intolerant of minorities, but want people to be tolerant of them, and they are just too dumb to see the hypocrisy of that.

[The Jacobin]

43. My 88 year old grandmother

Who used to instruct me never to say "Civil War" but to always use "The War Between the States". She died six years ago. So not since then.

[Solon]

45. A lot of people here talk about thier grandparents saying it, I can't...

I mean, my Grandmother has never referred to African-Americans that way, at least, not in front of me. She'll say "African American" or "Black" occasionally, but never in a derogatory way. My Grandpa, the same thing(My Dad's parents died around the time I was born, these are my Mother's Parent's). But you have to understand, my Grandpa WAS a racist, but my Grandmother, being of a different mindset, sort of beat it out of him. My Grandmother worked in the City Hall of a previously all-white city, University City, in the Central West End of St. Louis, around the time of transition between Segregation and Integration. In fact, she wrote up the integration legislation for the city that allowed African Americans to move in.

My Mom would tell me stories of when the first African-Americans entered her high school, she, being herself was more curious than afraid. One of her best friends in high school was African-American, and they were both on the women's basketball team. They were both the tallest on the women's team, so they had something in common, and became friends.

I don't know, maybe my family is just odd.

[kineneb]

46. we are all "colored"

I like to think of myself as pleasant pinky-beige, if I can avoid the sun. Then I just turn an ugly red, and peel. Other people are shades of olive, beige, brown and bronze; a few are actually dark-skinned enough to be called "black". I have never seen anyone who is actually "white" and I am not sure I would want to do so (horror movies, anyone?). Even my piano student's albino mother is not white, but sort of pinkish.

Your courier is a moron and a bigot.

[LostinVA]

48. My grandfather often says it -- to him, that was respectful

when he was a young man. He's 89 and is getting a little forgetful, so he often says that now.

[AspenRose]

52. That *would* be considered respectful, since in his youth they were

using the 'n' word with frequency. So yeah, in comparison, 'colored' *would* be respectful.

I would cut older people some slack but if it's someone who looks old enough (or young enough) to know better, especially if they are using a mocking tone, gloves come off.

[LostinVA]

54. Oh no, I agree

I just remember some past threads on DU about this subject, and some people basically saying elderly people need to get with the program. I think it's fair to cut elderly people some slack when they are being respectful.

Now, the dude in the OP? Should be reported to his supervisor ASAP.

[Hosnon]

50. I've wondered if it's proper to use the term with members of the NAACP. nt

[LWolf]

53. The last time I heard "colored people"

was a couple of years ago. A black colleague told me that she prefers "colored" to "African American" or "Negro" or "Black." She did comment that "colored" was the term her parents grew up with. Aside from that, she felt that "African American" was inaccurate, as those referred to are long severed from African ties. I don't remember her reasons for rejecting the other two; she did mention that "colored" was more inclusive.

Since you asked.

As for your incident last night? It sounds like someone indoctrinated from youth was trying to step past a boundary, actually acknowledging a "colored" person with a wave. This is likely to raise his level of discomfort. When he realized his error, it probably upped that discomfort level even more, and his muttering to himself was probably an automatic reaction, self-soothing with familiar indoctrination.

Was your anger an over-reaction? I guess it depends on whether or not the perpetrator caused harm, or your anger helped anything. It sounds to me like this guy as a door open just a small crack, and that he might begin to evolve, given the right conditions. I wasn't there; I think you are the best judge. :shrug:

[tenshi816]

55. My mother-in-law.

She's 75. Back when she was still working at the Inland Revenue Service (that's the British version of the IRS), she told me that employees were formally instructed to use the term "coloured people" at work in the 1950s and 60s when referring to non-Caucasians. Then, in the 70s, the term was formally changed to "black". She's been retired for about a dozen years but still keeps in touch with younger colleagues who are still at the Inland Revenue, and she says that nowadays they're told to say "non-white" at work. MIL herself still says "coloured people" occasionally, not as a pejorative term, but as a holdover from her working days as a much younger woman.

[SweetLeftFoot]

56. Sith Efrikan

A mate of mine - Canadian - was seeing this South African girl (we all live in Edinburgh, and I Aussie!) and she complained that people looked at her funny when she talked about 'coloured' people.

I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry - she was genuinely amazed.