Labour frontbencher Diane Abbott "coloured".

[Vexr]

Well we already know that most politicians are completely detached from reality, they all like to stick with their "own kind" rather than mingle with the peasants.

That's a first, never seen a quote from me attributed to someone else And yes, I agree, doubly so when it comes to the conservatives.

 

[JBuk]

Well we already know that most politicians are completely detached from reality, they all like to stick with their "own kind" rather than mingle with the peasants.

Not sure how you’ve managed to add my name to somebody else’s post

 

[stockhausen]

Not sure how you’ve managed to add my name to somebody else’s post

It is an occasional quirk (AKA bug) of this forum software.

 

[MadMossy]

Not sure how you’ve managed to add my name to somebody else’s post

Neither do I, I just quoted and something obviously gone fubar.

 

[Efour]

Out of touch tory MP offends out of touch Labour black woman.....

Could you imagine her in a cabinet? omg wowowow

 

[Angilion]

Unfortunately not everyone sees things as you do and if the existence of 'black' and 'white' people is ignored then we risk turning a blind eye when someone doesn't see them as people but as 'black' and 'white'.

I disagree. As long as the idea that an obviously inaccurate description of a person's skin colour is their identity is treated as being valid, let alone actively encouraged and politically dominant, there's little or no chance of people being seen as people. We need to be saying "This view is wrong. It's factually wrong. It's ethically wrong. It's so wrong that it's downright deluded and possibly insane. It is not a valid view." So yes, "the existence of 'black' and 'white' people" should be ignored because it's not reality and it's a dangerous idea. Group identity politics is nothing more or less than the idea that "they're all the same", i.e. the foundation of irrational prejudice. We shouldn't ignore the fact that some people think that way, but we also shouldn't think that way ourselves.

 

[Faustus]

About 12 years ago I was working in a restaurant where there was a black chef. When he finished his shift, some awkward and inebriated well-meaning white folks made conversation with him. Afterwards he was shaking his head mildly amused, stating "WTF century were they from? Coloured? I'm BLACK not 'coloured'".

It's great we've got this thread and have logically and autistically hashed out that it's fine to refer to black people as coloured again. The fact a public figure and politician, who's choices can decide the fate of millions thanks to her role as secretary for the DWP, obviously hasn't done the expected mingling with the public we'd think her position requires and has made this faux pas has shot over most people's heads.

I don't see this as a problem. It's the term I grew up with too. Far to many sensitive folks in this world who clearly don't have enough to worry about. If it's taught Ms Rudd anything it should be not to ever ever come to the defence of Abbott again.

 

[Faustus]

The funny thing here is, it's not the usual case of a millennial getting irrationally offended by an older person unknowingly using an obsolete term, it's a case of an older person getting fake offended by another older person unknowingly using an obsolete term xD

It hasn't flown over most peoples heads, it's just as most people would have made the same mistake they don't really care about it. It's no different than somebody still saying LGBT without realising they're supposed to say LGBTQI...JKLMNOP nowadays (unless it's changed again this week).

Hear, hear! Or perhaps given I too am older I should be using “hear ye, hear ye”.

 

[thenewoc]

If only she could just be a little less **** in return for wasting my taxes.

 

[MadMossy]

It's probably the same for most people really, and unless you live in certain parts of the country, you'd be lucky to see anyone of an ethnic minority once or twice a day. So the words we know are the ones we were taught and with a lack of non-white people to correct our mistake. It's all we might know. 99.9% of time if it anything is said that is considered "offensive and obsolete terminology" its just a mistake and not meant as an insult. You could be a decent person and just politely correct them, or you can be a total douche bag and go the whole SJW I'm offended route and make that person really dislike you now.

I grew up in South Africa and I can assure the words coloured/black are a long long way from the words used in SA and very inoffensive. Words which I would not repeat on here as they would be an instant ban.

 

[cheesyboy]

I disagree. As long as the idea that an obviously inaccurate description of a person's skin colour is their identity is treated as being valid, let alone actively encouraged and politically dominant, there's little or no chance of people being seen as people. We need to be saying "This view is wrong. It's factually wrong. It's ethically wrong. It's so wrong that it's downright deluded and possibly insane. It is not a valid view." So yes, "the existence of 'black' and 'white' people" should be ignored because it's not reality and it's a dangerous idea. Group identity politics is nothing more or less than the idea that "they're all the same", i.e. the foundation of irrational prejudice. We shouldn't ignore the fact that some people think that way, but we also shouldn't think that way ourselves.

Same old nonsense.

It works in a world where there is no prejudice. Not real life.

We can ignore employers throwing out applications from foreign people, ignore police stopping and searching black and South Asian people more than white people, ignore the different personal safety issues women and men face. But then we draw an inaccurate conclusion on how we interpret people's behaviour and how we empathise with their experience.

Honestly, I don't even know what point you're trying to make with this. What lesson are we learning, how does it inform what we do about race, gender and disability prejudices? Why do you say it in every thread about any social issue?

 

[Vexr]

I don't see this as a problem. It's the term I grew up with too. Far to many sensitive folks in this world who clearly don't have enough to worry about. If it's taught Ms Rudd anything it should be not to ever ever come to the defence of Abbott again.

Very good. Black people being sensitive about being called 'coloured' is certainly their issue, not a derp on behalf of some dumb privileged privately-schooled overly sheltered Tory. You can probably count on less votes for the conservatives next time round though, so there's a plus.

 

[dowie]

The term coloured or brown is offensive...however black or white is not.

Hang on - why is brown offensive?

I've heard people from or with ancestry from the Indian subcontinent refer to themselves as "brown people" as no doubt "black people" is synonymous with people from or with ancestry from Africa.

 

[Thecaferacer]

Hang on - why is brown offensive?

I've heard people from or with ancestry from the Indian subcontinent refer to themselves as "brown people" as no doubt "black people" is synonymous with people from or with ancestry from Africa.

White and black refer to specific race set. Brown is a descriptor, It's like calling a Chinese person yellow or a native American red.

The most open and refreshing conversations I've had around all of this is with black people. General opinion was none of them gave 2 ***** as long as there was no malice meant.

 

[atpbx]

Its baffling how today anyone still feels the need to refer to someones colour as a descriptor.

In the case of Diane Abbott instead of being described as a black woman, it would have been far more appropriate to describe her as an ignorant, racist, thick as pig muck hateful fat hag who is only where she is because she used to lunch on Corbyns genitals.

 

[Zatoichi.uK]

Perhaps it's just a US thing but isn't person of colour now quite an accepted term? Coloured person on the other hand is very much frowned upon despite basically being the same thing.

 

[Thecaferacer]

Perhaps it's just a US thing but isn't person of colour now quite an accepted term? Coloured person on the other hand is very much frowned upon despite basically being the same thing.

It's very much a US thing, I haven't known anyone here to use it unless they are specifically talking about race in a subject .it's a catch all phrase for anyone who's not white.

 

[Murphy]

I disagree. As long as the idea that an obviously inaccurate description of a person's skin colour is their identity is treated as being valid, let alone actively encouraged and politically dominant, there's little or no chance of people being seen as people. We need to be saying "This view is wrong. It's factually wrong. It's ethically wrong. It's so wrong that it's downright deluded and possibly insane. It is not a valid view." So yes, "the existence of 'black' and 'white' people" should be ignored because it's not reality and it's a dangerous idea. Group identity politics is nothing more or less than the idea that "they're all the same", i.e. the foundation of irrational prejudice. We shouldn't ignore the fact that some people think that way, but we also shouldn't think that way ourselves.

Inaccurate description of a person's skin colour according to who? Because the dictionary definition is "Belonging to or denoting any human group having dark-coloured skin, especially of African or Australian Aboriginal ancestry."

The term 'black' is used because at times people need an acceptable way to talk about differences without causing offense, such as when calling out discrimination or giving a description of someone, much in the same way as you'd say someone had blonde hair or was a (wo)man.

Also IDK what world you live in but I'd love to visit it sometime as despite what you say the reality is that some people do differentiate between 'black' and 'white' people, just like some differentiate between men and women, tall and short, good looking and ugly. And they do that, either on a conscious or subconscious level, because it's part of who we are, it's our amygdala (iirc) responding to something that was dead handy to have 4-5 million years ago.

 

[Freddie1980]

Perhaps it's just a US thing but isn't person of colour now quite an accepted term? Coloured person on the other hand is very much frowned upon despite basically being the same thing.

'People of color' is a buzz phrase invented to make all non white people feel inclusive, the issue with describing people as just 'coloured' goes back to times of slavery and imperialism. Tbh a lot of people don't like the phrase 'people of color' as it waters down peoples cultural and ethnic backgrounds verse's describing some as they are e.g 'black'.

 

[Efour]

Heres a question for you.

Have you ever had to describe a person to a group of people and were petrified of just saying "he the black dude" which would have saved you 1 minute of BS?

Is what i just said racist or insensitive? What do you think? Surely given the context saying Black/White Male/Female is a good ground to build a description on right?