Maybe I am wrong, but I am not sure that I have a major issue with this. The apology was great, but I am not sure the backlash was quite worth it in this instance. Given that he was already talking about equality and the like anyway so his terminology has to be taken in that light. And he did not use more offensive words or statements.
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As Del da Funky Homosapien raps:
Iām chocolate like a bar but my name is not Roseanne
My skin has a pigment, reminiscent of a tan
I plan to grow dreads but first a nappy fro
The longer the hair, the easier to scare a foe
And
Surrounded by the people who would stab me in the back
My skin is really brown even though itās labeled black
I have never been to the UK, but I had a British supervisor years ago who used the same term. I pointed out that using ācoloredā can get him in big trouble in the States. He was bewildered and very apologetic. Iām guessing ācoloredā is a term that is far more offensive in the US because of our history of racial struggles, particularly Jim Crow. āColoredā is a reminder of the pain of segregation and the struggle for equality. In any event, he sounds like a very good person who was caught up in a conversation and used an outdated term. He very sincerely apologized and thatās all that matters.
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I donāt think itās odd at all given that cultural divides., and intention in usage can vary greatly. I had a friend in college who was (is) South African and the ethnic label she identified by was colored. And this was early 2000ās.
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Seems to me āblackā is preferable to ācoloredā for two reasons. In the segregated South (which included Delaware, by the way), signs read āWhiteā and āColoredā, making the term ācoloredā reminiscent of Jim Crow. In addition, ācoloredā takes in all complexions that are not white, such as Indian, Pakistani, dark skinned Arabs, etc., consequently the term legitimately cannot be used to include only those of black African descent.
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Yep. Just like using see you next Tuesday over here to describe someone will be met with quite a different reaction than in England.
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FWIW, that word ācoloredā has a slightly different carload of baggage coming from someone whoās British than it does coming from an American. Not less unsavory, but different.
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Now any one with a PC streak and a twitter account, and a fervent desire to smear can assemble a posse to defame a person as a racist ā even as its clear that that person was speaking out against racism. The word was not used in a hateful way by Cumberbatch. Smiley didnāt even react to it because he understood the intent and use of the word in context. Anyone in public life has to be constantly aware that anything they do or say is subject to attacks such as these and Cumberbatchās apology shouldnāt be lauded, but recognized for what it is ā forced from a place of humiliation and fear. It makes me ill to see a good person beg for forgiveness from people unknown when they havenāt done anything wrong except use a word that isnāt even meant in a derogatory way. If the word ācoloredā is truly so offensive and off-limits, why then does the NAACP still use it?
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Considering the substance of what he had to say and the point he was making, as a black man I say this goes in the āno big dealā category.
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I had a similar take, though I would argue that coming from someone in Britain, it is less unsavory. I have a British friend who has been active in the pro-LGBT equal rights movement in Britain and yet uses the British slang for a cigarette that rhymes with ābagā. Yes, itās not used in America anymore, except by bigots, but I donāt take offense that the word exists with different usage elsewhere because I know she is not a bigot and the language context is different. I once texted her the single word āGitā. I meant "Get off the phone and go run your errands. She didnāt get upset, but she did laugh and tell me it caused her a momentary mental hiccup because in Britain āgitā is a term for a contemptible person (I knew that, but had forgotten.).
Itās not that I have a problem with him being called out for using ācoloredā. Itās the knee jerk outrage that is the problem. It seems like 90% of the comments seem to reference how it was used in older generations in America. Thatās just silly. Context, people. We share a common language, but our history is very different (sometimes good; sometimes bad).
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The etymology is thus: āfaggotā was a bundle of sticks tied together for use as firewood (which I have always assumed was the result of lack of access to actual trees due to deforestation and aristocratic preserves). So, from that, you get an idiomatic application to a cigaretteāa packet of stuff for burningāand a derogatory term for gay men derived from the equally derogatory āflamer.ā
Iāll never forget being slapped upside by the head by the use of the word in itās original form in the Fellowship of the Ring the first time I read it (and not āAtlas Shruggedā) as a twelve to thirteen year old.
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English to English translation can be tricky ā¦ watch how you use the word - āfannyā
or - if you are in the Myrtle Beach area and ask someone to āShagā - which is the local swing dance that originated in South Carolina in the 1940s ā¦ it would get a little awkward if your prospective dance partner was from England ā¦ where the term means something very different
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Decades ago as a kid in a high school that was approx 1/4 black, ācoloredā was the ONLY acceptable way to refer to black people. During the civil rights movement under Dr. King and others, āblackā became OK.
Amen, brother.
Nice to hear you say this. Iāve been recommending it to people for entertainment and a a look at an increasingly obscure slice of WW2 history. Having been in the business of communications intel many years ago, I had a special interest in the film.
Iām very familiar with the history of the Ultra program and can only give the film a B+ for historical accuracy, but thatās good for a movie about a massive, complex intel effort without compare.
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The wordās American baggage is being hauled by the Jim Crow Express. Itās British baggage is pulled into the British Imperialism Special. Iāll see your Jim Crow laws and night riding terrorist proxies of state governments and Tulsa Race Riot and raise you an Apartheid, a Pacification by Force and an Amritsar Massacre. Fine distinctions between which was worse are difficult.
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How old is this guy? Iām guessing a good looking 80ish, Colored? At his age 80ish some habits are hard to break.
Because the NAACP isnāt going to change itās name because white people decided to be nicer to us.
It is a bit ridiculous. Hereās a question, if a black friend of mine asks me if I know was NAACP stands for, would I be offending him if I told him? I think not, but in the PC world Iām not supposed to say those words. Unreal. And frankly if I referred to my friends as āAfrican Americanā, they would give me that ātalk to me, not at me, call me blackā look. Yeah, itās great for TV and politics and all that PC BS, but in the real world it doesnāt work like that. At least not in NYC. Especially since many blacks here are not even Americans, and have not been to Africa.
Newt Gingrich says āAfrican Americanā. So in the PC world, Newt is more sensitive to black issues than Mr. Cumberbatch? Thatās just funny.
I think this generation needs to listen to some Lenny Bruce. Donāt get so uptight over āwordsā, get uptight over āissuesā.
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What does NAACP stand for? It may be outdated but itās negative connotations are certainly a new phenomena.