Decades ago as a kid in a high school that was approx 1/4 black, “colored” was the ONLY acceptable way to refer to black people. During the civil rights movement under Dr. King and others, “black” became OK.
Amen, brother.
Nice to hear you say this. I’ve 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.
I’m very familiar with the history of the Ultra program and can only give the film a B+ for historical accuracy, but that’s good for a movie about a massive, complex intel effort without compare.
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The word’s American baggage is being hauled by the Jim Crow Express. It’s British baggage is pulled into the British Imperialism Special. I’ll 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? I’m guessing a good looking 80ish, Colored? At his age 80ish some habits are hard to break.
Because the NAACP isn’t going to change it’s name because white people decided to be nicer to us.
It is a bit ridiculous. Here’s 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 I’m not supposed to say those words. Unreal. And frankly if I referred to my friends as “African American”, they would give me that “talk to me, not at me, call me black” look. Yeah, it’s great for TV and politics and all that PC BS, but in the real world it doesn’t 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 “African American”. So in the PC world, Newt is more sensitive to black issues than Mr. Cumberbatch? That’s just funny.
I think this generation needs to listen to some Lenny Bruce. Don’t get so uptight over “words”, get uptight over “issues”.
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What does NAACP stand for? It may be outdated but it’s negative connotations are certainly a new phenomena.
There probably hasn’t been one biographical movie made that is anywhere near accurate, and I know that this one is not either. But Cumberbatch is such a fine actor and Knightley is as well and so it’s a pleasure to watch.
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The headline should be “Cumberbatch speaks out for equal opportunity for minority actors on Tavis Smiley Show.” The rest is BS IMHO.
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Cumberbatch’s portrayal of Alan Turing made me cry more than I’ve ever cried at the movies.
I just realized I have one degree of separation from Alan Turing, who died the same year I was born. I had a professor in college who was Alan Turing’s doctoral advisor.
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I think Apartheid was an Afrikaner (Boer) policy, not a British policy.
I partially agree. I think words are important, but there’s a difference between words that have always been intended to demean and offend, on the one hand, and words that come in and out of fashion, on the other hand. And also, try speaking as fast as Cumberbatch without occasionally saying something awkward.
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I caught that!
It occurred to me just a while ago that the NAACP has the word “color” in it. Why does that stand? And does an otherwise well-intended Brit know what’s acceptable at any given moment?
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As several people have already pointed out here, “colored” was completely polite and acceptable, and it only became disfavored in recent decades in the United States because of an association with the bad old days. I don’t know how the usage has evolved in GB.
Could you explain the “see you next Tuesday”? I’m not getting it.
Yes, I agree, I could have said that better. Had he said “nigger” obviously that would be way out of line, that word has always been derogatory. But when the NAACP ends in “colored people”, it’s a little ridiculous to be taking offense if a guy uses the term. And again, many elderly blacks like the term, so he did not insult “all blacks”. But “nigger” would.
Also, being a colorful person usually is a positive thing. If blacks are colored, that means we whites are colorless. Boring.
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I know perfectly well the term colored has some negative history attached to it and thus has fallen out of favor. But the NAACP has kept their name intact – I think because it honors the organizations history. Granted, the word is archaic, and odd to our ears, but as spoken by Cumberbatch, in the context of the interview, his intent was clear – the word is benign – and Travis Smiley, the man sitting across from him in that interview, understood that. And anyone who is not willfully obtuse understands that. This should never have become a controversy – except that social media empowered some obnoxious people looking to get off on shaming and humiliating a decent man so they can feel powerful. They have succeeded in extracting an apology from him that some people amazingly applaud. This is manipulation – much more toxic than accidentally using the wrong term.
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