When did people stop using the term "colored" to describe black people?

You know it's ironic that they are now called People Of Color...so that is kind of like coloured...

I'm black, and I grew up in the seventies too, and 'colored' was long gone by the time I was old enough to be aware of such things. I'd say it happened in the sixties during the 'black is beautiful' movement as a reaction against being labeled by someone else. I find the whole 'African-American' thing absurd and tedious, and far too many syllables to be bothered with most of the time. I rarely use it.

OP, my mom grew up in the Midwest and she always called black people "the coloreds". But that's not as bad as what the rest of her family called them.

No one refers to black people as "people of color", except a few die hard, granola eating, lesbian DL'ers on here.

The term was out of favor by the early sixties and being weeded out strongly by the mid sixties.

I am white, age 56, and the word "colored" was something my parents might have used prior to the middle 1960s. My grandmother used it and never bothered to change with the times. I say "black" or African-American(although I do think the term silly and overly PC).

Latinos, mostly white Puerto Ricans have used it to describe people in conversation with me. I dont mind because I know they dont mean anything by it. I occasionally call other black people colored or negro, in jest.

"Were they colored?" "Yeah, white" -- Fred Sanford

I find "African American" to be an ignorant term, when applied to a black American.%0D %0D An African American is someone from Africa who has recently obtained citizenship or in the process. Just like a Japanese American is someone from Japan who is now American.%0D %0D Mormons call blacks "Afro Americans", that much I know. I think it's slightly less offensive, but still dumb.%0D %0D Why can't we just say black people and call it a day? Or for that matter, "people"?

[quote]When did "colored" stop being in fashion? When the coloreds got uppity.

In Germany, many people still think that the German word for "colored" is more polite than the German word for "black".

r4 Craigslist has a POC forum, People Of Color forum, so get on the cluetrain yourself. And check this google result from googling "people of color"...wow, lots of POC forums out there.

"I find "African American" to be an ignorant term, when applied to a black American." What I find hard to take is that blacks want to own the word. Black people who've never stepped foot in Africa want to be called that. But when white South Africans try to call themselves African-American, they get all types of shit about it.

Shirley Q. sets it straight on the homosexicals AND the blacks.

Shirley Q Liquor is an ignorant piece of shit.

r9 we discussed the "African American" label at great, *GREAT* length in the first installment of the African American Dataloungers thread.

Please read it before starting that coversation here again, as we black posters are still recovering from that flame war for the ages.

Maybe early- to mid-'70s colored was gone or on the way out. "Colored" was still used in the '60s.

Some of my older relatives and other adults used that when I was a kid. But I never did. It was an anachronism where I grew up.

Gotta love the legacy of the antebellum South. We're still struggling to repair their criminal and racist bullshit after all this time.

Still fighting the civil war R19? Hmmmm? But then I bet you're the type who blames EVERYTHING on EVERYONE else. I think it's rather easy to see who the ignorant one is pally.

I've actually asked a couple of my black friends this question and they both say "black", as one of their families is originally from the Caribbean, and the others' is not from Africa either.

My gran still casually uses the N word (accidentally) sometimes. She's not atall racist and she's always really embaressed when she does it but i guess back then it was normal for people and not considered offensive. I wonder in a few decades time which words we casually use now will be offensive to people.

I knew many southern women who once used the term, "nigra." Looking back, that was quite offensive.

I'm trying to remember whether the old guard term was "negro" or "colored" back in the 1960s. I was a small kid, but I do remember people being corrected for using one of these terms (or self correcting), and then switching to the other. The whole thing became moot when "black" arrived, replacing both at once.

I'm Jewish and some of my older relatives still use the term "schvartza" (sp?). I cringe when I hear that. The term in of itself isn't derogatory (it's the German/Yiddish translation for black), but it's almost always used with a negative or racist tone.

I was born in 1960 and I sort of remember asking if it was OK to start using Black probably around 1967 or 1968. James Brown song, "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud" came out in 1968.

I'm old enough to remember, OP. I'd say around '66, '67.

When I was a kid, "colored" was an anachronism and "Negro" was what you used if white. After the 1967 riots, "black" came into general use.

[quote]I wonder in a few decades time which words we casually use now will be offensive to people.

Anything that's not the O word.

Niggers > Negroes > Coloreds > Blacks > Oprahs

I (white) have a few elderly relatives that still use colored. They all admit to being confused as to the appropriate term and fall back to what was acceptable when they were young. One black aquaintance my same age told me that his (black) father also still used the word colored. We're all midwesterners.

"Has Mr. Colton told you? I'm colored."

"Colored? What color are you?"

"Oh! I'm a NEGRO."

Colored is not in fashion because there are a lot more colors in the spectrum.%0D %0D Immigration brought the Asians & Latinos who are not white thus have color and are people of color. The world is no longer black & white.%0D %0D African American, I find is a PC term used by white people more than black people. Many black americans don't care for it because they don't retain any African culture (ie, italian or mexican americans) This kills the debate that American is a nation of immigrants and it's important for people to retain their original culture.%0D %0D Unfortunately for the black American their ancestors were brought here, they did not immigrate and were forced to change names and take on the american culture. So it's now white america that tells them they have to take it back. This really sounds insulting. %0D %0D African Americans are those who immigrated here from Africa. Black Americans aren't immigrants.

What r24 said.

The first time a white woman got her face slapped after trying to get a salesperson's attention in 1965.

I'm black, grew up in Brooklyn; my family considered "colored" as offensive as the N-word by the late 1950's.

[quote]Many black americans don't care for it because they don't retain any African culture %0D %0D Looking at a photo exhibit of five nations in west Africa, a Black guy started proclaiming ecstatically, "These are MY people." He was all excited about the photos, yet he never heard of any of those five nations. %0D %0D I don't look at photos of people in Ireland and Germany and get all excited about seeing "my people." I don't feel any connection to them.

All my grandparents called them "coloreds". Nothing malicious or derogatory, it's just the way they were brought up. I find African- Americans too PC and just say black. My great-grandfather would use the "n" word but really didn't mean anything malicious, it was just the way it was back then but we were southern.

What I think is ridiculous is many black Americans want to identify as Africans but don't have a clue as to what Africa is really like. Poor, corrupt governments, constant warfare, etc. Do they really want to identify with that? The Nigerians I work with come over here and go to clubs trying to meet girls and have nothing in common with American black women. The women think they are nerdy and the Nigerians think they are too "ghetto" or too uneducated. It's a vicious circle.

[quote]One black aquaintance my same age told me that his (black) father also still used the word colored.

My grampa was black and born in the South and use the word colored all his life. It was the word he used as a boy so it stuck, like table manners. When I was a kid we used Negro or Afro-American formally (if you were writing a report in school) and black informally. I remember the whole African American thing starting when I was in college. For some reason I associate it's origin with Jesse Jackson, but I could be wrong on that. I thought and think the term is inaccurate and ridiculous when used to describe New World descendants of slaves. I just use black.

Then there's the NAACP

My black grandparents still say colored. My grandfather says that we get a new name every 20 years, this is when we switched from black to African American. I'm not a fan of AA. Its silly. My last African ancestor came here about 400 years ago. I'm American and I don't need a hypen or just call me black.

I dont know how i found this and more importantly, why this is even a topic afterthe year 1950.. Why are we even saying a specific color at all! The only time its ok is when you are refering to a "temporary" situation, example; i am mixed (middle eastern and italian) i love to go tanning and spray tanning, more than necessary, so my friends say im ORANGE, but its not offensive because its not ME and its not permanent and its something I did to myself. When your face turns red because you are embarrased, then its ok to say, "wow, you must be so embarrased, your face is turning red!" When refering to a person with roots from: asia, north america, south america, africa, europe, the islands, centeral america, or even the polar bears on Antarctica, just say "you see that girl over there, or that guy, or that kid, or the person from that show i like." Why do we need to point out their skin tone/ complexion..?? Its so silly, the person whom we are refering too is probably wearing 5 or 6 pieces of clothing, jewelry, or even a hat! "The lady in the purple shirt with the diamon earing." Challenge yourselves, when refering to a person of your same race,color, or nationality...catch yourself describe a person to a friend, 9 times out of 10, Caucasian "jill" wont say to her caucasian friend "becky," "so becca, did you see what she is wearing to school today.? (Mind you, the subject is the same nationality, "color", tone, or even complexion as the other two, ) jill will not say "becca, do you she what that white girl is wearing to school today.? Absolutely NOT! Its almost (typically) similar races refering to a different race. I just dont see how stating the persons color is making the conversation a bit more descriptive. There might be 5 "green" people standing near you, but maybe only one is wearing a cowboy hat. State the hat, state the beautiful smile, state the yellow mustang she drove up in. If someone asks you, did you see her face, its so white.? "No, why?" "Im not feeling well at all. " "well, did you see my purple toe.?" "Yes i did," "i bumped into the coffee table and its bruised." Lets get off this race and color thing, we dont need our children picking this up, they deserve to know the truth, ALL people are PEOPLE! Good, bad, mean, smart, shy, crazy, and even billionaires.

At one time it was negro, when did that word go?

Also, im still confused on this post, i know that we didnt have these blogs or accessible the internet back in 1950, so its not that this is an old post before that term was finally approved as inappropriate. We still do not freeze humans in time, she this poster did not just come out of a 63 year sleep. Finally, we still do not have proof of extraterrestrial life lamding on Earth, so the poster is not an alien from outerspace and just arrived. Hmmmm. I jsut dont know what on earth would prompt such a question, but if is an honest ( i didn't know because i was never taught or exposed to people of all nationalities, so i am not going to blame the poster, but to ensure that my post will help him/her become better educated on the subject and that one day, we will never even hear of such a question, and if we do heaar it.....noone will ever remember the answer because we have all united as one race,......the human race.

[quote]No one refers to black people as "people of color", except a few die hard, granola eating, lesbian DL'ers on here.

I hear black people use "person of color" more often than not. It's white people that use the term "African-American." But in both cases, it's usually older adults who consider themselves PC. The younger generation (under 30) say black.

Rarely should anyone have the need to "describe" a person by his or her race AT ALL.

Whenever I hear someone say this "black guy" stepped in front of me in line instead of "this guy" or "this jerk" I know what matters to the person who makes it about race.

OP, your mom is a cunt. Is that an acceptable term to describe an old bigot?

They haven't. It's still used. At least in my family.

It died out too soon.

[quote]When I was a kid, "colored" was an anachronism and "Negro" was what you used if white. After the 1967 riots, "black" came into general use.

That's the way I remember it. Colored was a negative term in the 60's because it was connected with the segregated South and their colored drinking fountains and colored waiting rooms.

Black carried radical overtones because of Black Power, The Black Panthers, and Black is Beautiful.

Negro was the safe and polite term, just note how they use it in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

What are you talking about?

My 70 year old mom still uses the term. She'ss so cute. Sometimes she catches herself, and awkwardly corrects herself to say "African American." She grew up in Leave it to Beaver America, with nary a non-white in sight.

In an executive job I had 10 years ago, we merged with a company whose HR director was black. She was very adamant that she not be referred to as African American, she said she preferred black. The company had many employees outside the US who were black and they hardly wanted to be called African-American because they were neither African nor American. The term "black" was actually easier to use and less offensive to all.

My 60 year old bother still uses colored and his 28 year lesbian daughter uses it too.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is a major part of U.S. history. It's our nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. It was founded in 1909 and is still active 104 years later.

I wonder how many people who think "colored" is offensive have ever participated in programs or even looked at programs sponsored by this organization.

Will someone knock R42 / R44 out?

All my black friends prefer to be called just that--black. I've heard more than one of them tell some well meaning soul who's fumbling over "African American" to "just say black."

I'm sure I've been guilty of it too, but I also hate when someone relates a story and "this black lady" or "this black cop" is the first part of the story. My father is really bad about that, and it drives me nuts. So you had a cop who helped you out the other day--why did him being black have to be the first thing you told me??

My grandfather is 101, Southern, conservative, and a little senile. He says "the coloreds" and we are all grateful for that.

As eBay auction for a set of Nativity figures listed them all: Jesus, Mary, Joseph, shepherd, 2 sheep, donkey, ox, 2 white kings, African-American king.

Agree with R50. I grew up in the 60's in Chicago and the proper word was "Negro" until the black power movement in the late 60's, and after that it was "black" People who said "colored" were likely to be racist - "too many coloreds moving in" and that sort of thing.

Nowadays, I always say "black". "African American" is awkward and overly P.C.

My old man used to say "colored". I finally called him on it. I said to him "You are colored!, pink" He never used the term in front of me again.

My father still uses it and every time he is telling me something where he talks about a colored guy or colored lady I stop him and ask "what color what he/she?" He gets pretty mad at me lol.

"Black is Beautiful" performed by Nancy Wilson is a song that was popular a number of decades ago. The lyrics are by the popular host of a Sunday morning TV program.

Kolored

We still use it in Georgia. We use whatever words we want. Southern culture is what is going to save America from PC lunacy.

Isn't southern culture why we're in this mess?

You are insane. And your kind is dwindling with every year that passes, r65. Good riddance.

As I recall, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner already seemed dated and clunky when it came out in 67. Things had move so rapidly in the year or 18 months since it was filmed that "colored" coming out of the mouths of both sets of parents seemed odd.

Of course, even in the middle of preaching, they still gave Tillie the maid lines like "All hell done broke loose now!" and "Civil rights is one thing. This here is somethin' else"--both lines that Rochester could have gotten laughs with on the Jack Benny Show 25 years before.

Isn't the Spanish word for black, negro?

R65 uses the term culture quite loosely

[quote]You are insane.

Why is R65 insane? Tell me again what the NAACP stands for? You want me to stop saying colored then stop using it yourself.

Lets just call them Mocha People and be done with it.

Before colored we had the darkies. When I brought my new wife home to visit, granny would tell everyone we ran into how my wife, who was tiny and very white and a teacher in a nearly all black school, taught little "darkies".

I'm in the northeast too and my parents are 60 and 63. They've always said "black". Now my deceased grandparents on the other hand would say "colored" or occasionally "negro".

I still use the term "colored people" and I have no idea why it's offensive. That's the only term my parents used and they had no idea why it was offensive.

Given that you're a Freeper shitstain I am not surprised, R75.

On a sort of related note, what is the difference between "black" and "African-American"?

I'm 66 and I would not dream of saying 'colored' people.

That adjective or noun went out of use many decades ago.

Your 70 yr old mother is very much out of it and must live a sheltered narrow life in terms of lack of information about the world which she has absorbed, education, and people she has encountered.

It's collard people, OP. You don't call them colored greens.

[You do realize that this is a troll, right? It does not believe what it posts. It just craves attention. You might want to stop talking to it.]

At least she doesn't call them the Blah people.

It changed to "black" around 1967-68, whichever year they started busing to desegregate public schools in the northeast. I still say "black."

[You do realize that this is a troll, right? It does not believe what it posts. It just craves attention. You might want to stop talking to it.]

The only time it's appropriate now is when referring to specific geographic locations.

For example -- "You know the place, the old colored beach in Dania, where they lynched that boy back in the 48. Yeah .. the lynching tree. Your Granddaddy was there? Took pictures. How nice ... did he have made into postcards?"

[You do realize that this is a troll, right? It does not believe what it posts. It just craves attention. You might want to stop talking to it.]

[all posts by tedious, racist idiot removed.]

They prefer to be called "Negroes" and "Negresses"!

[You do realize that this is a troll, right? It does not believe what it posts. It just craves attention. You might want to stop talking to it.]

I do recall running across a "slatternly negress" in a Nancy Drew book published in the 30's.

NAACP obviously still uses it

Actually, black men's crotches smell divine.

Have we stopped?

I was watching "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" recently, and they bandy around 'colored' like we use 'black' today.

Oh,

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 1967 Film

[You do realize that this is a troll, right? It does not believe what it posts. It just craves attention. You might want to stop talking to it.]

They stopped?

NAACP didn't think it was offensive.

The song "Black is Beautiful" was written by Charles Osgood - CBS Sunday Morning.

When did this happen?

Paula, n*gg*r isn't appropriate.

[You do realize that this is a troll, right? It does not believe what it posts. It just craves attention. You might want to stop talking to it.]

Speak for yourself, asshole r100.

My grandmother referred to a woman as a "negress" ...this was in the NINETIES.

[You do realize that this is a troll, right? It does not believe what it posts. It just craves attention. You might want to stop talking to it.]

[You do realize that this is a troll, right? It does not believe what it posts. It just craves attention. You might want to stop talking to it.]

I don't find negro offensive, I find it very respectful. It reminds me of nice black people in suits and hats in black and white films.

Did anyone have a gollywog as a child? I did. I see that they're back in fashion.

[You do realize that this is a troll, right? It does not believe what it posts. It just craves attention. You might want to stop talking to it.]

What would a weekend be here at the DataLounge without a couple of threads created and maintained by the DataLounge Ku Klux Klan, DataLounge's relentless resident hate mongers.

Please excuse their brain dead level of stupidity; inbreeding has a tendency to do that to people. Because their lives are void of any discernible amount of achievement; their one and only badge of honor is their skin color.

They are sad, sad, stupid, hate filled creatures, who are fortunately dying off, albeit probably not quite fast enough.

I found a picture of R100 & R107

R100, liberals are the most racist of us all. They are determined to make poor people, minorities, and gays feel they cannot succeed without the government.

One can't use the term effe-minate around here, but the racism against blacks can flow all day, every day.

Racist gays, or visiting conservatives?

[quote] liberals are the most racist of us all. They are determined to make poor people, minorities, and gays feel they cannot succeed without the government.

I found a beautiful picture of that sex beast R109 out on one of his crusades.

I know a few people who still use that term. I have an aunt in her mid 60s who uses it and my 88 year old grandmother also uses it.

My ghost will always haunt you, America.

I am in a quandary. I am white, my relatives are black and white, and my best friends are black. If I write about some of my friends and family and use their voices in my book about the Civil Rights Era how do I avoid giving offense or being accused of misappropriation?

People all over the world,

Join R12.

On The ClueTrain,

ClueTrain!

What a ridiculous question, OP?

Is this some kind of joke?

What other term would I use?

I don't know OP, it's hard to keep up with this, the rules are constantly changing. It's impossible to make unhappy people happy. They call each other NI@@ers, but whites are supposed to be afraid to say anything in fear of offending them. Then they're offended by the silence. It's a no win situation, just stay away.

My mom still calls people Negresses. Its mortifying.

"It's impossible to make unhappy people happy."

I can't IMAGINE why they'd be unhappy...

(eyeroll)

What is most fascinating about this thread is not that it's still extant after almost 10 years, but that the posts are intelligent, nuanced and rational, a discussion rather than what most threads on DL degenerate into; thought policing and juvenile name-calling reminiscent of an elementary school playground.

R59 wins today! Made me smile. I'm white but just don't want to refer to people as shades in a crayon box..honestly..in this day and age.

Colored was phased out in the late 1960s in the US and replaced with black, mostly because of the influence of the Black Panther Party and the black power movement, which was big in the late 1960s.

When I was a tiny tot in the 70's, I regularly saw commercials on TV for the 'United Negro College Fund'. "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." Keep dreaming queens, PC culture wasn't in full swing until the mid 80's.

This thread is almost a decade old and I don't even know HOW it got bumped. Usually anything older than 2012 is closed. Curious that DL left a racebait thread open for so long.

Anyway, back in 1979 or so "WKRP" had a joke revolving around Les cluelessly still using "colored" instead of "black," so it's obviously a very old term.

[quote]R59 wins today!

It was posted in 2013.

[quote]that the posts are intelligent, nuanced and rational, a discussion rather than what most threads on DL degenerate into; thought policing and juvenile name-calling

So complaining about "the blacks" and calling black people "ignorant" ISN'T juvenile name-calling? This thread was a garbage fire before it hit 20 replies.

This is like that time when someone posted an old thread from the 1990s to prove how cultured and funny DL used to be, and it was all "Mexicans are stupid wetback gardners" comments passed off as jokes.

R127 doesn't see the difference between ignorant and troll, Repug, Rethug, Cheetolino, shitstain, fuckwad, fucktard, asshat, and the rest of the juvenile playground pejoratives DL's legion of childish posters use.

I've only ever heard "colored" used in a pejorative, backwards sense—like the kind of term a person raised before the 1950s–'60s would use to refer to black people. The new, fashionable "people of color" is not too far off from that really, but is the ultimate PC term that encompasses apparently anyone who is of African or Asian ancestry (Latinos do or don't count, depending on who you talk to). It's trite hair-splitting IMO. I've always thought white people who make a dramatic point of using "AfRiCaN AmEriCaN" are being obnoxious and showy about how "culturally aware" they are. I might be wrong, but my instinct tells me that more often than it probably makes a lot of black people uncomfortable. It'd be like someone referring to me as "hOmoSeXuAL" instead of "gay." Yeah, I have a dick and like dicks, but please, just call me "gay."

When did Negro stop being used? Newscasters still used it in the mid 60s

r130 a few years before her death at age 101, I was driving my grandmother (born 1911) somewhere. We drove by a church, and she commented, "That used to be a synagogue, but now it's a Negro church."

Also, damn it. Just saw this thread is from 20-freakin'-10. Ah well.

Bump

[quote]But when white South Africans try to call themselves African-American, they get all types of shit about it.

They should. White South Africans are some of the most racist people on the planet. The racism is deeply ingrained in them and if you are also white, they automatically assume you think they same way they do. A repulsive and disgusting group of people who are usually deeply homophobic too.

Apparently in 1955 Bo Diddley got incensed that Ed Sullivan called him black, which he said at the time was considered as bad as the n-word.

An old thread. I was born in 1956. My white parents said black Americans. I was bused into a black high school. Awesome as I WAS the minority. Learned a lot. My parents took me as a child to march with Martin Luther King. Both my parents were Artists and Liberals. My home was filled with Unitarians, Hindus, Buddhist, Catholics, Protestant, Jewish etc. All colors. Gay, Straight, Bi. In my home then and now you can be yourself. My parents party’s were quite the occasion and sought after to be invited to. Also my parents never said any derogatory words for anybody. What fascinating memories and treasures I have . I remember coming home from grade school to a violinist playing in the living room, a poet on the deck, a nude male model posing for my Mother.

I have Sporting News issues from the late ‘60s. Even at this “late” date Black athletes are routinely identified as the “Negro” whatever.

Generally the 1960s. Then "Negro" became the term considered more respectful. "Black' didn't come into it until the 70s and that was a political demand by black activists.

It did depend on the geographic location though.

I think we can agree that terms like 'mulatto', 'quadroon', and 'octaroon' are off the menu and have been replaced with 'bi-racial'.

.....

I still do. It's so much nicer than that horrid "n-word" one hears on the radio.