In 2026, Is It Still Acceptable To Use the Term "Colored" When Describing Human Beings?

[ScooterJackson]

in the USA everyone sees colour and we r brought up that way

That's because there are people in the US that make a lot of money off of racism

And one of our political party uses racism to keep citizens divided.

 

[Lanolin]

Also, I remember when Obama was president, and he was the first 'black' president the US had ever had...lots of people hated on him and called this the anti-christ and they'd hate on his wife Michelle as well, saying she was a man!

Terrible.

I suppose anyone in the public eye will get made fun of. I mean even someone like Princess Diana who was lovely and perfect looking with a beautiful complexion and not a flaw, had problems. She had bulimia and she didn't like her nose.

 

[ScooterJackson]

Also the USA has a huge legacy of slavery

Most western nations engaged in slavery. Black Africans in African enslaved other black africans and moslems enslaved white europeans so there's been a problem with slavery around the world long before the US came along.

There seemed to be a lot of pushback from BLM.

BLM is a racist organization just like La Raza is for the latinos

Mr T is more of an orange colour and he always reminded me a little of Garfield.

Me T is a black guy that does not look orange at all.

He's a Christian too.

 

[Suze]

For me, I personally believe it comes down to the intent of the speaker, and how the recipient will receive it, because what God is truly concerned about is the heart.

If something is said with the "right" intent, like endearment or affection, and done with respect, it might not be ok. It might not be ok even if the speaker means well, but the recipient is hurt by it.

But something is said with an attitude that's ignorant, hateful, and meant to disrespect -- we all know that isn't the manner in which God wants us to speak.

In the UK , it's considered very bad for white people to use the N word . One think I like , when one of my step daughters was about twelve years old , she asked me what a N was , she had not heard that word until she was twelve years old . I was sad that she had heard it but also glad that she had been alive for 12 years b 4 she had heard it .
Connotations matter . A friend of mine who was 20 years younger than me and white , genuinely didn't know the connotations of the N word so didn't understand why it is so offensive . Once I had explained it she was horrified by it . I have to say , I despise that word and don't know any white people that use it . If enough people just stop using those terms altogether , eventually they just don't exist anymore . Don't believe me ? U will find hundreds of words in an old English dictionary that r no longer used . If we all stop using these divisive and derogatory terms , eventually , they won't exist .

 

[ScooterJackson]

Also, I remember when Obama was president, and he was the first 'black' president the US had ever had...

His mother was white so the US has never had a black president yet.

He was the first half black half white president though

 

[Lynx]

Oh gosh it seems to change every five minutes !
Big Brother TV show on in UK and we have an American housemate . Talking about racism in the USA she said ( I'm paraphrasing ) in the UK people r not brought up to c colour , in the USA everyone sees colour and we r brought up that way . I don't know how true that is but , we do have a friend , his mum and dad got divorced and his mum remarried an American man . They live in Chicago and our friend Lee , goes over to c his mum every couple of years . I hope I'm not gonna offend anyone here but I'm gonna tell u the two things he doesn't like about the USA , the overt racism and he says that a lot of people think it's ok to drink alcohol and then drive . In the UK of course people do drink and drive but , it's considered very bad and a shameful thing to do . People get in a lot of trouble and may loose jobs , friends etc if they get found out . It's very socially unacceptable here . This lady in the Big Brother house did say that there is quite a bit of micro aggression towards black people in the UK and the other black housemates agreed and gave examples .
The younger generations keep moving the goalposts in regard to what we r allowed and r not allowed to say , we oldies can't keep up . One of my friends , only about ten years younger than me , was horrified when I used the word ' retarded ' to describe my neighbours granddaughter . My friend thought that word was insulting , she genuinely didn't realise that it isn't an insult it's an actual adjective . She also didn't know what an adjective is .

Hmm... I'm reminded of a story about Sherlock Holmes - a BRITISH detective - and The Adventure Of The Yellow Face.

And nobody has anything on the middle east for racism. Everybody hates everybody over there.

As for drinking and driving, the Irish beat us fair and square at that. And the Scottish. And the British. French maybe don't beat us, yet, but they're strong contenders.

Lanolin by now you should know to not believe everything you hear.

 

[Lynx]

Hmm... I'm reminded of a story about Sherlock Holmes - a BRITISH detective - and The Adventure Of The Yellow Face.

And nobody has anything on the middle east for racism. Everybody hates everybody over there.

As for drinking and driving, the Irish beat us fair and square at that. And the Scottish. And the British. French maybe don't beat us, yet, but they're strong contenders.

Lanolin by now you should know to not believe everything you hear.

Wait, whoops! That was not a post by Lanolin. My bad.

Suze, don't believe everything you hear.

 

[seoulsearch]

So what are your thoughts on calling the white people honkys?

I always thought that was pretty funny. Honky!

It's like any other term we've talked about in this thread.

I might not be white, but my parents and many of my friends are. I hate anything slung at white people to demean them as well.

It generally has a negative connotation when used by strangers, so I definitely don't like it when it's used as an insult, which is usually the intention.

But if it's between friends or family who have the relationship and history, then that's their own private joke.

Or if someone chooses to call themselves that as something humorous (such as here on the forum,) that's their right.

I don't like terms associated with insulting intentions when they're said about strangers (people the speaker has no relationship or history with,) or if the person does it purposely, knowing the recipient doesn't like it.

For me, those are general principles that can apply to any other term or word that could be brought up.