Labour frontbencher Diane Abbott "coloured".

She was a young child when it was last in common use as a term of offence.
We also didn't have the segregation here that places like the states did so doesn't have the same connotation in this country.

People on Twitter seem to think UK Black history mirrored the US, the UK had problems of course, but it was never like the US.
 
I think this is two issues in one.

Amber Rudd should have known that coloured is completely unacceptable and has been for decades. She wouldn't accidently say the N word. It's connotations with the "coloreds only" signs during segregation is pretty clear. If she didn't then it shows a complete lack of awareness and appititude

On the flip side should she be crucified for a slip of the tongue when the overall message was in support of black women.

I don't blame for Dianne Abbott (who I am not the greatest fan of) for being offended and voicing her dislike of the word, but I would hope she would have a bit more grace about it rather than use it for political points scoring.
 
We also didn't have the segregation here that places like the states did so doesn't have the same connotation in this country.

Bull****. No it wasn't the same as the US, but it has the same connotation.

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55? mate, that means she was in her teens in the 1970s. She's 10+ years older than me and I know of it "in common use as a term of offence".

Again, in the states. Not in the UK. I'll repeat, since you seem to have missed it, we didnt have the same segregation as them.

Could you explain why black is an acceptable term?
 
I don't blame for Dianne Abbott (who I am not the greatest fan of) for being offended and voicing her dislike of the word, but I would hope she would have a bit more grace about it rather than use it for political points scoring.

Really not sure what this has to do with Rudd using the word in the first place.
 
You're going to argue the toss about "coloured" being non-offensive and ask why black is acceptable?

You expect me to take that face value and not think you're somehow challenged?
 
You're going to argue the toss about "coloured" being non-offensive and ask why black is acceptable?

You expect me to take that face value and not think you're somehow challenged?

Humour me instead of crying.
 
I bet most of the people offended by it are white.

Coloured hasn't been unaccepted for decades. There as been no big incidents were someone called someone else coloured and a mini riot broke out. The only people ive seen offended is other white people who whisper "oh you shouldnt call them coloured these days...".
 
I've not heard anyone be called coloured in the UK for decades, I thought it had died out. I don't like it, reminds me of times gone by when it was mean't deliberately in a bad way. Black or mixed race is much more accurate, polite and accepted.

Accurate? That's obviously nonsense.

Polite and accepted (that's the same thing, not two different things)? Maybe, but that's just meaningless fashion for this week. It'll be changed again soon.

There's no consistency, either internal or external, and no reasoning involved. That's why, for example "coloured person" and "person of colour" are currently treated as if they were utterly different despite being the same words with the same meaning. The latter is currently very fashionable, the former is currently very unfashionable. Despite being the same words with the same meaning.

The only plausible purpose for this custom is to promote irrational prejudice, create a hostile environment for people "wrong" group identities and suppress their speech as they say nothing because they know this custom exists as a weapon to use against them. Why else would anyone create a custom which does those things and only those things and which requires ignoring meaning, context and intent?
 
Yes, I did. Two issues in one. It's not. it's two issues. The second one has little bearing on the first.

Let me break it down for you. If somebody uses a derogatory racial term through either ignorance or clumsiness, whilst speaking in support of rights for racial minorities, it makes that person an idiot, not a racist.

The correct response is to highlight the fact the word is wrong but acknowledge there wasnt some deep seated racist hatred behind it and suggest the person be more careful in the future.

Take the moral high ground and exit stage left.
 
Im going to identify as a person of shade but a person of shade on the lighter side of the shade spectrum.

At the end of the day there is no black or white just different shades of the same melanin pigment
 
Let me break it down for you. If somebody uses a derogatory racial term through either ignorance or clumsiness, whilst speaking in support of rights for racial minorities, it makes that person an idiot, not a racist.

The correct response is to highlight the fact the word is wrong but acknowledge there wasnt some deep seated racist hatred behind it and suggest the person be more careful in the future.

Take the moral high ground and exit stage left.

I agree... IF you think it's clumsiness or ignorance. And frankly a person in Amber Rudd's position shouldn't be guilty of either.
 
I don't think there's an if about it. You don't generally get racists advocating for awareness on how difficult it is for a woman to be black in society. It could be a fiendishly elaborate rouse though......
 
So yeah, ignorant. And Rudd is 55, so she's well aware.

Unless she's literally an idiot.

I'm 50 and I'm only aware of it because I've an interest in history and in modern group identity politics. So no, it's not certain that she's well aware of things that happened before she was born and/or before she was old enough to be aware of politics and probably not where she was living anyway, or that she's aware of current fashions in the deranged irrational prejudice that is group identity politics.

I don't recall any term being used in my childhood because I don't recall any such group identity politics in my childood. I know that group identity politics existed back then, obviously, but it was far less prevalent and publicised and the racist strains didn't impinge on me as a child. The sexist strains did, but not the racist ones. Of course there were some people with darker skin around, but nobody had conditioned me to think of "race" as a group identity. Or think of "race" at all, actually. I'm not sure when I first heard the word. Different people can have different amounts of suntan. People only care about that if they're conditioned to do so. I wasn't. Maybe Amber Rudd also wasn't conditioned that way.
 
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