What is the difference between coloured and black

The responsibility lies solely with white people, if they are interested. Hearing this from Elaine, an year-old Chicago woman, struck a chord. A few years ago, she decided to read nearly every book she could get her hands on that explained the journey of black people in America, from the Underground Railroad to the Great Migration to the memoir of a black first lady in the White House.

She did this, she said, because it was the only way to make sense of the great racial divide in America and do her part to bring people together. She compared it to something a lifelong friend who survived the Holocaust once told her.

Last year, she decided to host a gathering of white women to talk about race. Elaine was far ahead of me in researching the complexities of race. I added several of these books, and more, to my reading list. There is no shame in having fallen behind in a changing world. Racial terminology is a tumultuous path, but however uncomfortable it may be, it is important to be able to recognise the key differences between phrases and terms, not simply using them interchangeably or unfavourably.

Artefacts Creatives Education Journals. Journals Articles Submit to a Journal. People of Colour VS. Black People. It is the standard by which everybody else is measured and defined. Historically, the word is associated with segregation, especially in the US, where black people where kept separate from white people - on public transport, or at drinking fountains which were described as "coloured-only" for example. These rules - known as "Jim Crow laws" - happened mainly in the states in the south of the US, from the s until the s.

The phrase Jim Crow originated from a song-and-dance character of the s. In the stage show a white actor "blacked up" to play the role of an African slave. No-one is quite sure how this name became associated with the racial hierarchy the US adopted. In part because of this association, using the phrase is seen as contributing racist behaviour, according to Show Racism the Red Card. It was also seen as an acceptable word to use in much of the UK until the s and s. There are places in the world where "coloured" is used without offence - for example in South Africa, where it refers to people who have multiple heritages.

It is "much better" to use the word black, says Show Racism the Red Card.