Black & White

Frankly I'm confused about a lot of things. Maybe it's age. When I took my family on holiday to Kenya I found it really difficult to adjust to the fact that the country is pronounced differently to the way I had always pronounced it - (with a long or short e). Yesterday I listened to the news about the FA chairman resigning because of his use of "unacceptable language".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54894864 

I believe all people are equal. I do not believe that some are more important or worth more than others. Everyone is a human being. I also think that you have to judge people on their merit, on their actions & behaviour. So there are people that I would choose not to associate with, because the way they behave or their beliefs are not in tune with mine. Nothing whatsoever to do with skin colour, religion or ethnicity.

Language is important & changes over time. New words arrive & old ones are discarded. My current confusion is because I didn't know that the word "coloured" was offensive. Quite the opposite. Having Googled I now know why it is.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/30999175/warning-why-using-the-term-coloured-is-offensive

I do understand now & will try not to use the term, but I'm not sure that I agree. I would have hitherto felt fine about using words like black, brown, coloured, white, mixed race, African, Asian, Indian...as nouns, as descriptors. Simple as that - not perjorative at all. Just a way of naming, of describing who I was talking about. Definitely not with any connotations of slavery. Certainly not in any way condoning slavery.

I am content with being described as white, British, female, widowed....We need to use language to pin down our thoughts so that others can understand. I think the thing that matters most is how we treat other people, how we behave. How we talk to them. Whether we listen to them. Whether we respect them & their point of view. 

I wouldn't mind being described as half German, but I would mind being described as a Nazi.

So my confusion remains. I know that if I called someone coloured I would not mean anything derogatory or demeaning. But they might think I did. So I have to try to remember.