Colored
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Colored is a North American euphemism once widely regarded as a polite description of black people (i.e., persons of sub-Saharan African ancestry; members of the "Negroid race"). It should not be confused with the more recent term people of color, which attempts to describe all "non-white peoples", not just blacks. The term colored in particular (along with Negro) has fallen out of popular usage in the United States over the last third of the 20th century, and is now archaic and potentially derogatory, except in certain narrow circumstances such as the name of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
The term "colored" appeared in North America during the colonial era. A "colored" man halted a runaway carriage that was carrying President John Tyler on March 4, 1844. In 1863, the War Department established the "Bureau of Colored Troops." The first twelve Census counts in the U.S. enumerated "colored" people, who totaled nine million in 1900. The Census counts of 1910–1960 enumerated "negroes."
See also
- Anglo-African term
- Black people
- Coloured
- Free people of color
- Person of color
- United States Colored Troops
