A now-offensive historical term used during segregation to refer to people of color, particularly Black people.
From the adjective 'colored' (meaning 'having color'), which became used as a noun in 19th-century America to classify people based on race during the segregation era.
This word is a stark reminder of how language encodes social hierarchies—Jim Crow laws literally used it in 'Colored Only' signs, making a supposedly descriptive word into an instrument of legal discrimination.
Jim Crow-era racial classification in U.S. law and signage. While 'colored' has older usage in various contexts, 'coloreds' as a noun for people became cemented as dehumanizing state terminology (1880s-1960s), legally erasing individual identity into a racial category with no political or social standing.
Never use as a descriptor for people. Use specific identities: 'Black Americans,' 'Black people,' people of specific ethnicities, or 'people of color' (as an inclusive political term when discussing structural inequity). Respect how individuals self-identify.
["Black Americans","people of color","Black people","people of specific ethnic backgrounds"]
This term's historical harm is inseparable from legal segregation. Contemporary usage of 'people of color' by marginalized communities is self-determined political language reclaiming agency—distinct from historical 'coloreds,' which was imposed from above.
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