Who are People of Colour? Why can’t I use the term “coloured”?

Who are People of Colour? or WoC? What does this term mean?

People of color’ (PoC) is not a term that refers to a real biological or scientific distinction between people. People of color in the U.S. share the common experience of being targeted and oppressed by racism. Unfortunately, one of the ways racism operates is to keep people of color divided. Many people only think about their specific ethnic or racial group when discussing oppression or the need to build political power. By using the term people of color, we begin to push people to think more broadly. We need to build relationships with other groups of color. The term people of color has movement-building potential. A History: The Construction of Race and Racism

 Women of Color (WOC) is a politicized term created by non-white women. WOC encompasses ALL non-white women.Women of Color does not have anything to do with actual skin shade. Some women of color “appear” white but are of non-white ethnic backgrounds. WOC is sometimes, but not always, synonymous with “Brown”. Brown should not be used to ever exclude Black, however. Brown is also a politicized term and does not necessarily reflect actual shade of skin. Some non-white women may not care to be identified as “women of color” and  it is their right to self-identify as they see fit.  source

Why can’t I used the word “coloured” people?

The history of the word “coloured” is wrapped around colonial history in the US. In different countries, under different context, this may not always be applicable. However, it usually tied to affirming the value of whiteness and societal stratification based on shadeism and/or ethnicity. source

The word Colored was an ugly word often seen on signs such as No Colored Allowed or Colored Washroom or Colored Entrance. Colored was a truly amorphous designation that relegated black people to a kind of un-existence resulting in what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. described in his Letter from Birmingham Jail as a “degenerating sense of ‘nobodiness’”. At one end of this spectrum of racist and dehumanizing invisibility existed the insanity of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. At the other end were black men who worked as railroad sleeping-car porters and were all called George.

Courtesy of:

The N-Word and Black History Month » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names