Coloured People and People of Colour are branches from the same tree

Coloured was a term used to describe some ethnic groups during the racial categorisation era in the 19th century. People of African descent were mostly separated from the white ethnic population by this term. During the Jim Crow era, the term became associated with racial segregation and discrimination. The term was often used in this context to refer to black ethnic groups and was institutionalized in laws and practices enforcing racial separation.

 During the mid-20th century, the civil rights movement gained momentum to stop the use of this phrase. Many people found it problematic because it reduced complex identities to a single descriptor and was seen as a remnant of a racist framework. The evolution of language surrounding race reflects broader social changes and ongoing discussions about identity, equality, and representation. Today, the term "people of colour" is more commonly used.

 I have read opinions that people of colour as a term is inclusive because it describes individuals from various racial and ethnic backgrounds apart from people from white ethnic groups. Isn’t this exactly what the problem is, categorising humans into white ethnic groups and others? Does this imply that the white ethnic group is superior to others?

 The UK government has dropped the use of the terms BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) and BME (Black and minority ethnic) because they emphasise certain ethnic minority groups (Asian and Black) and exclude others (Mixed, Other and White ethnic minority groups). This is a sensible justification to discontinue the use of BAME and BMA. The UK government now use ‘ethnic minorities’ to refer to all ethnic groups except the White British group. Ethnic minorities include White minorities, such as Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller groups. One could use the logical justification to ditch the use of BAME for the reason to ditch the people of colour. We should not emphasise particular ethnic groups at the expense of others, so, white ethnic groups and people of colour is hierarchical because it packs all ethnic groups apart from white ethnic groups under one descriptor.

 Furthermore, I find people of colour contentious because all humans have colours, there are no people of colourless. We are all beautiful and the common colour we all share is red; the blood that flows in our veins. Black is a colour, so is brown and white, so we are all people of colour and it should not be used to describe some humans only.

I take the point of those who said it should be people of culture. I respect this view, especially as a black man who wears his culture like a crown. That said, we should not categorise ethnic groups based on the term people of culture because there are no cultureless ethnic groups.

 In reference to an article on NPR website, What It Means To Be A 'Person Of Color' : Code Switch : NPR, the statements made by Amrita and Dina coroborates the confusion of the use of this derogatory phrase.

 "I thought the term POC was quite empowering, until I had to sit at a table with a bunch of white teachers and discuss how to teach the novel The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas. I'm a South Asian woman, I'm not Black, and the novel does not reflect my experiences, but at the end of the meeting, I remember one of the teachers saying, 'Great, we can teach this novel now because we have our POC.' " — Amrita Kauldher, 30 years old

 "I'm Egyptian American. Whenever asked about my ethnicity, I would always just say Egyptian American, sometimes Arab American. As a white Egyptian, I've never experienced the same oppression in the U.S. that other people of colour have. ... However, when placed in contrast to whiteness, it sort of creates this impression that anyone who is nonwhite is just under the same umbrella and is a monolith, which is very problematic." — Dina Shalash, 37 years old

 I would like to see the use of the term people of colour ditched in my lifetime and replaced with underrepresented ethnic groups or ethnic minorities because these terms do not categorise us based on skin colour. These terms do not highlight ethnic groups based on colour.