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Benedict Cumberbatch apologizes for refering to minority actors as "Coloured".

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S

Slayven

Member
http://news.sky.com/story/1415418/cumberbatch-sorry-for-coloured-actors-remark

Benedict Cumberbatch has said he is an "idiot" after he described black people as "coloured" on US television.

The British actor said he was "devastated to have caused offence" following his contribution to a debate on the lack of diversity on British screens.

In a statement, the 38-year-old said: "I'm devastated to have caused offence by using this outmoded terminology.

"I offer my sincere apologies.

"I make no excuse for being an idiot and know the damage is done."


Cumberbatch had said on US talk show Tavis Smiley: "I think as far as coloured actors go it gets really difficult in the UK, and a lot of my friends have had more opportunities here (in the US) than in the UK and that's something that needs to change."

Anti-racism groups had described his use of the word "coloured" as "outdated" and said the term had "the potential to cause offence".
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First let me say man that is a throwback term, and second I don't think he meant any harm, just shows he is a bit ignorant on some matters.
 
A

akira28

Member
it's got the u in it, so as long as he said it with a British accent, I think he's partially covered.

I wonder what Bendlebrick Banglybum knows about race, the whole white/black thing at all.
 
L

LUFTRAUSER

Banned
Do they still use this term in the U.K.? In the United States it is highly anachronistic and offensive. I'm glad he apologized, and he didn't appear to have any malicious intent.
 
T

terrene

Banned
Seems like a pretty obvious slip up and no harm meant. It's confusing anyway since "people of color" is common. Hopefully people give him a break and lesson learned.
 
A

Africanus

Member
As a minority gaf poster, I hereby request a formal apology for his usage of the outdated "minroity".
I thought negro was the outdated offensive term versus coloured?
 
C

Coconut

Banned
Colored isn't cool any more when referring to all none white people? Legit question, I've said it and never been taken to task for it.
 
W

War Peaceman

You're a big guy.
It is pretty clear from the context that he didn't mean it offensively, probably just a slip of the tongue. Good for him for getting out there and properly apologising.
 
Y

Yagharek

Member
Nice to see some people are capable of making a real apology instead of the 'sorry if anyone took offense' non apologies that are the norm.
 
T

Thorakai

Member
Deadly Cyclone said:
It doesn't seem like he meant anything by it. Eh.
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Seems like it, but its cool that he realized his mistake, learned from it, and offered an apology. Lots of people would get defensive and spend ages just trying to justify their mistake instead of taking the loss and moving on.
 
S

Stereogatari

Banned
Aeolipile said:
Do they still use this term in the U.K.? In the United States it is highly anachronistic and offensive. I'm glad he apologized, and he didn't appear to have any malicious intent.
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Kind of, I'm pretty sure "people of colour" is still a normal thing over here and "coloured" doesn't strike me as being particularly taboo. One of them US vs UK things I suppose.
 
D

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member
In from the UK and you hear coloured a lot, and it's not meant to be offensive at all.
 
C

Conor_Fool

Banned
So I guess the general concensus is that calling people "colored" is very offensive, but referring to minorities as "people of color" isn't? Because I have a lot of professors that openly say "people of color" all the time..
 
K

kirblar

Member
Conor_Fool said:
So I guess the general concensus is that calling people "colored" is very offensive, but referring to minorities as "people of color" isn't? Because I have a lot of professors that openly say "people of color" all the time..
Click to expand...
Language is super-hyper-arbitrary. "Oriental" is considered offensive in the US but is not an issue in the UK.
 
L

Lebron

Member
Weird, I always thought I saw a bit more diversity on the BBC shows I watch. Granted, that just could be on those particular shows.


Also, you can tell he didn't mean it in a bad way. Good he apologized
 
W

Weiss

Banned
Unfortunate word choice, but I'm glad he owned up to it. Better than most people would.

And, select posters in this thread, if you can't understand why referring to someone as "coloured" is terrible, you need to maybe go outside for a bit. You've been on the internet for too long.
 
S

Slayven

Member
Conor_Fool said:
So I guess the general concensus is that calling people "colored" is very offensive, but referring to minorities as "people of color" isn't? Because I have a lot of professors that openly say "people of color" all the time..
Click to expand...

Well back in the day "Colored" was the polite way of saying "Nigger"
 
M

Matt_

World's #1 One Direction Fan: Everyone else in the room can see it, everyone else but you~~~
As a brit I really had no idea that the term was considered offensive
the more you know
 
S

SnowFlakeCake

Member
It's a scary world out there, it seems that as the years go by the number of sensitive people rises year by year. Why would someone be upset by something as stupid as this? I dunno, maybe I've come across too many racists in my life to care about shit like this but like I said it does worry me, how saying one little word can cause such kerfuffle.
 
L

Lakitu

st5fu
I used this term at school once (around 15 years ago) in a debate about racism. I felt like a dick afterwards.

Good on him for apologising.
 
I

Ivan 3414

Member
Conor_Fool said:
So I guess the general concensus is that calling people "colored" is very offensive, but referring to minorities as "people of color" isn't? Because I have a lot of professors that openly say "people of color" all the time..
Click to expand...

It boils down to context.

The term "colored" was used during an era of blatant prejudice and oppression towards that group of people. For that reason, it's taboo to use now.
 
E

EatinOlives

Member
Conor_Fool said:
So I guess the general concensus is that calling people "colored" is very offensive, but referring to minorities as "people of color" isn't? Because I have a lot of professors that openly say "people of color" all the time..
Click to expand...

Yeah I've heard "people of color" but not "colored". For some reason "colored" never struck me as an offensive term, but after reading this thread and thinking about how that term was used in the Jim Crow south (e.g. "colored fountains", "colored schools", "colored folk"), I can easily see why that specific word is offensive.

It's weird. It's so obvious now that I know, but prior to reading the thread the thought had never occurred to me.
 
S

Slayven

Member
SnowFlakeCake said:
It's a scary world out there, it seems that as the years go by the number of sensitive people rises year by year. Why would someone be upset by something as stupid as this? I dunno, maybe I've come across too many racists in my life to care about shit like this but like I said it does worry me, how saying one little word can cause such kerfuffle.
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Hmmmm, history?
No Stephen Fry pic?
 
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