Thanks for this insightful article Sharon. Personally I do not like the term "coloured" either nor do I like he term "member of a marginalized community".

First of my preference is to be reference by my name or failing that referencing me as a Black woman is fine. I do agree with you that all of this is a person choice

I enjoyed this article a lot. I never used the term "colored", and neither did my parents. But we definitely started using the term "black", and it's all James Brown's fault! lol Still, it felt like a real identity at the time, and it still does today. I don't balk when I hear the term people of color; sensibilities change, people try to be respectful, and as long as no one uses an "old" term that feels insensitive, I'm ready to give them a pass. And of course however a person wants to be called is fine with me.

Reading articles like this is invaluable to combating my racism, and understanding the fullness of how language helps and harms. Thank you 🖤

I recently read an article by Eve L. Ewing regarding the capitalization of the words Black and White. I'm familiar with capitalizing Black as a linguistic standard, but the idea that I should also capitalize white felt... inappropriate maybe? Is there more to this dialogue that I could learn from?

You know how I feel about labels, given that you are one of the few people who I've trusted with my writing on identity. I remember when I brought my friend D up to Canada to meet my parents and my mom asking him about his preference - he got offended by her asking and said to her, curtly: "Just call me Darryl." My mom felt so embarrassed but I assured her it's always best to ask than to assume.

Thank you for shedding light on this important topic.

I remember years ago (ok decades), when I was an intern at a large corporation I had two colleagues who were both in the global majority and both from the US. One wanted to be referred to as Black, the other African American. Perhaps viewing it as pronouns? Asking the preference of the person? Would that be appropriate?

Here in the US there was another consequence of language which I was recently made aware of at a conference in my hometown in Michigan. There was a panel discussion which included a Native American who was also an attorney. He pointed out there are legal ramifications of not using the term Indian because of the language in treaties signed between tribes and the US. While he preferred either referencing his specific tribe's name or Native American, there is a real concern about losing rights if they stray too far from the nomenclature of the treaties.

One of the language changes I made was to say "minoritized groups" instead of "minorities." I'm now questioning if that is appropriate.

So….sounds like “Black” is the way to go. Unless obviously “mixed”. Love “people of the global majority” buts it’s less specific and a mouthful. Thanks!