Im starting describing a posible love interest in a fantasy setting with victorian age elements. He is black, in my universe colours are no important, but i dont know what other word use. Afro-american impossible there is no africa or america at all in this universe. And coloured is way more racist at least in my opinion. So i could use black or not? i could use dark but dark elves are grey lol. Or just dont use a black person? but he is a great character and i want show in my universe its not racial problems! Im confused.
I donāt think the terms āBlackā or āColouredā are racist terms. Since youāre clearly not using them in a derogatory context, Iād say youāre worrying unduly.
Iām British. Black is the term that Iād use, or Iād just make reference to skin colour, although not multiple times and then never mentioning it for the other characters. Iād also mention the skin-colour of the other characters.
I wouldnāt use coloured.
You could also change the name of your dark elves, to something else.
Well water elves are pale blue and pale smerald, Dwarves are a grey brown like a dirty old rock . Wood elves are slightly golden and there are people purple in some zones of the planet, so i want say a cool character is black with orange hair and cat eyes due his mother was a syan a cat race in the rain forest and his father is a human general in the highlanders. I just find ridiculous couldnāt say a guy is black when im describing tons of people colors. But ok i try not use it more one of two times i dont try insulting people at all.
Dark skinned, ābronzedā or sun-kissed (skin)?
Ebony might work too.
Though itās worth adding that as long as itās not a constant/obviously degrading use - Iām also sure black will be just fine.
This thread somehow makes me think of http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/08/16/the-freedom-of-the-press-george-orwell/
I say donāt worry about using black or coloured, writing or depicting something (such as racism) doesnāt necessary mean that the writer is encouraging it.
Since you said that in your universe colours are not important and you are already describing other races like water elves as blue or other colours, coloured would not be appropriate. Just use black, describe them just as you would describe any other races with other colours.
@Ksu great article Orwell is one of my favourite writers. I would use black and other synonyms.
I was asking because english has fame to be very nick picky with words and i donāt want offend gratuitously to people.
Not if youāre using it just to describe the people, it is not racist at all.
Hey @MaraJade Iām English and Iām going to nit-pick the fact you said we are nit-picky about words not all of us are. We just take our language seriously :-p
joking aside its not the word āblackā that is racist more so the context it is used.
for exampleā¦
Don was the only Black kid in my class, yet he was smarter than most of my other friends.
isnāt racist imo whereas this is (apologies in advance)ā¦
Don was the smartest Black kid I knew yet he was not as smart as my dumbest White friend.
yeah Iām Mexican american on my momās side and black on my dadās side leading me to have a dark skin pigmentation I mess around with my friends and them with me Iāve been called black loads of times I donāt find it offensive because this generation has evolved (mostly) from judging people for their skin color, sexuality, and race itās about personality
Well our Highlander redhair black guy half cat is officialy setting with the name Keith.
Also i got a water elf a purple blonde girl and a golden wood elf mage like first posibles romantic interests.
Itās my medical opinion that the term āblackā is not offensive
No the term black is not offensive as long as its not used in a derogatory way. I am Africa american, a lot of people refer to themselves as black over the longer African-American word when asked about ones race. Donāt use coloured.
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Itās funny to use ācolouredā to describe a black person. I remember reading this somewhere:
āOn the door of a bar in a town, there was a sign on the door saying āNo coloured people allowedā. A black man asked to get in, at which a white man said āCanāt you read the sign?!ā The black man responded,
āWhen Iām born, Iām black,
When Iām growing up, Iām black,
When Iām hot, Iām black,
When Iām cold, Iām black,
When Iām sick, Iām black,
When Iām dead, Iām black.
But you,
When youāre born, youāre pink.
When youāre growing up, youāre white.
When youāre hot, youāre red.
When youāre cold, youāre blue.
When youāre sick, youāre green.
When youāre dead, youāre purple.
And you have the nerve to call US coloured?āā
Sorry if it sounds racist, I just remember reading it somewhere and decided to use it to dispute the ācolouredā verb. I would also use āblackā if I were writing about a black person. They are human but there is a slight difference in appearance. Exploit it once (As done in ZE to describe Dave) but donāt restate it a million times.
@Aquos_boost Funny songā¦ I would more focus in why some people is purple or how you could learn to change gender . Transform hair in horns etc.
The first sentence sounds much more racist than the second one to be honest.
No the first isnāt racist and the second is very racist.
You can describe the skin color as being coffee colored, As most writers usually hint skin color using everyday objects and such.
Ex: Her skin was the color of caramel
His skin was that of sand on the beach.
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@Markel1970A Can you please check the date on the previous post before replying. This discussion is several years old and was already answered.
We have What about PoC? for a general discussion on the topic.
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