`Coloured Girls'

[jw@math.mit.edu]

Nancy Everson writes:

> Why did the Australian band "Paul Kelly & the Coloured Girls" change 
> their name to "Paul Kelly & the Messengers" in the US?
>
> Were they afraid of public reaction to a name that could be considered
> racist, or what?  And if that's the case, isn't it racist elsewhere in the
> world?

Well, Nancy, I don't know anything about this band, or their name change,
but I am willing to hazard a guess. I suspect that the word `coloured'
would _not_ be considered ``racist'' in the rest of the (English-speaking)
world in the same sense that it might be in the United States. As is the case
with a lot of language, usage varies from country to country and even
from place to place within a country. For instance, the word `black'
is commonly used in the United Kingdom to denote any person of African,
Caribbean, or _South_Asian_ stock (in other words the majority of
``New Commonwealth'' residents of the U.K.) By U.S. standards of
English usage and racial sensitivity, this is plain wrong, but there is
nothing sinister or even incorrect about the terminology; it is simply
a language variant.

Likewise, while `coloured' (I suppose I should say `colored'!) is used
in the United States for blacks (people of ancestral sub-Saharan stock),
in South Africa it is reserved for people of mixed-race (primarily
European/African, eg English/Zulu). Of course the word `racist' is
probably thought of in totally different ways in South Africa anyway....

I don't personally think that `Coloured Girls' sounds racist, so if it
does sound that way to the U.S. ear, this only confirms my theory.
(How does it sound when Lou Reed uses it in ``Take a Walk on the Wild Side''?)
It is true that `coloured' has been largely superseded by `black' in
the U.S., but it is coming back into vogue in a slightly different
usage as `people of colour.' 

Indeed, any phrase applied to a disadvantaged minority seems to have
a limited lifetime as a politically correct usage. Thus `niggers' insisted
on being called `negroes' until _that_ word gained enough negative
overtones to be unacceptable. Then they were called `coloured' and
now `black'. Soon enough, `black' will have been used as a denigration
often enough that it will no longer be acceptable either, and we will
have `people of colour.' But they will still be an underclass, because
none of these semantic changes are really improving the social climate.
In any case, `black' (as a colour) is just another word for `negro'
in a different European language. Perhaps these peoples should adopt
an African name for themselves. [And did anyone notice that `denigration'
is from the same root?]

I am still thinking about your original question, and since I just bought
a second copy of _Chambers_20th_Century_Dictionary_ today (one for home,
one for my office) I might as well put it to use. Lets see what it
turns up (I use stars for bold, underscores for italics, and note use 
of colons to separate definitions) :

*coloured* _adj._
           having colour : having a specious appearance, deceitful (_Spenser_) :
           of the complexion, other than white :
           (_loosely_; often _derog._) belonging to a dark-skinned race :
           (usu. with _cap._) in South Africa, of mixed racial descent--
           partly Caucasian, partly of darker race and with English or 
           Afrikaans as mother tongue : (also with _cap._) in South Africa,
           of one of the official racial groups, neither white nor African :
           not of Caucasian race.

*black*    _adj._
           of the darkest colour : reflecting no light : obscure : dismal :
           sullen : horrible : dusky : foul, dirty : malignant :
           dark_haired : wearing dark armour or clothes : illicit :
           under trade-union ban : Negro, of African, West Indian
           descent (often _offensive_; acceptable in the U.S., S. Africa) :
           coloured, or mixed descent (esp. S. Africa) : (of an area or
           state) inhabited or controlled by a Negro population

*Negro*    _n._
           a member of any of the dark-skinned peoples of Africa or a 
           person racially descended from one of these

Similar definitions of the noun forms are given. Note the number of
negative meanings of the word `black' in other contexts! Is this reasonable?

No mention anywhere of Australian usage. Something which has just struck
me is that `black' _might_ be reserved in Australian English for their
own Aborigines. In that case, `coloured' _might_, just _possibly_, be their
regular usage for American blacks. I could ask a few Australian friends 
about this.

I don't really suppose I've been the slightest help at all, but that
was fun!

Julian