people of color

[Buchmann]

This phrase was certainly popularized at  the turn of the [19th / 20th]
century [ by THE CRISIS among others ]. I think it meant "of NON-
(northern)EUROPEAN descent." [Non-Celts, non-Germans, non-Slavs.]

Forty to fifty years ago there was some discussion among certain
peoples (Europeans referred to as 'yellow-skinned') that in fact
THEY were 'WHITE' and ( the aforesaid ) Europeans were PINK.
Certainly, then, Europeans would ALL be 'people of colour.'

Indigo Som wrote:

> "People of color" is alive & well, meaning people who are not white. I
> understand that in the past it was more specific, meaning Black (or black,
> or African American, or African, &c.) people. I think some people still
> understand it that way. This is totally anecdotal, but fwiw: 8 or 9 years
> ago we ran an ad for a housemate saying we were a "women of color"
> household. We got several responses from older (to us, in our 20s at the
> time -- they were in their 40s) African American women. In contrast, women
> our age who answered the ad were of various different colors.
>
> Indigo Som