[Jimrod]

Originally Posted by Livia

I find the term "PC Brigade" is used mostly by people defending casual racism. If being a member of the "PC Brigade" refers to people who are against racists, then I am happy to be a member of it and not use a patronising, insensitive term like 'coloured' to describe someone.

I think the point is that "Coloured" used to be the PC term for "Black", then the rules changed. This is why people are continually confused about the right things to say.

You see it all the time in sports commentary - I remember watching a UFC fight where one commentator was trying to describe the fighters who were wearing the same colour shorts, same height, build etc. He was pointing out things like slightly different hair and a bit of red detailing on shorts when the other commentator cut in "Let's make this simple, he's the black dude!". This has become such a touchy subject that everyone is scared of saying the wrong thing.

We used to call mentally disabled people "Spastics", due to there being a "Spastics Society" dedicated to caring for the mentally disabled, this then became un-PC and evil to say as well. It's the same principal - a generation use the term most common when they grow up, then some liberal group decide that term is wrong and a new one must be used, it's not the fault of that generation that the "rules" forever change. They aren't always being spiteful or bigoted, just using the accepted language that they learned.