(ThyBlackMan.com) There are those that may not mind the title People of Color. It can be seen, by some, as a unifier and a call to stand together to fight racism and oppression here in the US. However, the term “colored” has a history in this country and it is not one of unity. Segregation was a very scarring time period. Jim Crow violently reminded black people where their “place” was, and that it should be accepted. Seeing signs that said, “whites only” and “colored only” inflicted cruel mental abuse and shame. This time period continues the idea that “colored” was not human, and if it’s not human it is cursed. Notice I didn’t say they…I said it. We treated as an it. Colored was the label attached to said treatment. This sting was felt all over the country, and yet in certain parts the stain of that time blatantly exists to this day. I remember my grandmother sternly explaining to me when I was younger that we are not “colored folks”. “You can say Negro if you like though I’m not fond of that either, African-American, or Black…but never call us colored-folks”.
I wanted to believe the shame of Colored was for previous generations. Yes, I knew the history, but this was one of the few areas by which I 
wanted to believe in progress, and possibly healing. I didn’t live in the blatant segregated South, though there are still issues with segregation there aren’t signs everywhere. However, recently an older white woman spoke to me quite offensively because she didn’t like “colored” people being in the same space as her. She was loud, offensive, and immediately the shame set in. The realization that colored was a thing…not so much a person was felt in her words, tone, and expression. In that one moment I understood my elder in a very painful way. I tried to explain why this woman’s use of colored was so devastating, but all I could come up with is this must be code for the n-word. This encounter led me to think about the People of Color title.
When I think about the POC space I know there are critics to the title. However, I am left wondering if black people can truly be comfortable within a community titled POC when what it means to be colored is attacked to so much shame. Could that shame have something to do with why black people can tend to feel misunderstood, or not as supported in the POC space. Black people have had to find a way to fight the oppression of white people while being embarrassed and shamed before all people in this nation, and the world.
Whether we agree or not, colored is painful for several black people and can make the use of POC difficult. Its easy to dismiss something we don’t experience or have only read about. The shame of “colored” is something I can no longer dismiss; it’s real and we must understand there are some of our people that will never abide that title in any form.
Staff Writer; Addonicka Michele
