# Lohan calls Obama 'first colored president.' WTF!? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 12, 2008, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440 "2008-11-12T23:30:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/21 "2008-11-13T03:33:54Z")
At least she didn’t say “High Yellow”. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/22 "2008-11-13T03:39:37Z")
Colored is not offensive, it’s just outdated. I don’t think it’s ever been used as an insult or to hurt someone’s pride the way that other word has. When I was a kid a mere ~20 years ago I was taught that colored was a more polite way to say black. Then it was African American, but that was always dumb, so now the tide seems to be changing back to black. They’re just words, though, get over it. A word is only offensive if its user intends it to be. Do you really think Lindsay intended to insult Obama? She loves the guy. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/23 "2008-11-13T03:44:42Z")
The correct term for people of African descent has changed so many times that I find it difficult to muster any outrage over this incident. Get over it, folks. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/24 "2008-11-13T03:51:43Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Colored is not offensive, it’s just outdated. I don’t think it’s ever been used as an insult or to hurt someone’s pride the way that other word has. When I was a kid a mere ~20 years ago I was taught that colored was a more polite way to say black. 20 years ago? Hmm. I was in high school 20 years ago in an area with very very few people who weren’t white and “colored” was not considered correct. I would be surprised if it was still considered the polite term in many places after, what, 1970? ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/25 "2008-11-13T03:56:54Z")
Here is my opinion on the word ‘color’ to describe people of color= ok colored= ok for older people, odd for young, so assumed by many, in its oddity, to be offensive coloreds= bad colorful= if person in question is of color, but known to have a bland personality, then highly offensive. coloring book= not a racial slur, but if you call someone of any race a coloring book, they will either be confused, or offended. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/26 "2008-11-13T03:57:53Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > 20 years ago? Hmm. I was in high school 20 years ago in an area with very very few people who weren’t white and “colored” was not considered correct. I would be surprised if it was still considered the polite term in many places after, what, 1970? Where? I was in the semi-rural south, would’ve been . . . 1986. My teacher overheard me describe my friend Lee as black, and gently told me the more polite word was colored. FWIW, I think she was about 200 years old, or at least she looked it to me. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/27 "2008-11-13T03:58:28Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > The correct term for people of African descent has changed so many times that I find it difficult to muster any outrage over this incident. Get over it, folks. So many times, huh? Frankly, I find it difficult to believe that someone who can’t keep up with this sort of thing could be conversant with the internet or function in society. I was born in 1971. There have been two terms taught to me in my lifetime as polite, both of which are still extant and both of which I use: Black and African-American. Two terms. This isn’t something that changes every five seconds. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/28 "2008-11-13T03:59:47Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Where? I was in the semi-rural south, would’ve been . . . 1986. My teacher overheard me describe my friend Lee as black, and gently told me the more polite word was colored. FWIW, I think she was about 200 years old, or at least she looked it to me. Which means she could have been anywhere from 22 to 200. 😃 Oops, I forgot to answer your question: Appalachian Ohio is where I grew up and went to school. ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/29 "2008-11-13T04:03:08Z")
While it was a poor choice of words, it didn’t really register as a “racist” remark in my head. Having known a number of South Africans, it just struck me as an odd, but technically correct word choice. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/30 "2008-11-13T04:04:09Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > So many times, huh? Frankly, I find it difficult to believe that someone who can’t keep up with this sort of thing could be conversant with the internet or function in society. And if my complaint had been that I couldn’t keep up with the terms, then your criticism would have some merit. Thankfully, that’s not what I said, and I think you know it. I’m fully aware that the term “colored” is outdated. My point is that it’s foolish to express outrage at the use of this term, given that American society can’t seem to settle on a suitably non-offensive term. Heck, on more than one occasion, I’ve seen people take offense at the term “black,” even though most people don’t seem to have trouble with it. This is just one of those situations where it’s best to let it go. ---
**Author:** ![Punintentional](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de0a6/32.png) [@Punintentional](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punintentional)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/31 "2008-11-13T04:05:45Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Or “blacks” > > This reminds me of a (UK) Office episide wherein Gareth defends his grandad for calling black people “Blacks” by using the word “Coloureds” No no, he was saying sometimes it’s embarrassing because his dad didn’t know all the PC words. “he’ll say ‘birds’, instead of ‘women’, ‘poofs’ instead of ‘gays’, and ‘darkies’, instead of ‘coloureds’.” ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/32 "2008-11-13T04:06:45Z")
BTW, **jsgoddess** , would you care to tell the NAACP that they “can’t keep up with this sort of thing” or that it’s hard to believe they “could be conversant with the internet or function in society”? I’m sure that they’d appreciate your candid feedback. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/33 "2008-11-13T04:09:04Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > My point is that it’s foolish to express outrage at the use of this term, given that American society can’t seem to settle on a suitably non-offensive term. Uh. Again, I was born in 1971. I’d consider that pretty settled. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/34 "2008-11-13T04:10:20Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > BTW, **jsgoddess** , would you care to tell the NAACP that they “can’t keep up with this sort of thing” or that it’s hard to believe they “could be conversant with the internet or function in society”? I’m sure that they’d appreciate your candid feedback. Show me a member of the NAACP in this, or any, thread saying the terms just change so gosh-darned much that there’s no way to keep up, by golly! ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/35 "2008-11-13T04:11:02Z")
Meh, Lame. Colored is antiquated, but hardly racist. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/36 "2008-11-13T04:19:10Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > BTW, **jsgoddess** , would you care to tell the NAACP that they “can’t keep up with this sort of thing” or that it’s hard to believe they “could be conversant with the internet or function in society”? I’m sure that they’d appreciate your candid feedback. Lets [ask](http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/11/12/lohan-calls-obama-colored-naacp-says-no-big-deal/) > [@NAACP spokesperson](#): > > “There’s really no problem with what she said,” Sims said. “In her excitement, she was acknowledging that color was not a barrier in the populous choosing Obama.” > > “The term ‘colored’ is not derogatory,” Sims continued. “They chose the word ‘colored’ because it was the most positive description commonly used at that time. It’s outdated and antiquated but not offensive.” And **jsgodess** , it seems silly to argue that there’s no possible problem trying to keep track of what terms for minorities are considered non-offensive in a thread in which people seem to be having trouble deciding if a particular term is in fact non-offensive. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/37 "2008-11-13T04:28:06Z")
I’d like to point out that in the film “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” (1967) Sidney Poitier’s character tells his father, “You think of yourself as a colored man. I think of myself as a man.” Since the term is not used in negative sense within that scene, it seems clear that in the late sixties this was the polite term. I believe other characters in the film use the term ‘colored man’ to describe the character and not in a racist way. I’m in my mid-fifties and I can’t remember that it was ever a racial slur, unless it becomes a racial slur in some people’s minds because it has fallen out of fashion. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/38 "2008-11-13T04:29:02Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Show me a member of the NAACP in this, or any, thread saying the terms just change so gosh-darned much that there’s no way to keep up, by golly! Just as soon as you show me where I declared that there’s no way too keep up with these terms. I think I’ll be waiting an awfully long time for that. I have to agree with **Simplicio**. You are making way too big a deal about this. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/39 "2008-11-13T04:29:04Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > And **jsgodess** , it seems silly to argue that there’s no possible problem trying to keep track of what terms for minorities are considered non-offensive in a thread in which people seem to be having trouble deciding if a particular term is in fact non-offensive. I haven’t said anything about Lohan. I’ve responded to the claims that the terms shift so incredibly rapidly that no mere human could be expected to follow them. If mere humans can name the president, a fact that changes far more rapidly, then mere humans can follow what terms are preferred by a substantial portion of the US population–terms that haven’t changed in years. The “you can’t complain because it all changes all the tiiiiime” excuse is ridiculous, as Jodi pointed out. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440/40 "2008-11-13T04:30:36Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Uh. Again, I was born in 1971. I’d consider that pretty settled. And yet the majority of posters in this thread disagree with your evaluation of this term. Huh. Imagine that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lohan-calls-obama-first-colored-president-wtf/472440.md?page=3)