# News Anchor is fired for referring to Kamala Harris as colored in news promo **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 22, 2020, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775 "2020-08-22T20:45:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/122 "2020-08-24T23:05:23Z")
It was…not what I expected 🕶 ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/123 "2020-08-25T06:35:59Z")
I don’t think the ‘Indians’ have a leg to stand on. Seriously? ---
**Author:** ![Scarlax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlax/32/2927_2.png) [@Scarlax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlax)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/124 "2020-08-25T19:47:16Z")
“Mascots of Color”? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/125 "2020-08-25T20:24:40Z")
> [@Scarlax](#): > > "Mascots of Color”? Indigenous mascots. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/126 "2020-08-25T20:43:19Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Indigenous mascots. “People of Red Color” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/127 "2020-08-25T21:31:05Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > AFAIK she hasn’t indicated what she wants used. Does she need to? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/128 "2020-08-25T21:31:10Z")
You may have pushed it a schooch too far, there. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/129 "2020-08-26T00:18:18Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Why does being 26 make it intentional? It’s a pretty old fashioned phrase. A 26-year-old didn’t grow up with colored or nego. He didn’t grow up with Indian instead of Native American. He didn’t even grow up when oriental was applied to people as well as rugs. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/130 "2020-08-26T00:26:28Z")
I do not understand this logic. I expect people to say the things they have heard in their lifetime. I would not expect a 26 year old to speak of the “bee’s knees” or the “cat’s pajamas”. This is a phrase more likely to be said by someone older who had heard it more often in their life. If it was intentional then his age is irrelevant, if it was unintentional then his young age is more likely. ---
**Author:** ![ThisIsTheEnd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisistheend/32/4713_2.png) [@ThisIsTheEnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisIsTheEnd)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/131 "2020-08-26T00:32:18Z")
Good, nobody needs to waste any more time explaining it to you then. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/132 "2020-08-26T08:15:56Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I do not understand this logic. I expect people to say the things they have heard in their lifetime. I would not expect a 26 year old to speak of the “bee’s knees” or the “cat’s pajamas”. This is a phrase more likely to be said by someone older who had heard it more often in their life. If it was intentional then his age is irrelevant, if it was unintentional then his young age is more likely. You just explained it. It’s _not_ a word a 26-year-old would normally say. That’s why his age is relevant. Point is, if you’re some old guy using an old word, you might get a pass, saying you just had a brain fart and used a word from when you were younger. A young person, on the other hand, has no such excuse. There’s just no way a 26 year old in 2020 both knew the word “colored” and didn’t know it was offensive to use today. ---
**Author:** ![BeagleJesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5daacb/32.png) [@BeagleJesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeagleJesus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/133 "2020-08-26T11:49:36Z")
> [@Ynnad](#): > > I am not trying to defend anybody or any word. I am just curious. Does anyone know exactly when, why, and how this word became offensive. I am just guessing, but I bet at one time using this word was a way of being polite before it got put on the euphemism treadmill. Is it because it was a term commonly used in the Jim Crow era to label waiting rooms, water fountains, rest rooms, etc.? _Colored_ became offensive because after it fell out of common usage (in America) the only people still using it were mostly racist as fuck. It’s pretty much the verbal equivalent of wearing a MAGA hat or flashing the OK sign in that it was a mostly benign word that has become offensive do to it’s close association with racist fucks. If _person of color_ gets co-opted by the racist fucks next, then yes, it will eventually become offensive as well. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/134 "2020-08-26T12:07:51Z")
This seems to be pretty spot on. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/135 "2020-08-26T12:16:36Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > African-American became common in the 70’s … So, someone who is supposed to be a professional in front of a camera should be given a pass and “educated” about something that became unacceptable forty-odd years ago? No, they did the right thing! ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/136 "2020-08-26T12:23:08Z")
> [@BeagleJesus](#): > > _Colored_ became offensive because after it fell out of common usage (in America) the only people still using it were mostly racist as fuck. Yeah, the word itself doesn’t have the strong ‘insult’ connotations that I usually associate with slurs, it just became distinctly outdated. But once it fell out of favor, the only people still using it in conversation were either really old (as in 90+ today) who grew up with it and didn’t change out of it during the time where it was just ‘not used anymore’ or people being actively racist. So while it wasn’t originally offensive (see the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) the only people under 90 who keep using it are people who are used to hanging out in actively racist circles and either slip up or are trying to signal their membership in such circles. Also, part of the point of signalling like this is that the signaler can hide under a veil of ‘why are you so hyper-sensitive’. ‘Colored’ works really well for that because it’s not an inherently offensive term the way various others are (“oh, is the NAACP racist now?”), and in fact is pretty close to the ‘person of color’ phrasing. This makes it easy for some people to swallow the idea that people are overreacting to the word or that it was somehow a mistake, though clearly it didn’t work as a screen in this case. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/137 "2020-08-26T13:30:52Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Point is, if you’re some old guy using an old word, you might get a pass, saying you just had a brain fart and used a word from when you were younger. A young person, on the other hand, has no such excuse. I’m tire of explaining this. The vast majority of the people who have used the word ‘colored’ as in this context have an average age older than me, and I am way older than 26. His youth is an indication he didn’t understand what he was saying, and it has no relationship whatsoever to his intentions. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/138 "2020-08-26T13:56:22Z")
I think you have that exactly backwards. An older person who grew up when it was OK, even the preferred term, may have the excuse that he didn’t know what he was saying. A younger person has to be using it intentionally, since it has completely fallen out of favor and he wouldn’t have come across it in a neutral way. When Abe Lincoln referred to Uhuru as a “charming negress” in a Star Trek episode, he’s excused because that’s how people talked in the 1850s. If this 26-year-old referred to Harris as a “charming negress”, there’d be no doubt about his intentions. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/139 "2020-08-26T14:08:51Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I think you have that exactly backwards. An older person who grew up when it was OK, even the preferred term, may have the excuse that he didn’t know what he was saying. A younger person has to be using it intentionally, since it has completely fallen out of favor and he wouldn’t have come across it in a neutral way. This is why your argument fails. There is no reciprocal relationship between an old person using an archaic term unintentionally and a younger person then using that word intentionally. What on earth do you think his intention was? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/140 "2020-08-26T14:10:06Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > What on earth do you think his intention was? To slide a racist slur under the radar. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775/141 "2020-08-26T14:13:04Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > > [@TriPolar](#): > > > > What on earth do you think his intention was? > > To slide a racist slur under the radar. Or he’s too stupid to be trusted with that job. Either way, he should be out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-anchor-is-fired-for-referring-to-kamala-harris-as-colored-in-news-promo/918775.md?page=7)