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person of color
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Tweet n. pl. people of color also persons of color A person who has a racial identity other than white. Usage Note: Dissatisfaction with nonwhite as a comprehensive racial label has likely contributed to the recent popularity of terms formed with the phrase of color, as in person of color, woman of color, or students of color. By substituting a positive formulation for a negative one, these terms recast the notion of not being white as an affirmation of common identity or shared experience among people of widely varying ethnicities. It is interesting that the almost exclusive association in American English of colored with black does not carry over to terms formed with "of color," which are used inclusively of all groups other than those of European origin. See Usage Notes at colored, nonwhite. |
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