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Why I Don't Use The Term "People of Colour"

The recent wave of frustration towards the new LDNR Nike advert by a noticeable number of people from British-Asian communities, was a reminder that the faux implied solidarity of a term like People of Colour doesn't even run skin deep. It was also a reminder that as "ethnic minorities", we continue to point the finger of blame and accountability in the wrong direction.

People of Colour is a term that makes me feel uneasy, it always has. That uneasiness sits with me and for that reason, I always remember when I use the term. I said it five times last year – I include Women of Colour in this count.

People of Colour sits in this delicate paradox: the power to liberate and silence simultaneously. It liberates me by no longer describing me by what I am not: non-white. It liberates me by not making me feel small: an ethnic minority. It liberates me because I know it is a self-defining term, a term that we have created and claimed for ourselves: a global connection.