coloured
A mixed race person or people, especially if the mix includes African and European, or an adjective describing these people. Can be either a recent mixture with parents or grandparents of different races, or members of old mixed race groups like the Cape Coloureds of South Africa or the Rehobothers of Namibia. It is not derogatory or perjorative per se, but may be used that way by those who disapprove of racial mixing. Used throughout Anglophone Sub-Saharan Africa, from Colonial British English.
The Coloureds of Zambia are usually the children or grandchildren of British and Zambian couples, while the Cape Coloureds of South Africa are the descendants of mixing involving Dutch, Khoisan, Indonesian and Bantu going back over two centuries.
coloured by MikeMelungeon May 31, 2011
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