Host says on-air racial slur ‘a mistake’
NEW YORK — Good Morning America co-anchor Amy Robach has apologized for saying “coloured people” on Monday’s broadcast of the ABC program.
Her use of the term sparked criticism on social media. “Offensive,” tweeted one viewer. Another said Robach “gets a pass this time” but vowed to ditch “GMA” for a rival morning program if it happened again.
During a segment on diversity in Hollywood, Robach, who was substituting for Robin Roberts, noted recent criticism for casting white actors “in what one might assume should be a role reserved for coloured people.”
After the broadcast, Robach released a statement explaining she had meant to say “people of colour.”
The words used to describe African-Americans have evolved over time to from words like Negro, coloured, Afro-American to the current black, African-American and people of colour, said Deborah E. McDowell, director of the University of Virginia’s Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies.
“We no longer use the term coloured people, although once upon a time that was a term in use,” McDowell said. “Now the preferred usage is people of colour if you are speaking about people of colour broadly. If you are referring specifically to African-Americans, people will frequently be specific and refer to us as African-Americans.” Associated Press