Logo

AP

‘GMA’ Anchor’s Slip Brings Apology, Lesson in Racial Terminology

Aug 22, 2016  •  Post A Comment

A co-anchor on the ABC morning show “Good Morning America” offered an apology and an explanation after she offended viewers by using the term “colored people.” The AP reports that Amy Robach, who was co-anchoring as a fill-in for Robin Roberts, used the term this morning during a discussion of diversity in Hollywood.

“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,” the AP reports.

Robach was discussing recent criticism of the casting of white actors “in what one might assume should be a role reserved for colored people.”

Robach explained in a statement released after the broadcast that she meant to say “people of color.” She admitted it was a mistake and said it was “not at all a reflection of how I feel or speak in my everyday life.”

The report notes that the terms used to refer to African-Americans have evolved over time. Deborah E. McDowell, director of the University of Virginia’s Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies, is quoted in the report saying: “We no longer use the term colored people, although once upon a time that was a term in use. Now the preferred usage is people of color if you are speaking about people of color broadly. If you are referring specifically to African-Americans, people will frequently be specific and refer to us as African-Americans.”

good morning america

6 Comments

  1. WOW! I wonder what the NAACP will have to say about this.
    Oh, wait…

    .

    • Great point.

  2. Oh heavens, the world almost stopped spinning there.

    Sheesh.

  3. Black is black. The end. I wonder if the “offended” viewer has a job or has ever read a book…

  4. Recently I overheard a kid about 7 or 8 years old make a comment about one of the “guys” standing behind them a few feet away. The girl made reference to the “tall one” to specify which one she was talking about. The tall guy was black and his three friends were white but the girl saw his being tall as the best way to point him out. There were no “code words” or “dog whistle” signals going on, just kids that see other kids. In this case skin color was not perceived. BUT I’m sure that the the people complaining about GMA being offencive would have a problem with tall!

  5. OK as a colored person, um, uh, ruh black person, um, uh as an African American writing this post the witching and moaning about this is a bit much. In fact you can give her a break because quite frankly she’s too young to even know the meaning of the phrase “colored people” as that was used before 1970 and she was born in 1973.

    Give her a break. And it’s Good Morning America so you REALLY need to give her a break as that show is becoming more mindless and mentally challenged than the Today Show.

Leave a Reply to RMTVguy Cancel Reply

Email (will not be published)