Can you explainify the difference between Colored and Of Color to this poor ESLer and your fellow blogreaders, please?

We have removed Mercedes Lackey from the 2022 Nebula Conference, in accordance with our Moderation Policy. Please read the following statement from the SFWA Board of Directors for details: https://t.co/nj5arvJPT2

— Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (@sfwa) May 22, 2022

And anyway, what is that exactly, a coloured person/person of colour? All I know is that Renard lives on a Carribean island, so I guess his skin is brown/black, and Orca is from northern Europe so her skin is pink/red/light brown, depending on the season. Strangely enough, nobody would call me a person of colour, eventhough I’m kinda multicoloured and highly customizable. 😉 It’s probably the same with Renard, at his location he won’t stick out so nobody would stereotype him as a POC specifically.

Here in SA the media never uses skintone when reporting about people. It’s always a man, a woman, a child. Skin colour is insignificant, and if you really wanna know you just go by hints when they tell you their name or where that person lives. Also we have 3 categories here: Black, Coloured and White. Far as I know in the USA Coloured stands for Black.

Buuut anyhoo, don’t you, too, find it a bit silly to kick an honourable guest from a conference for not using the correct verbiage du jour?