Society’s racist, homophobic and religiously insensitive nature has called for the defining of slurs, and hate speech. In a country that is so incredibly diverse in terms of sexual orientation and identity there is a great push for political correctness. Some may say that we are living in a world of political correctness, and they’re right (somewhat). It’s the people who disagree about being “politically correct” that are problematic.
And if you work in media, news or entertainment you should be all the more conscious of how to navigate these lines. Don’t cross them.
Stay in your lane.
When Good Morning America’s Amy Robach opened her beloved mouth to say “colored people” on national television, this wasn’t a slip-up. You don’t ‘accidentally’ use archaic language to refer to an entire race, especially when you’re in the spotlight.
Amy Robach knew better.
Imagine being in the midst of a conversation where you’ve had to code-switch.
You’re trying to explain something, but you can’t find the word or correct term to describe it. What do you do? Revert to the language that you usually use. While Robach wasn’t code-switching, she instead got comfortable while the cameras were rolling. Robach just so happened to get caught being herself on live TV.
Here’s what Robach had to say, as she spoke about Zendaya’s role in Spiderman: Homecoming.
“We all know Hollywood has received recent and quite a bit of criticism for casting white actors in what one might assume should be a role reserved for colored people,” Robach said. “Could this potentially be the industry trying to right itself?”
The term ‘colored people’ has roots in segregation and is the grandfather of the term ‘African-American’, which was preceded by the term ‘black’.
So one questions remains.. Amy, do you revisit Jim Crow during your spare time or nah?
Because Twitter seemed to have thought so, as well.
Someone from @GMA should probably tell @arobach we don’t say “colored” people anymore in 2016. Shame on you. #goodmorningamerica #gma
— Shannon (@ATLFalconGirl) August 22, 2016
First time in a while I turn on #gma and I hear @arobach say “colored people” in a story. So apparently I woke up in the 1950s #really
— Cinnamon B Hernandez (@neicilaw) August 22, 2016
Robach’s apology, of course denounces what we all suspect to be true.
She released a statement saying, “I sincerely apologize. It was a mistake and is not at all a reflection of how I feel or speak in my everyday.” Robach claims she meant to say ‘people of color’.
Despite her apology, which is the norm for every racial “slip-up” these days, this only confirms that we still have so much work to do.
Check out the video here.
Colored people? Really? @GMA PLEASE educate your journalist! Mistake? Let’s hope so. #GMA #epicfail #amyrobach pic.twitter.com/0XIPDXSxlG
— Jill Karshell (@JillKarshell) August 22, 2016
What do you think of Robach’s apology? Let us know below in the comments.
