Hansen Apology is Absurd.

This is getting more stupid by the minute. Terry faces legal action BECAUSE he used the word black, and now Hansen has apologised for not using it! So bloody what that he used the word "coloured"? He isn't in South Africa and it wasn't meant to be insulting in any way whatsoever.

Somebody has to get a grip here. Let's turn to a dictionary shall we? According to Cambridge Dictionaries Online "Black" is defined as "being the darkest colour there is, like the colour of coal or of a very dark night" whilst Oxford Dictionaries are slightly less poetic, opting for "of the very darkest colour owing to the absence of or complete absorption of light; the opposite of white."

So, let's try "coloured". The Oxford Dictionary gives the PC Brigade some ammunition with the definition, "having a colour or colours, especially as opposed to being black, white, or neutral" but that "especially" word is crucial. It still means something can be coloured black or brown; just ask any five year old with a set of colouring pencils! The dictionary pegs the offensive use of "coloured" to South Africa, just as I thought. Cambridge Dictionaries, meanwhile, offers simply "having or producing a colour or colours".

Now, is Evra black? No he is not. He is deep brown perhaps, but he is not black. And Anton? He's no more black than I am! Brown yes, but black? Not a chance in Hell! And am I white? Of course I'm not white! How can I describe myself? Flesh coloured? That's offensive presumably because it somehow implies that my skin colour is the right flesh colour. So how about pinko grey as E M Forster termed "white" people? It suffices but it isn't accurate is it?

Describe me and what word describes me without question? I am coloured! You are coloured! We are all coloured! That isn't offensive, that is FACT!

This has to stop. This will breed resentment and racism if we are not careful. NOBODY should be allowed to play politics with the English language and NOBODY should impute malice when none is intended. Big Brother will kill freedom of speech if we are not careful. I know why Hansen used the word and it had absolutely nothing to do with racism and everything to do with a vocabulary that was common place when he learnt the language of HIS PLACE OF BIRTH. And why shouldn't he use a word that is, by definition, technically correct just because some language fascists dictate he should not?