During a discussion about race in the film industry on Monday's Good Morning America, anchor Amy Robach referenced the casting of white people “in what one might assume should be a role reserved for colored people.”
While this is a conversation that deserves air time, especially in the wake of #OscarsSoWhite, the term "colored people" does not. Twitter users were quick to point that out.
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
Ok @GMA please talk to #amyrobach. If she says #coloredpeople again I'll have to find a new a.m. program to watch-she gets a pass this time
— FABWP (@_fabwp) August 22, 2016
@GMA Did that fool just say "colored people"? Are we in the 60s? WTH? #amyrobach #gma
— Tori Lynn (@victorialj1908) August 22, 2016
Indeed, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, as reported by NPR, the term "colored people" faded from the common lexicon in the 1960s and has since become an offensive slur. Now, the more accepted term is "people of color."
To acknowledge this misuse, Robach released a statement, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "This morning, during a segment about Hollywood casting, I mistakenly said 'colored people' instead of 'people of color,'" it read. "I sincerely apologize. It was a mistake and is not at all a reflection of how I feel or speak in my everyday life."