Hasn't it occured to anyone here that when Mr Cumberbatch was talking about "inequality in The U.K. acting industry" he wouldn't specifically have been talking about people who are "Black", but rather people who are "Non-White"? The vast majority of people in The U.K. who are "Non-White" are of South-Asian descent [[Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi etc.) and many of them would probably not like being referred to as being "Black".
As to the word "Coloured", in my experience [[growing up in 1960s/70s England) it was used as a general term to describe "non-white" people, and some people would use it in preference to terms such as "Black" [[even if referring to someone who would consider themselves as being "Black") as they thought the term "Coloured" was more polite.
I'm a bit surprised that Mr Cumberbatch used the term "Coloured" as to me it sounds somewhat patronising and old-fashioned, but I'm also surprised that anyone actually finds it "offensive" and I suspect the motives of those who claim that they do. Does anyone, for example, find "offence" in this hit record from 1973 where the term is used?
I'm wondering how much distaste of the use of the word "Coloured" by "African-Americans" [[or in The U.K. by "Afro-Caribbeans") is down to its usage in Apartheid Era South Africa where the term "Coloured" meant "Mixed-Race" and was a designated racial-category [["Coloured" people had their own neighbourhoods that they were allowed to live in, schools they were allowed to attend, etc. etc. etc.) and "Black" people and "Indian" people were decidedly NOT "Coloured".
This is the current entry on Wikipedia about "South African Coloured People" ..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloured
Roger
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