Race, Ethnicity, Skin Color
The term is used in the South African context and as defined black refers to people with an African, Indian, and Coloured background.
The term Coloured is used in South Africa in a nondiscriminatory way. However, it should be considered that in the course of the Apartheid the racial category ‘Coloured’ was socially constructed by the regime to differentiate between who were considered black people and people who had a black and a white parent, Asians (especially Indians), and some lighter-skinned Southern African nations like the Nama, for the purpose of ‘dividing-and-ruling.’ In the Apartheid hierarchy ‘Coloureds’ were between the blacks and the whites. Many opponents of the regime used the term only by adding ‘so-called’ to it, to elude oneself from the state-run racial category. From the 1970s and 1980s onwards most Coloureds begun to self-identify as black to stress the common experience of oppression and racism.
People of Color
In the term ‘People of Colour’ ‘Coloured’ has been appropriated and positively redefined. The capitalized letters and the addendum of ‘People’ symbolize the rejection of racist terminology.
Gay, gay man, lesbian
These terms are accepted within the gay communities to describe people who are attracted to members of the same sex physically, emotionally, sexually, and/or spiritually.
Stands for “lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender” and are widely used due to their inclusiveness of the diversity of the community.
A bisexual person is attracted to men and women on a physical, romantic, emotional, and/or spiritual level.
The term ‘transgender’ describes people whose gender identity and/or gender expression is different from the sex they were assigned at birth. This includes intersex people, cross-dressers, transsexuals, and transgender people. They can be female-to-male FTM or male-to female MTF, but it is best to use the descriptive term the individual transgender person prefers.
Best person for the job
Humanity, human kind
Efficient, proficient, skillful
Best man for the job