person of color

noun

plural people of color also persons of color

: a person whose skin pigmentation is other than and especially darker than what is considered characteristic of people typically defined as white (see white entry 1 sense 2a) : a person who is of a race (see race entry 1 sense 1a) other than white or who is of mixed race

People of color account for 43 percent of the active-duty military, but the top ranks are largely white and male.

—Helene Cooper

Because we are so accustomed to talking about race in terms of black and white, we often fail to recognize and contest expressions of racism that target people of color who are not black.

—Angela Y. Davis

Examples of person of color in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Born in 1827, Dédé was part of the fourth generation of free persons of color in his French-speaking Creole family. —Matt Bloom, NPR, 3 Feb. 2025

Born a free person of color in 1827, Dédé was required to carry proof of his freedom and struggled to find employment. —Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Jan. 2025

As a person of color, Altadena, one of the first neighborhoods where Black families could buy homes in the 1960s and 70s, is important to her. —Justine Fisher, People.com, 24 Jan. 2025

Would Jury Duty have become such a hit, and Gladden such a hero, had its producers picked a woman or a person of color or a member of the LGBTQ community (let alone a vocal political partisan) as a star? —Judy Berman, TIME, 22 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1778, in the meaning defined above