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

Shafik, who became the first woman and person of color to lead the university in 2023, is the third Ivy League president to step down in recent months. —Leah Sarnoff, ABC News, 14 Aug. 2024

The Dock Ellis Foundation is a non-profit focused on missing persons of color. —Kyani Reid, NBC News, 28 July 2024

Barbara Turner Barbara Turner in 2020 became the first woman and person of color to serve as president and CEO of Ohio National Financial Services. —The Enquirer, 1 Aug. 2024

The episode is a reminder, if any was needed, of the extraordinary nature of the current moment, when the first woman of color is running for president on a major-party ticket in a country whose history includes no women and one person of color serving as president. —Sabrina Rodriguez, Washington Post, 1 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1778, in the meaning defined above