In some societies and among some anthropologists, Colour terminology was used to label races, sometimes in addition to a non-color term for the same race. Identifying races in terms of their human skin color has been common since at least the Physiognomic falsely attributed to Aristotle.

Historically, the word is associated with segregation, especially in the US, where black people where kept separate from white people – on public transport, or at drinking fountains which were described as “coloured-only” for example. These rules – known as “Jim Crow laws” – happened mainly in the states in the south of the US, from the 1870s until the 1960s.The phrase Jim Crow originated from a song-and-dance character of the 1800s. In the stage show a white actor “blacked up” to play the role of an African slave. There are places in the world where “coloured” is used without offence – for example in South Africa, where it refers to people who have multiple heritages. Founded in 1909, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) is a huge organisation in the US; it seeks to end discrimination on the basis of race.

Through my research about racism and race identity, I’ll be looking at photographer; Lorna Simpson. Lorna Simpson is an African-American artist and photographer who made her name in the 1980s and 1990s with artworks such as Guarded Conditions and Square Deal. She is one of the leading artists of her generation, and her works have been included in numerous exhibitions both nationally and internationally. In her photographic works, installations, and films, Lorna Simpson investigates how covert sexism and racism affects our view of the other and how we communicate and have dealings with one another.

Her photo works are based on studio portraits of black women captured in every day, “typically female” poses. These images seem clear at first glance, yet the crops and combinations of text fragments that Simpson integrates into her works radically undermine their apparent non-ambiguity: Simpson reveals the latent racism and sexism that continue to affect American culture.