Dipping my toe so softly into a minefield...
What is the proper way to refer to black, coloured, people in this strange world we live in.?
It doesn't come up often, but I try to say the guy in the hat, or grey jacket if possible
It's a valid question 'cos of the culture we live in, with its many rather stupid taxonomies, divisions, classifications and schemas. But .....
In one sense it's the wrong question. If the notion of race, as often found in out culture, is invalid (and personally I think it is) then we can refer to other people in all sorts of ways that are meaningful without considering the colour of their skin. For example, if the skin colour is a sort of pinkish-white, do we ever find ourselves referring to, "That pinkish-white person"?
Sometimes a skin colour (or nose-shape or hair colour or number of working eyes) is relevant - in, for example, a description issued to those searching for an individual who may be lost, injured or the burglar one saw climbing out the shed window with one's only Festool. But generally, its irrelevant.
Well, sort of. Because our society and culture in general has become obsessed with skin colour, with various prejudices and disadvantages applied to those who are, say, purple, we end up talking about it. I blame that Julian Huxley and his forebears.