Amy Robach fell victim to the dangers of live television on Monday.
Co-hosting a segment about Zendaya Coleman reportedly in the running to portray Mary Jane in an upcoming Spider-Man reboot*, the Good Morning America anchor set off a social media firestorm when she used the phrase “colored people.”
(*How are they rebooting Spider-Man again?!?!?!?!?!)
Here is the exact way Robach used the term, just so you have some context:
“Now we all know Hollywood has received recent and quite a bit of criticism for casting white actors in what one might assume should be a role reserved for colored people,” she said while seated alongside George Stephanopoulos.
Robach was citing what other people have said about this type of casting, but it was those last two words that got her in trouble.
Colored people was a label used during segregation. It was uttered at the time in derogatory fashion and still has a negative connotation today.
Not long after the mistake went viral and the backlash ensured, Robach issued an apology.
“This morning during a segment about Hollywood casting, I mistakenly said “colored people” instead of “people of color,” she said.
“I sincerely apologize. It was a mistake and is not at all a reflection of how I feel or speak in my everyday life.”
To some, the use of colored people versus people of color may seem like semantics.
But try telling that to African-Americans who were alive in the 1950s and 1960s.
For whatever it’s worth, Mary Jane is a character traditionally filled by white actresses, and Zendaya has a mixed-race background.
Here is footage of Robach making her snafu:
@donlemon Did she just say colored people? pic.twitter.com/eRDgwvcHC0
— Char Portis (@travelballmom10) August 22, 2016
Zendaya, meanwhile, somehow continues to find herself in these racially-charged situation.
She received criticism in 2014 for taking on the role of Aaliyah in a biopic because idiotic critics didn’t think she was black enough.
In 2015, meanwhile, Giuliana Rancic got into major trouble for comments she made regarding Zendaya’s Academy Awards dress.
Rancic criticized the young star’s look at the time by saying it appeared as if the 18-year old “smells like patchouli oil… or maybe weed.”
To her credit, Zendaya has always taken the high road when this incidents occurred.
In response to Rancic, for instance, she said in a statement:
“There is a fine line between what is funny and disrespectful. Someone said something about my hair at the Oscars that left me in awe. Not because I was relishing in rave outfit reviews, but because I was hit with ignorant slurs and pure disrespect.
“To say that an 18-year-old young woman with locs must smell of patchouli oil or “weed” is not only a large stereotype but outrageously offensive.
“I don’t usually feel the need to respond to negative things but certain remarks cannot go unchecked.”
In this case, we don’t think Zendaya needs to say anything.
Robach simply misspoke and then apologized right away.