Today’s word-crime blotter, via the Guardian:

Benedict Cumberbatch has apologised after referring to black actors as “coloured” during an interview on US television, saying he is “devastated” to have caused offence. . . .
Talking on the Tavis Smiley show on PBS, Cumberbatch said: “I think as far as coloured actors go, it gets really different in the UK, and a lot of my friends have had more opportunities here [in America] than in the UK, and that’s something that needs to change.” . . .
A spokesperson for the anti-racism charity Show Racism the Red Card, told the Independent: “Benedict Cumberbatch has highlighted a very important issue within the entertainment industry and within society. In doing so, he has also inadvertently highlighted the issue of appropriate terminology and the evolution of language.”

(Cumberbatch, an actor, stars in the BBC series Sherlock and is nominated for Best Actor for his turn as computer scientist Alan Turing in the recent film The Imitation Game.)

Perhaps this is another of divergence between British and American English — because in New York and California self-described “persons of color,” or “POCs,” have been invading brunch restaurants; at the University of Missouri a Ferguson protest was held exclusively for “people of color”; and in San Francisco “people of color” have their own law school admissions consulting firm.

“Persons of color” is progressive. “Colored persons” is racist. Up is down, &c.