Because there are more colors than black, "people of color" began in the US quite a few years ago *specifically* as a self-chosen designation to make a contrast with "white people." It covers brown, red, and yellow people too (all of which are the terms preferred by the designated groups, though I suspect "yellow" will soon be supplanted by "East Asian."

Why would one think that "people of color" implies that standard "people" are white? It counterbalances "white people," not "people."

What bugs me is that while "people of color" is a recommended usage, "colored people," which you'd think is exactly equivalent and which was the polite and accepted form in my youth, is now rejected as "racist."

Then consider the convoluted history of "Negro" (which is not synonymous with "person of color").

We still have the highly regarded "National Association for the Advancement of Colored People" and the "United Negro College Fund."

Use these terms in other contexts, however, and brace yourself.

Perhaps someone has surveyed what terms the average American of color considers acceptable or insulting. The spokesmen (oops! "spokespersons") we generally seem to hear from are self-promoting media types.

Nobody said things make sense. Did they?