Colored people's time

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For the public access program, see Colored People's Time (TV show).

Colored people's time (also abbreviated to CP time or CPT) is an American expression referring to African Americans as frequently being late.[1][2][3][4][5][6] It claims that African Americans can have a relaxed or indifferent view of punctuality, which leads to them being labeled as lazy or unreliable.[7][8][9][1]

According to NPR's podcast Code Switch, the phrase has variations in many other languages and cultures, is often used as a light-hearted comment or joke regarding being late, and may have first been used in 1914 by The Chicago Defender newspaper.[10]

There are differences between monochronic societies and polychronic societies (e.g., some of those found in Sub-Saharan Africa).[11]

In popular culture[edit]

The expression has been referenced numerous times in various types of media, including the films Friday Foster, The Best Man, Bamboozled, Undercover Brother, Let's Do It Again, House Party, BlacKkKlansman, and several television series: The Mindy Project, Prison Break, The Boondocks, The Wire, Weeds, Where My Dogs At?, Reno 911!, 30 Rock, Everybody Hates Chris, A Different World, The PJs, Bridezillas, Mad TV, Cedric the Entertainer Presents, In Living Color, Empire, F is for Family, and reality series The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Colored People's Time was used as the name of a 1960s public interest program produced by Detroit Public Television. It was also used in the title of the 1983 play, "Colored People's Time: A History Play," written by Leslie Lee, which consisted of 13 fictional vignettes of African American history, from the Civil War through Civil Rights and the Montgomery bus riots.[12] CP Time was also a 2007 book by J. L. King.[13]

In his 1982 book Let the Trumpet Sound: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr., author Stephen B. Oates notes that Martin Luther King Jr. and his staff operated by what they jocularly called "CPT"—Colored People's Time—"and kept appointments with cheerful disregard for punctuality".[14]: 280  King once apologized for being late for a banquet, saying he forgot what time he was on—EST, CST, or Colored People's Time, adding that "It always takes us longer to get where we're going."[14]: 328 

On April 9, 2016, in a staged joke skit at that year's annual Inner Circle dinner, Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio said he'd been operating on "C.P. time" for his delay in endorsing Hillary Clinton as the Democratic Party nominee for president. The actor Leslie Odom Jr., then starring in the Broadway show Hamilton, then replied "I don't like jokes like that, Bill," after which Clinton delivered the punch line that CPT stood for "cautious politician time." This skit was widely criticized, with The Root calling it "cringeworthy" while the conservative outlet TownHall pointed to a double standard that, "It's only racist if Republicans do it."[15] In response, President Barack Obama, during the 2016 White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 30, jokingly apologized for being late because of "running on C.P.T." adding that this stands for "jokes white people should not make".[16]

In February 2018, Roy Wood Jr. presented a segment on The Daily Show called "CP Time" to celebrate Black History Month by "honoring the unsung heroes of black history". It has since become a recurring segment on the show.[17]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Baratunde Thurston (2010-02-23). "Black History Month: An Explanation of CP Time by Your Very Delayed Guest Book Editor". HuffPost. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  2. ^ Nikki Lynette (2009-12-03). ""CP Time": Does my Black race indicate I'll always be late? | Becoming Nikki Lynette". Chicagonow.com. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  3. ^ "A Geography of Time". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  4. ^ "Valerie June On Learning To Love 'Perfectly Imperfect' Voices : The Record". NPR. 2013-08-09. Retrieved 2013-10-26.
  5. ^ Feliks Garcia. "Hillary Clinton under fire for participating in racially charged joke | Americas | News". The Independent. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  6. ^ "'Sorry, Hillary, I was running on CP time'; Backlash over NYC may". Torontosun.com. 2016-04-09. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  7. ^ Judith H. Katz, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture. "Aspects and Assumptions of Whiteness and White Culture in the United States". Retrieved 2020-07-15.
  8. ^ Adam Howard (12 April 2016). "Bill de Blasio's 'colored people's time' joke comes at a bad time". MSNBC.com. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  9. ^ T.J. Holmes (14 March 2014). "Black Stereotype: C.P. Time Is Not a Myth - The Root". The Root. Archived from the original on 22 March 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  10. ^ "Running Late? Nah, Just On 'CPT'". NPR.org. November 23, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  11. ^ "These behaviors are more commonly associated with the monochronic world view". www2.pacific.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-15.
  12. ^ Lee, Leslie (1983), Colored People's Time, Samuel French, ISBN 0-573-61894-1
  13. ^ King, J. L. (2007), CP Time: Why Some People Are Always Late
  14. ^ a b Oates, Stephen B. (1982). Let the Trumpet Sound: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr (paperback ed.). Payback Press. ISBN 9780862418373.
  15. ^ "Hillary Clinton, Bill de Blasio criticized for race-based joke". CBS News. 11 April 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
  16. ^ President Obama COMPLETE REMARKS at 2016 White House Correspondents' Dinner. C-SPAN. April 30, 2016. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21 – via YouTube.
  17. ^ The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (28 December 2018). "CP Time with Roy Wood Jr. - 2018 Episodes". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
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