Colored People's Time

Colored People's Time

Colored People's Time, CP Time, or CPT, is an American expression referring to a stereotype of African Americans and Hispanics as frequently being late.

In media

The phrase has been referenced numerous times in various types of media, including the films Bamboozled, Undercover Brother, Let's Do It Again (1975 film), House Party (film) and the television series' The Boondocks, The Wire, Where My Dogs At?, Reno 911, 30 Rock, Everybody Hates Chris, The PJs, Bridezillas, Mad TV and Cedric the Entertainer Presents and reality series' The Real Housewives of Atlanta. There was also a 1960s public interest program produced by Detroit Public Television with the name Colored People's Time, as well as a 1980s play written by Leslie Lee which consisted of 13 vignettes of African American history from the Civil War through the Montgomery bus riots. (ISBN 0-573-61894-1). In The Wire S03E08, when a girl asked Marlo Stanfield when he wants to meet, Marlo responded, "Five. And five mean five. I don't truck CP time. Five and change; I'm gone." There was also a mention of "CPT" in the television series "Prison Break" by the character Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell.

In literature

The phrase may be found in the following literary texts:

  • Langston Hughes's poem "Dancer" in Montage of a Dream Deferred: "Even a great dancer can't C.P.T. a show."
  • Toni Morrison's novel Jazz: "CPT! Surprise me for once, Joe Trace." - Sheila says, commenting on Joe's late arrival.
  • Nella Larsen's novel "Passing".

See also


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Colored People's Time — noun The supposed habit of black people of frequently being late, conceived of as a time zone. “Colored Peoples Time,” King said with a grin. “It always takes us longer to get where were going.” Syn: black peoples time, CPT, CP Time …   Wiktionary

  • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People — Abbreviation NAACP …   Wikipedia

  • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama — NAACP v. Alabama Supreme Court of the United States Argued January 15–16, 1958 Decided June 30, 1958 …   Wikipedia

  • Colored — This article is about a term used for black people like African Americans. For the term used to describe an ethnic group in Southern Africa see Coloured. For other uses see Color (disambiguation). For the dc Talk song, see Colored People (song).… …   Wikipedia

  • Colored Music Settlement School — Music of United States of America Timeline General topics Education · History Genres Classical  …   Wikipedia

  • Colored American — The Colored American was an African American newspaper that was launched in 1836 by Samuel Cornish, Phillip Bell, and Charles Bennett Ray. It was a weekly running newspaper whose length was between four to six pages long. The Colored American… …   Wikipedia

  • people — peopleless, adj. peopler, n. /pee peuhl/, n., pl. peoples for 4, v., peopled, peopling. n. 1. persons indefinitely or collectively; persons in general: to find it easy to talk to people; What will people think? 2. persons, whether men, women, or… …   Universalium

  • Colored Farmers' National Alliance and Cooperative Union — was formed in the 1880s in the USA, when both black and white farmers faced great difficulties due to the rising price of farming and the decreasing profits which were coming from farming. At this time the Southern Farmers alliance which was… …   Wikipedia

  • People of the United States of America — This page is about US people. For other uses see American people This article deals with the various populations inhabiting the United States of America that includes over 120 groups often divided into the the indigenous tribal groups,… …   Wikipedia

  • Time-lapse — [ frame|right|The flower of a geranium opening over a period of about two hours. Consecutive frames are 7 minutes apart.] Time lapse photography is a cinematography technique whereby each film frame is captured at a rate much slower than it will… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”