I would like to know of a better way to address someone in their absence. Let me give an example: It annoys the crap out of me when people say that white girl or that black guy or that Hispanic woman. Why do we have to mention someone by the color of their skin or ethnicity? We are all human and we are the SAME people, every where. I am glad to post this query here. Hope someone can give me some ideas.

I try to avoid that using descriptives about the person being described such as job duties, hair style or something to that effect. But it seems people follow up with, "Oh, you mean the Black woman..." or something to do with the race of the person if they are not the same as the majority.

I agree with you Tony. It is a wrong way to describe a person by using race. Around here the population is mostly white, so if someone is a minority that is their lable for sure and it's just not right.

Even though I am sometimes guilty of this, I still agree. If said person is standing over there in a corner, or wearing a red shirt, then why not just say: 'that guy over there in the corner,' or 'that woman in the red shirt?' It usually isn't necessary to point someone out by their skin color, but skin color is usually the most obvious thing about someone; especially if they're in a mixed group. So, yeah.

Depends on how its being said. Skin color is the most obvious when describing someone.