I'm currently taking human geography, and my textbook said that French Polynesia is considered a colony by the UN. From my limited knowledge of French history, after world war two they had a referendum asking their colonies if they wanted to join France proper, or become independent, which is why French Guiana isn't considered a colony. So did Polynesia not get the referendum? Or did they say no to becoming part of France, but didn't go independent?
The referendum you're referring to was in 1958 and did happen in French Polynesia. They voted to adopt the French constitution and remain a French territory; there was some debate though about whether most residents understood what they were voting for. You can read about this in the November 1958 issue of Pacific Islands Monthly. It's worth noting that of the 20 territories that voted in this referendum, only Guinea voted for independence.
The next part of the story violates the 20-year rule as it happened in 2003, so I'll be brief. In 2003, the French constitution revised the structure of overseas territories and French Polynesia became an "overseas collectivity" (semi-autonomous status). So it is still part of the French Republic, which is probably where the UN designation of "colony" comes from.