I’ve noticed that on old shows like Dragnet that blacks are refered to as “Negros”. If someone were to use that term today, would it be considered a racist term?
I think it is intent, not spelling, that make something racist. Just because a word is spelled N-E-G-R-O does not mean that its use is always racist (for example, the use of the word in this discussion is not racist). Even if you call someone a Negro, it is only racist if you mean it to be derogatory. Calling someone a “beautiful princess” can be a sexist term if you meant it to be derogatory. Calling someone a “beautiful princess” can even be a racist term if you wish it to be (although odds are no one would understand it until you explained it to them).
So, is Negro a racist term? Sometimes, but never when I say it.
Dragnet aside, if I, personally, heard that word, it would hit me like you threw a drink in my face. And I’m white. So yes - I would consider tha word racist. Absolutely.
Good gravy, people, “Negro,” is NOT a racist term! It’s the equivalent of calling a white person Caucasian. In fact, in the 1960s, it was the preferred usage when referring to black people, and it was lower-case “black” that was thought to be racist.
Of course, other terms that were used in polite society to refer to blacks have fallen into disrepute. “Colored people” was a term used by decent people to refer to blacks 100 years ago, when the alternatives were “darkie,” “shine,” “coon,” or That Other Word.
I really don’t care for "African American be cause a )it’s America-centric, and B)because it is imprecise. Black people may be descended from Africa, but not all black people are American. Calling Bob Marley (Jamaica), Lenny Henry (the UK), or the guys in Milli Vanilli (Germany) African-American is ridiculous. In addition, it leaves out white people who live in Africa. The sales manager at my workplace is an emigrant from South Africa, so she is an actual person from Africa who lives in America. But, since she is a blue-eyed blonde, nobody would automatically refer to her as African-American, but they would use that term to refer to a guy whose last African ancestor came here in the 1700s. That makes no sense.
In addition, how far back do we extend it? After all, go back far enough and all of humanity comes from Africa.
Frankly, I would appreciate it if the Secret Elders of Black People in America would give the rest of a us a term that they, in the aggregate, would like to be called to differentiate them from other ethnicities. It is annoying for black people to change the official word every few years just to amuse themselves to see white people with good intentions walk on eggshells in order not to offend. In the last ten years, the preferred term has gone from Black to People of Color to African American. It’s like a teenaged girl and hairstyles–pick one and stick with it, wouldja?
It is not racist so much as not popularly accepted. Negro was the principle word used in the print media to identify the descendents of slaves in the U.S. from the early 20th century to the late 1960s. Colored was also used–without being pejorative–throughout that period, but it took on negative connotations in the black community because most of the public references to Jim Crow laws used the word colored.
In the late 1960s, a number of people in the black community noted that newspapers referred to the majority as white with a lower-case w while referring to blacks as Negro with a capital N. The argument was put forth that such a difference in terminology created an impediment to equal acceptance. There was discussion as to whether Negro should be set aside in favor of Afro-American, African-American, persons of color, or black. The word black won on the grounds that it was most like white in form and usage. I’m hoping that gobear’s little rant was done tongue-in-cheek, as there has never been a serious movement within the black community for people of color (scattered individuals may have liked it, but it never gained popular support throughout the community) and Jesse Jackson’s African-American was an attempt to address a different issue some 25 years after black was chosen. The acceptance of African-American by the U.S. news media and their promulgation of that term has more to do with their issues than it does with the choices or views of the black community–which has steadfastly demonstrated a preference for black for over 30 years.
There is nothing inherently racist in using the word Negro, although it will probably raise questions in the minds of one’s audience as to why one is using an “outdated” term with some thinking that one is trying to make some obscure point. As Dooku demonstrates, since it is no longer in general use, it is an odd affectation that will cause people to question one’s intent.
Words aren’t racist; racists are racist.
But unless you happen to be making a check out to the United Negro College Fund, I’d stick with “black.” 
I hope it is not after all I like my coffe bien negro (it’s the spanish word for black) 
Well, of course, it was tongue-in-cheek–I thought the humor was sufficently obvious.
The humor was obvious, but I had a long night and I’m thinking fuzzily.
Let’s get this straight: “people of color” is in use, but it refers to all non-white Americans, not just blacks.
What to do about Montenegro?
I have descendants from Germany and I am white. Does that make me German-American?
No. If your descendants are from Germany, they are American-Germans.
If nothing else, I think the difficulties with the language indicated in gobear’s post reveal the fact that identifying by race and ethnicity ought to be on its way out. People continuing to identify themselves by who their ancestors were should probably phase itself out over time in deference to a greater appreciation for individualism. If you can’t even pick a word that accurately describes a community, then is there really community at all, or is it the word alone that arbitrarily creates one?
Anyways, I did encounter alot of use of the word Negro in my studies at the university. My specialty is history of the antebellum South, and works regarding slavery in that era almost universally referred to “Negro slavery.” Most of those works were written in the 1960’s, but I suspect the word is still ok in that field. African-American doesn’t really work in describing slaves, because they weren’t actually considered American citizens. “Black” doesn’t work because it confuses the issue, as slavetraders would “grade” slaves along a scale using terms referring to skin color (darker skin was presumed to indicate a better field laborer, for instance.) Neither colour nor geographic ancestry is a suitable description in that context, so perhaps that facilitated the acceptance of Negro in scholarship on the issue.
So, I’d say that in academic situations in which race/ethnicity must be identified, I see nothing wrong with Negro if it is the only term that can accurately describe the group of people. It’s never struck me as racist, just archaic. That said, I doubt that usage of the word would go over too well in a mixed crowd, if you get my drift.
I’m gonna disagree with some of the remarks above. “Racism” may be in the intent, but a word is “racist” if the people who hear it think it is.
Sometimes the terms used simply illustrate the education or ignorance of the user with no will intended. Or their age or culture, etc.
Don’t know if I believe that explanation. Ebony, one of the two leading magazines for black Americans, consistently capitalized Negro and Black in the 1960s, and lower-cased white. The last time I checked (two minutes ago), they were still capitalizing Black.
Look people, saying “nigger” isnt going to harm anybody. We all know that’s not your intent.
True indeed. I continue to hope that within my lifetime people will stop caring about where there ancestors came from and just focus on the fact that we are all Americans.
On a side not, I was watching some stand up comedy last night and the lady on stage was discussing this very issue. She commented on how even the word “black” is considered unacceptable by some and how her friend was at a bar and ordered an “African-American Russian” just to avoid using the word “black.” 
“Segregation is that which is forced upon inferiors by superiors. Separation is done voluntarily by two equals… The Negro schools in the Negro community are controlled by whites,… the economy of the Negro community is controlled by whites. And since the Negro… community is controlled or regulated by outsiders, it is a segregated community…”
– Malcolm X, 1963
“We have been repeatedly faced with the cruel irony of watching Negro and white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has been unable to seat them together in the same schools.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967
I always say “of-colored people”.