# Is "Negro" a racist term? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 21, 2002, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072 "2002-07-21T07:31:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/61 "2014-11-07T18:37:17Z")
> [@Hayduke\_Lives](#): > > 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? If it is, I know a whole lot of Spanish speakers who are in for a world of trouble. They better come up with a new way to describe the color _black_. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/62 "2014-11-07T18:49:23Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > If it is, I know a whole lot of Spanish speakers who are in for a world of trouble. They better come up with a new way to describe the color _black_. While the origin of the English term is the Spanish word, they do not quite have the same meaning (one would not describe a black dress as being negro, in English) and do not have the same pronunciation. They’re related words, but different ones. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/63 "2014-11-07T18:55:49Z")
If “African-American” becomes unacceptable some day, what word should it be replaced with? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/64 "2014-11-07T19:12:52Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > If “African-American” becomes unacceptable some day, what word should it be replaced with? If that ever becomes the case, the ‘replacement’ terms will already be in wide use. That’s how language changes over time – some terms become archaic, but if some descriptor is still needed by the language, another term will have taken its place. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/65 "2014-11-07T19:27:08Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > If it is, I know a whole lot of Spanish speakers who are in for a world of trouble. They better come up with a new way to describe the color _black_. Actually, when I was a kid, a lot of the Puerto Ricans I knew referred to African-Americans not as “los negros” (the blacks) but as “los morenos” (the browns). ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/66 "2014-11-07T19:33:16Z")
Interestingly, we have a park nearby where I live named [Negro Bar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Natoma): _Lake Natoma includes the historic Negro Bar area in Folsom, the site of a gold rush era African-American mining camp._ However, down-river there is an area formerly known as Goethe Park (still called that by many out of habit), which was renamed to [River Bend Park](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_River_Parkway)in 2008. This park was named after [C.W. Goethe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Goethe): _Charles M. Goethe (1875–1966) was an American eugenicist, entrepreneur, land developer, philanthropist, conservationist, founder of the Eugenics Society of Northern California, and a native and lifelong resident of Sacramento, California._ Seems odd to rename the one park named after someone considered racist, but still accept what some would today consider a racist term for the name of another, nearby park. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/67 "2014-11-07T19:34:18Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > But in the Eighties, “people of color” was, for a few years, one of the preferred, progressive terms. I remember that Berke Breathed of “Bloom County” fame, had some hilarious strips in which Steve Dallas tried unsuccessfully to convince his white trash Mom that there was a huge difference between “colored people” and “people of color.” There is a big difference if you believe in the thinking underlying person-first language. Not everyone does–or even when they do think person-first language accomplishes something, not everyone thinks it’s always the right sort of accomplishment–but it’s not just a made-up difference. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/68 "2014-11-07T20:11:28Z")
The Bloom County strips in question: [http://www.thecomicstrips.com/subject/The-Color-Comic-Strips-by-Bloom+County.php](http://www.thecomicstrips.com/subject/The-Color-Comic-Strips-by-Bloom+County.php) #5 Viewable Date: 1989-01-29 Pub. Date: 1989-01-29 Image Number: 86463 > [@](#): > > Don’t look now, Mr. Eternal Bachelor, but there goes a very attractive, single woman of color. > "African-American, ma … " I see we’re back fussing about labels again. Jesse Jackson now prefers “African-American.” “AFRO-American”? No, that’s a hairstyle. Is Sammy Davis, Jr. an African-American or a Jewish-American? He is a visually impaired Jewish-African-American. And Julio Iglesias is a Spanish-Speaking South-American-American? He comes from European stock, ma. … A Spanish-Speaking South-American Euro-Hispanic-American. You’ve got it. I’ve GOT it! So what am I? Un-married at 31. #8 Pub. Date: 1988-08-28 Image Number: 85999 > [@](#): > > ``` > Isn't she cute! That's the most adorable little colored girl playing outside. "Colored"? You're saying "colored people" in 1988? You know better, ma. Then why the "National Association for the Advancement of Colored People"? I don't thin negroes mind t all. DON'T say "negroes," ma! You can't say "negroes"! Can I say "United Negro College Fund"? YOU ARE BAITING ME, MA! That's it. We're leaving. Stay put, Reginald. "Mister Socially Sensitive" isn't though shaming his parents into enlightenment. Everybody just calm down. Let's agree to use the new-age term "people of color." Vegetarian Chef. People of color. People of color. Colored people. NO!! We're leaving. > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/69 "2014-11-07T20:41:39Z")
Is it just me, or is “people of color” making a huge comeback right now? I hear it all the time. I hope it goes away soon, because it strikes me as a really awkward and stilted phrasing. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/70 "2014-11-07T20:46:49Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Is it just me, or is “people of color” making a huge comeback right now? I hear it all the time. I hope it goes away soon, because it strikes me as a really awkward and stilted phrasing. I don’t think person-first language ever really went away in academic writing. I could be wrong about that, but it’s my impression that it never went away. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/71 "2014-11-07T20:52:24Z")
People of color is a term like LGBT that attempts to encompass a bunch of different groups under one umbrella. People of color does not mean African-Americans, or even black people. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/72 "2014-11-07T22:56:16Z")
People of color, of course, means “non white” without putting an emphasis on whiteness as a characteristic. When the “people of color” issue came up in discussions, I always figured that it would be better to call white folks “colorless.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/73 "2014-11-07T23:35:55Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > People of color is a term like LGBT that attempts to encompass a bunch of different groups under one umbrella. People of color does not mean African-Americans, or even black people. And it’s not even really about skin color. There are many, many “people of color” who are lighter skinned than many Europeans. Is a Japanese person a “person of color”? I think the best definition of that term would be: people who are perceived in the US as being not of mostly European heritage. But even that doesn’t really work, since the current [head of the NAACP](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Jealous) is 80% of European heritage. While the “one drop rule” is no longer in effect, perhaps we have the “few drops rule” now. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/74 "2014-11-07T23:39:05Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > But even that doesn’t really work, since the current [head of the NAACP](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Jealous) is 80% of European heritage. Former head. The new President/CEO is [Cornell William Brooks](http://www.latinpost.com/articles/12800/20140517/naacp-selects-cornell-william-brooks-as-new-president-and-ceo-pastor-and-activist-chosen-by-overwhelming-majority.htm). ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/75 "2014-11-08T00:17:19Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Former head. The new President/CEO is [Cornell William Brooks](http://www.latinpost.com/articles/12800/20140517/naacp-selects-cornell-william-brooks-as-new-president-and-ceo-pastor-and-activist-chosen-by-overwhelming-majority.htm). Thanks. My info is outdated! He’s still black, though, right? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/76 "2014-11-08T09:12:19Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Seems odd to rename the one park named after someone considered racist, but still accept what some would today consider a racist term for the name of another, nearby park. Not at all. It’s the difference between ceasing to honor someone dishonorable, and catering to mere linguistic presentism. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/77 "2014-11-10T13:18:14Z")
From my discussion with my “black friends” ™, it seems like the term Negro has passed though the “antiquated but tolerable if you’re over 70” stage and into the “no” stage. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/78 "2014-11-10T17:21:41Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > “los morenos” (the browns). Tanned ones, literally, and in origin said as a joke . The brown ones would be _los marrones_. ---
**Author:** ![SDarbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@SDarbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SDarbo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2014, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/79 "2014-11-16T07:27:25Z")
I think colored, negro, and even darkie have had turns at being the non-pejorative word for black. Darky as an acceptable non-pejorative word was among pre-civil war abolitionists. [QUOTE=Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.] n., pl. dark•ies. usage: This term, though rarely used today, is perceived as patronizing, demeaning, or insulting. Its earliest uses in English show that it was a neutral, informal term, but its degree of offensiveness has increased. —n. [/QUOTE] A racist usage is one that by intent or by general understanding is about demeaning someone’s race. Dragnet wasn’t a particularly racially sensitive show but its usage of negro was intended to be a neutral,descriptive term. Using antiquated terms about race outside of period piece plays or television is to be avoided I think because it be hard to know what one’s intention in doing so would be. People caught up in time travel vortexs should likely be cut some slack until they get oriented. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072/80 "2014-11-18T08:02:57Z")
> [@SDarbo](#): > > I think colored, negro, and even darkie have had turns at being the non-pejorative word for black. Darky as an acceptable non-pejorative word was among pre-civil war abolitionists. The invalid assumption here is that just because someone was an abolitionist, they weren’t racist. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-negro-a-racist-term/120072.md?page=5)