# Is the word "Negro" offensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 21, 2004, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940 "2004-11-21T11:24:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/1 "2004-11-21T11:24:03Z")
And if so, why? Is it because this term is outdated? I told my wife that while we don’t usually say it today, it isn’t really offensive in meaning. Am I right? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/2 "2004-11-21T12:13:25Z")
I think that it would depend on the context and who says it. In casual use, something like “…sounds like an old Negro spiritual…” probably wouldn’t be considered offensive, but “…I was talking to a Negro man yesterday…” would likely not be appropriate. Yes, it’s outdated, and it probably has something to do with the fact that a derivative of the word is highly offensive. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/3 "2004-11-21T12:16:42Z")
Like many words, it isn’t _in itself_ offensive - but it has deep-rooted unpleasant and divisive associations. Rather like Oriental, Paki, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/4 "2004-11-21T13:09:36Z")
> [@An Arky](#): > > Yes, it’s outdated, and it probably has something to do with the fact that a derivative of the word is highly offensive. Is Nigger derived from Negro? Forgive my ignorance. I thought the word “nigger” meant “lazy person” and was separate from “Negro”. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/5 "2004-11-21T13:44:38Z")
[Wordorigins](http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorn.htm#Nigger) says that the two terms share a common root - the latin word for black (niger). The term Negro goes back to 1555, but nigger only makes an appearence in 1786. ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/6 "2004-11-21T13:58:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Is the word “Negro” offensive? Is the word “Blanco” offensive? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/7 "2004-11-21T14:07:56Z")
> [@PaulFitzroy](#): > > Is the word “Blanco” offensive? > > :mad: Has anyone ever called someone a Blanco, with the intent of separating them out as a separate class of human? ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/8 "2004-11-21T14:11:44Z")
Hell, man, what ethnic/national/racial/religious/group identity term DOESN’T separate people into seperate segments of humans? The whole point of referring to someone as a Russian, Jew, a Hispanic or a Freemason is to distinguish them from other people who don’t share that classification. I was just joking about the Blanco thing, at any rate. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/9 "2004-11-21T14:12:51Z")
> [@PaulFitzroy](#): > > Hell, man, what ethnic/national/racial/religious/group identity term DOESN’T separate people into seperate segments of humans? The whole point of referring to someone as a Russian, Jew, a Hispanic or a Freemason is to distinguish them from other people who don’t share that classification. > > I was just joking about the Blanco thing, at any rate. Separate segments and separate classes are two different things. And forgive my failure to realize it was a joke. ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/10 "2004-11-21T14:13:36Z")
It becomes offensive when someone subs in the term “Negro” or “Mexican” when “guy” or “lady” would be equally appropriate. As in, “could someone give that Mexican over there a hand?” instead of “could someone give that gentleman over there a hand?” ---
**Author:** ![JoeSki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b487fb/32.png) [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/11 "2004-11-21T14:26:32Z")
Alright, would the it be offensive if this context: “So Dan, james and Jessie all went to a rock concert yesterday. I called to see if you wanted to come, but you weren’t home. In any case Jessie stiffed me on the gas money she promised on the way back.” “Hmm…that sucks…tell, who is James again?” “James is the negro, wears glasses.” Now, I think most people wouldn’t find the term “black guy” offensive. Would it ae acceptable to replace “black guy” with “negro”? ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/12 "2004-11-21T14:34:39Z")
I think that, in that example, the issue is that the term is waaaaay out of date and sounds strange. People can’t imagine why you’d use it, have only heard it used in movies about Southern racism, ergo… bad connection. That’s the legitimate opinion of this 20-something, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/13 "2004-11-21T16:27:22Z")
It’s still [The United Negro College Fund](http://www.uncf.org/). Martin Luther King, Jr., _I Have a Dream_: > [@](#): > > One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. Malcolm X, _God’s Judgement of White America_: > [@](#): > > The white liberal differs from the white conservative only in one way: the liberal is more deceitful than the conservative. The liberal is more hypocritical than the conservative. Both want power, but the white liberal is the one who has perfected the art of posing as the Negro’s friend and benefactor; and by winning the friendship, allegiance, and support of the Negro, the white liberal is able to use the Negro as a pawn or tool in this political “football game” that is constantly raging between the white liberals and white conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![smartini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/22d042/32.png) [@smartini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smartini)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/14 "2004-11-21T16:32:12Z")
I’m not black so it seems to me that it matters less how I feel about the word than those it has been used to decribe. I’ve always thought most black people don’t care for it in common usage and that’s good enough for me. Why use a word that has the potential to hurt someone else? Or make them uncomfortable? Too many words available to most of us for that to fly. IMHO, YMMV and all that… ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/15 "2004-11-21T16:48:28Z")
Everything depends on context and attitude, obviously, but I’d imagine most black people would be more amazed, saddened or bemused someone still used “Negro” as a contemporary racial descriptor than actually offended by the term. Also people over 80 get a free pass from me with this sort of thing. Even though they no doubt came of age when the descriptors began to change, you never know what decade a stroke will have you living in. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/16 "2004-11-21T16:51:08Z")
Maya Angelou: > [@](#): > > The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerence. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors. . . Bill Cosby: > [@](#): > > If a white man falls off a chair drunk, it’s just a drunk.If a Negro does, it’s the whole damn Negro race. James Baldwin: [quoteIt is only in his music, which Americans are able to admire because a protective sentimentality limits their understanding of it, that the Negro in America has been able to tell his story.[/quote] ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/17 "2004-11-21T17:11:22Z")
I think **Askia** has it. The term itself was once considered the polite one to use…but that was decades ago. Some people might, upon hearing the word “Negro” in conversation, wonder if the speaker’s ideas about race relations are also decades behind the times. This is a situation best avoided…unless one actually _does_ believe that some of “those people” are perfectly nice and nothing against them, but that’s no reason to go integrating the schools or anything. I think there’s also the possibility that listeners might mistake the now-uncommon word “Negro” for the similar-sounding _other_ “n-word”, which is unfortunately not quite as uncommon. This is a situation it would be even better to avoid. For the most part though, I think"Negro" is just horribly dated. Even if no offense is taken by anyone, using it in normal conversation is going to make you sound rather like Mr. Burns demanding that the post office deliver his letter to the Prussian consulate in Siam by autogyro. Of course, if you’re speaking _Spanish_ then that’s a whole 'nuther ball game. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/18 "2004-11-21T17:17:10Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Martin Luther King, Jr., … > Malcolm X… Quoting two guys with 75 years of coffin-life between them hardly is a good way to argue that it’s not an outdated term. ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/19 "2004-11-21T17:38:30Z")
Talk about dated…I recall one farm-boy on my rugby team remarking that he had a “colored stepfather.” That got a laugh from everyone around, but the guy in question didn’t see what was funny about it. That was just the way he talked… ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940/20 "2004-11-21T17:56:47Z")
> [@JoeSki](#): > > Alright, would the it be offensive if this context: > > “So Dan, james and Jessie all went to a rock concert yesterday. I called to see if you wanted to come, but you weren’t home. In any case Jessie stiffed me on the gas money she promised on the way back.” > > “Hmm…that sucks…tell, who is James again?” > > “James is the negro, wears glasses.” > > Now, I think most people wouldn’t find the term “black guy” offensive. Would it ae acceptable to replace “black guy” with “negro”? If you were filling up a car that had a carburetor and a distributor and points, and the gas cost 39.9 cents, and they washed your window and checked your oil, then it probably would not be offensive. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-negro-offensive/275940.md?page=2)