Is the word "Negro" offensive?

In My Humble Opinion
21

Uh, thanks for the quotes, Walloon, but what’s your point? Nobody’s arguing with the fact that “Negro” used to be the polite term for black people. What years are those quotes from, anyway? (Well, I can take a guess as to the last possible years the MLK quotes and Malcolm X quotes are from. :frowning: ) Remeber, the NAACP is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. What year was it founded? 1912 or thereabouts? I can assure you that W.E.B. DuBois et. al. weren’t being ironic when they chose the name. Things change.

The reasons for “Negro” going out of date can be found in any basic American History textbook.

Certain factions within the Civil Rights Movement became increasingly militant throughout the 1960s. By the late '60s, the more militant groups like the Black Panthers were dominating the discourse. The late '60s in general were a time when huge societal changes were taking place, and old beliefs and ideas were being challenged, so a lot of what the more militant civil rights groups were calling for were adopted, at least to some extent. Some examples would be the “black is beautiful” thing, which said that black Americans shouldn’t try to conform to white standards of beauty, and the renewed interest in African history and culture. And a big part of what these groups did is discard the term “Negro,” and replace it with “Black.” Black had always been used as a descriptor for people of African heritage, but it had been considered less polite than “Negro” or other terms.

I’m sure that someone who actually lived through it could describe this much better than I, but it was kind of like they were throwing off the old language along with the old ideas and expectations. A “Negro” was a person who lived in a world where he had no power because he had sub-Saharan African heritage. A “black person” is just a person with sub-Saharan African heritage.

And that’s why, as An Arky notes, we may refer to “a Negro spiritual,” because those songs are associated with slavery times. We wouldn’t refer to Rev. Al Sharpton as “a Negro spiritual,” however. :slight_smile:

In the end, GorillaMan has it right–It is a term with “deep-rooted unpleasant and divisive associations,” so it absolutely shouldn’t be used to refer to present-day blacks. I’d imagine that most black people would find it more odd than offensive. But I’d also imagine that black people would be wary of someone under the age of 90 who used that word. Hell, I’d be wary, and I’m not even black.

22

Note the OP is posting from China and may not be familiar with Southern American pronunciation. “Negro” used to be a perfectly acceptable term (note the NAACP). In the South, some people with heavy accents naturally pronounced it “nigra.” Which sounds, unhappily, like “nigger.” There are whole books on the word “nigger,” which was widely used in the 19th century, but was never really a “nice” word and became pretty much unacceptable after the Civil War.

Though, appallingly, I haver popular songs on 78 rpm records into the 1910s still using it . . .

23

Thanks for pointing this out Eve.
Ni hao Mahaloth, if I had known you were foreign I wouldn’t have been so sarcastic (and obtuse). Wo xue shi Zhong wen.

24

Eve. By the 1960s, many, many blacks felt that the pronounciation “nigra” was a polite slur, reinforced when white Southerners spoke amongst themselves about blacks. It was Mayor E. O. Pendarvis’ repeated use of “Nigra” addressing a large group of black students at South Carolina State back in 1968 that ended a meeting in a debacle that was supposed to defuse tensions over a still-segregated bowling alley campus students wanted to use. Nothing got solved, and days later, three students were killed and dozens more wounded in the Orangeburg Massacre.

25

That’s a crucial point. Anybody using such a term to persue a one-mon crusade against political correctness is more likely find themselves thought of as ignorant, crass or bigoted.

26

Either you meant to say “United Negro College Fund,” or I have no idea what NAACP stands for.

27

The thing is, if you’re a member of a minority group, you have the right to refer yourself and your group in just about any way you please. Hence Maya Angelou and Bill Cosby referring to their ethnic group as Negro, or, to give a non-race related example, gay men referring to each other as fags or queers. But if you’re not, you need to be a damn sight more careful about the terminology you use, because as likely as not those terms have picked up negative connotations over the years.

28

Jennyrosity, I’ll leave it to Walloon to offer cites to contradict me, but I don’t believe that any of the quotes he offered up were from any time in the last 2.5-3 decades.

29

And yet it’s all in the perspective; we were just grateful when my grandparents moved on to “nigra” from their previously preferred selection. Considering that she was already in her 80s by that time, we felt that was a real achievement.

My personal take on the whole thing? Is best summed up by that classic 1988 Bloom County cartoon, which is funny even without the drawings:

Mom: That’s the most adorable little colored girl playing outside.
Steve: “Colored”? You’re saying “colored people” in 1988? You know better, Ma.
Mom: Then why the "National Association for the Advancement of Colored People? I don’t think Negroes mind at all.
Steve: Don’t say “Negroes,” Ma! You can’t say “Negroes”!
Mom: Can I say “United Negro College Fund”?
Steve: You are baiting me, Ma!
Dad: That’s it. We’re leaving.
Mom: Stay put, Reginald. "Mister Socially Sensitive"isn’t finished shaming his parents into enlightenment.
Steve: Everybody just calm down. Let’s agree to use the the New-Age term “People of Color.”
Mom: People of Color.
Steve: People of Color.
Mom: Colored people.
Steve: NO!!
Dad: We’re leaving.

30

But I didn’t argue that, did I? (And what is the point of adding the years together? That doesn’t make them dead any longer.)

31

anglo, uedo/a, and gringo/a come to mind

32

It’s the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Here’s their web page.

33

IMHO, any word that lumps an individual into a category or class, has the potential to be offensive, and should be used with caution.

34

Oops, you’re right. Though I always thought it stood for “Never Antagonize Adam Clayton Powell.”

35

That’s true - you didn’t argue anything, just us some random historical quotes. Hence my not giving an entirely serious response. :rolleyes:

36

I was referring specifically to the word “Blanco” in response to a post I misunderstood. I certainly don’t argue the point that there are plenty of slurs against whites.

37

As a youngster, the terms ‘Negro’ and ‘Colored’ were perfectly acceptable, and were used without any form of prejudice in my household. My Dad grew up in South Carolina, and we visited annually. Reference to Mr. Ingram as a colored man was in a matter-of-fact manner by my parents, absent any pejorative sense. I called him Mr. Ingram as he was my elder.

38

:smiley: Touche, my friend! :smiley:

39

Though posting from China, I am from America, so my ignorance has no excuse.

I’m surprised to hear that so many people think Negro is offensive. Sounds like my wife had some good points.

40

I live in South Carolina, near Orangeburg. I’m white but I am a full time student at South Carolina State University. Some people are offended by “negro”, some people are offended by anything. If it is my intent to offend someone of that race, I prefer to call them COON, if I want to be particularly offensive, they will be a PICK-A-NINNY.