# Is using "Black" instead of "African-American" generally considered offensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 23, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046 "2014-02-23T23:48:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/41 "2014-02-24T06:41:57Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > “Colored” was the polite term for Americans with dark skin. “Negro” developed as a preferable term to “Colored” in the 1940s. “Black” replaced it as the preferable term in the 1960s. “African-American” replaced that.\* The term preferred by an individual depends a lot on when they grew up. > > \*It’s particularly accurate, though; many “African Americans” came to the US from the Caribbean, for instance. You forgot “Afro-American” before “black”. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/42 "2014-02-24T06:44:26Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > You may think this is what “African American” means. But your thought is not correct. That is what it literally means. It’s not my problem that a misleading definition was adopted (allowing correctors to one-up unwary speakers). ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/43 "2014-02-25T00:48:56Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > The point is, embrace of the term Native American is far from universal among those it’s meant to describe. How about “Native American Indian”? > [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > You forgot “Afro-American” before “black”. “Black” definitely pre-dates “Afro-American” ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/44 "2014-02-25T00:52:35Z")
It’s crazy how often this topic is discussed on this board. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/45 "2014-02-25T01:02:04Z")
Wow. Haven’t read this thread to see what other folks have said but, “1992 called and wants it’s social issue back”. Seriously, I haven’t heard of anyone really being “offended” by being called black instead of African American since the heyday of Spike Lee and Louis Farakan. In fact it would create an uncomfortable vine in the room if I referred to my black office mate as African American in a meeting. Oh, I’m military btw. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/46 "2014-02-25T02:16:17Z")
The way it was explained to me many, many years back when it first came up, it remained OK to say “black” if used as the modifier and immediately followed by …man, …woman, …people, etc. as in “educational opportunity for black people”, but not “educational opportunity for blacks”, i.e. no using “blacks” by itself as a group name. While you would be fine saying “educational opportunity for African-Americans”. But like I said, that was a long while ago and may have been someone exerting himself around trying to figure it out. > [@j666](#): > > “Black” definitely pre-dates “Afro-American” And “Negro”(\*) goes all the way back to slavery times ; at the time it _was_ the term used “in proper company” in the colonies and early US to refer to the transported Africans and their descendants. (\*a loanword from Portuguese/Spanish which means just “black”). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/47 "2014-02-25T04:04:12Z")
I use ‘black’ around blacks and ‘Indian’ around American Indians. Nobody seems to give a shit. I do get some tutting from other members of the Native Arts Council, but they’re not Indian, so fuck 'em. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/48 "2014-02-25T04:08:26Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > I’ve never known any black person who had a problem with the term black, but a couple who had a problem with being called “African American”–a Haitian, and a special snowflake who likes to think he’s “Hebrew”. You should tell him he’s a “He-bro”. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/49 "2014-02-25T06:02:49Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > What do you call an Anglo person who was born & raised in South Africa before taking up residence in the US? Someone on another board told a story about a high school that decided to have an “African American Student of the Year” award, and a blond, blue-eyed boy who had recently emigrated from Zimbabwe tossed his hat into the ring. After all, he WAS African American. The contest was cancelled. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/50 "2014-02-25T20:48:14Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I use ‘black’ around blacks and ‘Indian’ around American Indians. Nobody seems to give a shit. I do get some tutting from other members of the Native Arts Council, but they’re not Indian, so fuck 'em. “Indian” is just fine for the various USA\* Indian tribes, just don’t call the Eskimo “Indians”. which is why we use “Native American” to include both. - Some Canadians will get their panties in a bunch, but who cares?😃 ---
**Author:** ![Israel\_Goldstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c89c15/32.png) [@Israel\_Goldstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Israel_Goldstein)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/51 "2014-02-25T22:54:08Z")
I refer to what some people classify as “Black” as “Homo Sapien”. There is no such thing as race. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/52 "2014-02-26T00:21:42Z")
It’s perfectly fine to use black or “dark skinned” as a physical description of someone, without using it as a way to define a person’s race. “Who was Robert?” “He was the black guy with the red tie.” Nothing wrong with that, and calling him a “black guy” does not mean you’re buying into the idea that there are races. It’s just a quick way to describe someone. It’s a quick physical description of skin tone. You could say “He was the guy with a large amount of melanin in his skin cells, and the red tie,” if you think that effectively communicates the same idea. ---
**Author:** ![Emerald\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Emerald\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emerald_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/53 "2014-02-26T00:28:14Z")
> [@Israel\_Goldstein](#): > > I refer to what some people classify as “Black” as “Homo Sapien”. There is no such thing as race. I never understood this. Blonde people have blonde babies, hazel eyed people have hazel eyed babies, and there’s an obvious genetic basis to these differences. Suddenly with skin color we’re supposed to pretend that it’s some social construct with no actual basis in reality. I understand that there’s more genetic variation within people of the same skin color than between them. We still need some way to talk about people’s appearance though. From the Venture Brothers: > [@](#): > > JEFFERSON > Yes, I only hunt Blackulas. > > FISH CREATURE > Oh, so you only hunt African-American vampires. > > JEFFERSON > No, sometimes I hunt British vampires. They don’t have African-Americans in England. > > FISH CREATURE > Oh yeah. Yeah, good point. > > JEFFERSON > So I hunt Blackulas. > > FISH CREATURE > I was just trying to be… > > JEFFERSON > Man I specialize in hunting black vampires, I don’t what the PC name for that is. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/54 "2014-02-26T01:21:31Z")
> [@Emerald\_Hawk](#): > > II understand that there’s more genetic variation within people of the same skin color than between them. We still need some way to talk about people’s appearance though. And if it were only about appearance we wouldn’t be indulging in this thread. While there may be no such thing as race, there is certainly racism, and we need some terminology to discuss its basis. So many polite choices have gone out of favor for one reason or another, I am attracted to the decision to adopt the term that originated as an insult. But I don’t care. Just keep me informed as to what “we” are saying, 'k? ---
**Author:** ![Israel\_Goldstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c89c15/32.png) [@Israel\_Goldstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Israel_Goldstein)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/55 "2014-02-26T02:22:33Z")
> [@Emerald\_Hawk](#): > > I never understood this. Blonde people have blonde babies, hazel eyed people have hazel eyed babies, and there’s an obvious genetic basis to these differences. Suddenly with skin color we’re supposed to pretend that it’s some social construct with no actual basis in reality. The point is that we can arbitrarily create races based on any genetic trait. The human brain has identical variation in all “races”, but let us consider superficial genetic traits like height. We can create a “race” called the tall race by lumping all tall people together, or lumping all big-breasted and big-penised people together, or all people with wavy hair, or all people with a certain blood type. It just so happens that what some have done is lumped people based on their geographical origins, which is not even genetic. This is arbitrary: any criteria for “racial” groupings could have been used. So then, there really is no practical or scientific reason for creating racial categories. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/56 "2014-02-26T09:26:50Z")
I think “African-American” is a bit clunky. Why use seven syllables when one will do? It bogs down conversation, especially when used multiple times. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/57 "2014-02-26T09:58:51Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > I think “African-American” is a bit clunky. Why use seven syllables when one will do? It bogs down conversation, especially when used multiple times. It’s even worse in writing when people start abbreviating it AA. I don’t know how many times I’ve started reading something thinking it was about people with drinking problems only to find out it was about African-Americans. Please don’t use that abbreviation. Er, wait, is it about people who belong to the motor club? Or is that the senior citizen club? I get confused. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/58 "2014-02-26T13:05:41Z")
> [@Israel\_Goldstein](#): > > I refer to what some people classify as “Black” as “Homo Sapien”. There is no such thing as race. The statement that there’s no such thing as race has interested me for some time, and I tried to track it down. What I found was that there had been some effort to thoroughly lay out all the races, and that it didn’t work, because more and more races were required. I think they got to 54 races or so before they gave up. The point was that there was no such thing as a distinct set of races that covered everybody. The point wasn’t that race didn’t exist. I think it’s obvious that there are genetic tendencies and that some people have seized upon them as a basis for bigotry. If there were no such thing as race, there would also be no such thing as bigotry based on race. Some people have questioned why there is even any need to describe a person’s race. The organization I was meeting with, as described in the OP, concerns itself with things like whether the professional world gives the same opportunities to everybody – and it’s clear that the world doesn’t. If we want to ask the question why there are so few executives of a particular race and what would help bring the statistics up to par, for example, we need vocabulary to identify the race. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/59 "2014-02-26T13:40:21Z")
> [@Israel\_Goldstein](#): > > I refer to what some people classify as “Black” as “Homo Sapien”. There is no such thing as race. There is, however, such a thing as Latin singular nouns that end in s. “Sapiens” is already the singular, writing it as “sapien” is a hypercorrection - the plural of _homo sapiens_, were it needed, is _homines sapientes_. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046/60 "2014-02-26T14:58:58Z")
> [@Israel\_Goldstein](#): > > The point is that we can arbitrarily create races based on any genetic trait. The human brain has identical variation in all “races”, but let us consider superficial genetic traits like height. We can create a “race” called the tall race by lumping all tall people together, or lumping all big-breasted and big-penised people together, or all people with wavy hair, or all people with a certain blood type. It just so happens that what some have done is lumped people based on their geographical origins, which is not even genetic. This is arbitrary: any criteria for “racial” groupings could have been used. So then, there really is no practical or scientific reason for creating racial categories. Sure, it’s arbitrary. And for the last, say, 400 years, folks in one arbitrary group have used these arbitrary groupings to justify a long-term campaign of violent repression against members of the other group. Within the memories of people still alive, this campaign in the southern US consisted of organized terrorism against members of the oppressed group, in addition to deliberate and premeditated and largely successful attempts to confine members of one arbitrary group to impoverished ghettos. The groupings might be bogus, but the effect of the groupings is entirely real, and it’s disingenuous in the extreme for someone in the group that didn’t experience these centuries of organized oppression to declare that there’s no reason to look at the arbitrary groups. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-black-instead-of-african-american-generally-considered-offensive/682046.md?page=4)