If the word "negro" is so bad, why is this web site online?

[zulchzulu]

http://www.uncf.org/

That's right. It's the web site for the very good United Negro College Fund.

I haven't heard Bill Bennett or any of the other Repig asshats going after the UNCF for their "racist" use of the word "negro".

Let us remember Bill Bennett's lovely little lilt regarding "black babies":

..."far-reaching, extensive extrapolations" by declaring that if "you wanted to reduce crime ... if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." Bennett conceded that aborting all African-American babies "would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do," then added again, "but the crime rate would go down."

http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200509280006

:crazy:

[babylonsister]

1. Very good point. And it's not 'so bad' imo, just outdated. As

usual, the gop is making mountains out of molehills and "the media" is carrying their water, also as usual.

[Captain Hilts]

2. Exactly. Dated? Yes. Bad? No. nt

[hlthe2b]

3. Language changes... Even UNCF is going by their acronym now

My grandmother throughout her 98 years referred to "colored." While it was embarrassing to her grandchildren in her later years, that was a term that had always been acceptable to her and there was no changing her. While I argue that "negro" should not be on the census, it is this phenomenon (older people tending to embrace terms from their youth) that led them to the decision to include it.

The problem with language changes is that they are incremental over time...

[rurallib]

4. I have wondered why the NAACP still has'Colored' in their title

My guess is that their group is not limited only to AAs but all non-white citizens.

[hlthe2b]

5. Persons of color, I assume..

which is acceptable today, though my ;ate grandmother's use of "coloreds" would be cringe-inducing.

[Kahuna]

6. When I was growing up in the 50s and 60s, if you called someone "black,"

you would get cut...immediately. Then in the 70s, it became acceptable, especially after James Brown sang a song about it. So, all this nonsense about what to call black folks is rediculous, IMHO. Just don't call me the "N" word.

[mwooldri]

7. what, I can't call you "Nice" ?

There, I said the "N" word.

:)

Mark.

[Kahuna]

11. Ha ha ha!

:pals:

[asjr]

9. I've kept my thoughts to myself throughout

the Sen. Reid "fiasco." I have lived long enough to have heard Negro, Colored, even the N word which was uttered because some people, believe it or not, couldn't pronouce Negro. Southerners especially. James Brown allowed us to use "black." We humans have segregated ourselves from each other. Political Correctness has been a bone of contention for ages and has pointed its finger at all of us at one time or another. It does not matter whether we are black, brown, yellow, eggplant, rose, checkerboard, striped etc. We are all human. We know "all men are created equal" was a lie from the beginning because no one paid attention to it. Race has been used to indoctrinate us to believe one race is better than another. Race has been used to destroy people. RACE is now being used to tell us how to vote. All of us are better than that.

[mkultra]

16. or colored

[Kahuna]

23. When I was a kid, "colored" is what we were called and that was

acceptable at that time. We were called either black or negro. Being called black was the highest insult you could call a person. It's funny how that changed.

[mkultra]

25. language is constantly evolving

[Kahuna]

29. Correction..to the above... I meant, we were called either colored or negro. nt

[alc]

8. both sides are overreaching for their arguments

as usual when certain words cause trouble. A few weeks ago the headline was

"The word 'Negro' on 2010 census form offends some blacks"

I didn't read many (any) comments that the word is not offensive, even though I saw the article many times on many boards. I did see many people argue that people had the right to be offended and the form should be changed.

It's a WORD. At least to me WORDs are not offensive or unoffensive. The SENTENCE, CONTEXT, and USAGE are what may be offensive. Anyone trying to argue that using any word is automatically bad or okay looses the argument with me.

zulchzulu: Thanks for posting this. That usage hadn't occurred to me now or in the census discussions.

[Kahuna]

12. Maddow had on that black Princeton lady, her resident expert about

the census matter. I regret that I don't know here name. While Rachel was in a mild lather about it, the lady was like, who the eff cares. There are far more important issues to address than the word, "negro."

[tishaLA]

20. Melissa Harris Lacewell

(she's the one I want to have a show on MSNBC. She's also friends with my former mentor. But who'd leave a position at Princeton for cable news?)

[Kahuna]

22. Thanks. I like her a lot. She never plays into the "conventional wisdom" on

any subject.

[MadMaddie]

28. I agree with Melissa!

It's not a big deal, we should pay attention to the people that are making a big deal out of it and what their motives are. Let's say stopping the health care bill from moving forward by attempting to remove Reid.

[rasputin1952]

31. Ms. Lacewell is a joy to watch...

exceptionally intelligent and down to earth. I cannot think of a time when I disagreed w/her, (although if I searched, I'm sure I'd find something).

She is often profound, and does not stumble into idiotic situations. She is a power to contend with and I wish she had more opportunities to be on the public front. I'd love to just sit down and have a well rounded conversation with her, just talk, she seems like such a delight to be around...:D

[WI_DEM]

10. Negro isn't bad--it's just an out of date term. Many older people of color still use the term negro

[mkultra]

17. essentially, its a nonfluency which demonstrates

that the party in question has zero contact with black culture. Not enough in itself to mean they are racist, but you can bet that most armchair racists have little to no contact with black culture.

[goclark]

19. I just asked my Mom 91, how would she like to be

identified in the census, she said ~ "African American."

When I told her she would be checking the word "Negro," she said that was "outdated." : )

I agree with her.

[Number23]

13. Really piss poor point. Please just let this go.

[NatBurner]

14. it's not

it's an outdated term, but not outrageously offensive

my dad actually still uses it, and i use it facetiously all the time

he was a negro, i grew up Black, and my kiddies will be African American (when i pop some out)

i wonder if asians get in a lather over being called oriental?

[Ter]

15. A little off-topic,

But I think "black" is here to stay. We have been introduced to the term "AA" for nearly 20 years now, and "black" is still majority used.

[mkultra]

18. rugs are oriental, people are asian.

[Bucky]

32. But Asian is such a useless term if you want it to describe someone's ethnicity.

This is what Asians look like:




So if you see someone who looks like this, you can probably go "Ayup, that's an Asian."

[mkultra]

34. you are correct, it is very general

as general as oriental, but accurate instead.

[Mimosa]

21. Negro is Spanish for black

So what are black people from Spanish speaking countries supposed to call themselves?

[mkultra]

24. different word spelled teh same

the spanish word is pronounced negrO while the american word is prounounced kneegro.

Besides, reid was speaking english.

[Mimosa]

26. I was thinking mainly of the 2010 census...

However when I was a kid 'negro' was the polite and proper word for describing black people, very few of whom are black. The 'black and proud' movement didn't start till the late 60s.

[Bucky]

30. Are you *sure* it's a different word? Why would English speakers start using that word?

The etymology runs back to the 15th century in the earliest days of the Portuguese slave trade. In English use, Africans were generally referred to as blacks or Moors and the word "negro" was specifically applied to someone who was enslaved.

I don't know if that distinction carried forward the two hundred years to the first slaves sold in Virginia by a passing Portuguese trader or if by then "Negro" had come to mean all Africans, since what few who ever came to English attention in the intervening years were most likely to be slaves anyway.

This looks like a job for the OED.

[mkultra]

33. perhaps it is, fact remains, Reid wasnt speaking spanish.

or Latin for that matter. Negro is not in common use in the modern vernacular.

[apocalypsehow]

27. Good point. Rec. n/t.

[levander]

35. It's bad because some people got nothing better to do...

And, they need something to get angry about. They don't have enough drama in their own life.

[uponit7771]

36. Older blacks use the term, Reid just has excellent health care