What is wrong with the word "negro"?

Here is a risky question indeed. From wikipedia: The word “Negro” is used in the English-speaking world to refer to a person of black ancestry or appearance, whether of African descent or not.
I am absolutely sure that in Eastern Europe 'Negro' is still a well accepted term for blacks, so I am curious what happened elsewhere? What is your point of view?
Why being a negro in the USA is so offensive and politically incorrect.

 

It's only considered offensive because its old. "N1gger" was always the racial epithet. "Negro" was just what you called the ethnicity of black Americans. No offense was intended.

 

Eastern European languages have their own words for "black" people.

 

Perhaps it's how the word is used. I am not versed in anthropology but it seems a technical descriptor to me. Caucasian is a descriptor for people like me - Anglo-Irish white, blue eyes, blond hair when I had hair. I'm Caucasian. But I'd prefer to be called a white bloke.

Perhaps Negro is considered offensive, as has been pointed out, due to its antecedents. It seems that some Americans had trouble with the pronunciation, historically, I mean, and it was corrupted into "Niggra". That may have been deliberate, dunno. After all if you use slaves, the majority of whom were from those areas of Africa which were populated by Negroid peoples, then you couldn't really afford them any sense of humanness. They had to be "other" so they were referred to by their racial appearance or origin. Not really people, they could be objectified and the language used to address them as individuals would leave out any sense of personhood.

Emancipation wasn't a true admission of personhood for the ex-slaves. A lot of people were still upset that they lost the economic advantage that slavery gives an agricultural economy.They might be free from slavery but they were still Niggras.

So, yes, you can describe someone as Negroid but it's sort of fallen out of favour.

From Wikipedia:

The point is why use it outside of scientific circles? As the extract points out, it has a history. There are other words which you can use. Use them. I mean we don't call farmers peasants any longer do we? How would it be if I referred to the majority of the population of the mid-western states as "inhabited largely by peasants". Not the best terminology so I would use "farmers" instead.

 

i don't know??? it's still in use,for example, I just made a donation to the United Negro College fund, I think it comes from the spanish word for black and i think they still use it.

I think it upsets people somewhat because of things like this

 

If you don't mind sounding like you are 80 years old, I suppose Negro is acceptable.

 

The term has racist connotations.

 

To be sure, there's a lot of hypersensitivity to such words going around right now. But then, why not just use "black" instead? That seems to be a common and mostly accepted label.

 

In all honesty I hate saying that word. It has the same bad effect on me whenever I say it.

To me, whenever i say it, or even African American, or ebon skin, I have a hard time saying it.

Because no matter how hard I try it just sounds bad to me. No matter what context either.

 

The term you refer to is the spanish language word for black.

 

There's nothing wrong with the word. It's just outdated.

 

Oh please, MLK used it all the time. Nothing is wrong with the word, times change is all.

 

In French, the word is about the same and to my ears it's an attack words.

 

I am specifically referring to the English language.

 

nothing wrong with the word, but it might offend some people so I do not use it

 

The offence isn't in the word, it's in the context and intent when it is used. It's like a gun being used to kill an innocent person - it doesn't make the gun bad, it's just a tool being misused.

The problem you're dancing around has nothing to do with linguistics or etymology and everything to do with the long-running disaster that is US racial politics. The only real question is whether you're being innocently ignorant or wilfully contributing to that disaster.

 

I lose track what the propper PC term is for Americans who label themselves "currently" as African Americans.

 

There's nothing wrong with any word, in private conversation. As long as two people know what each other are talking about, then the purpose of communication has been served, and the particular choice of words is largely irrelevant.

In public it's a different story, because everyone has a different perception of what words mean. If you say "negro" to the wrong person, it might result in an argument, even violence. It's not "exactly" hate speech, but it comes very close to incitement in some cases (depending on how it's used and it what context and etc).

So, while it may be "technically correct" as a scientific and English-language description, the meaning is more than just that, and.... let's just say it this way... there are better choices of words, better ways to turn a phrase, better ways to communicate.

 

negro is just the latin word for black

 

But what do Negroid people from Africa call themselves? African Africans?

Why I ask this is, we had a 23 year old Australian university student live with us for three months here in Vientiane. Nothing unusual you say? She was born in the Congo, spent six years in a Zimbabwe refugee camp, then made her way to Australia with her parents as a refugee. Now an Australian citizen.

A charming and very bright young lady. I asked her how she identifies herself racially. Racially she calls herself African, occasionally she'll call herself black but more as a figure of speech. She also identifies herself as Australian. She once said to me "I'm just a naïve black girl". I never heard her use the word Negro.

 

Negro became offensive when "Black" became the new politically, correct term approved by blacks. "Black" is now slowly and surely becoming offensive as the new approved term is "African-American".

 

The reason why this happens is because the usual racist idiots constantly use these terms to insult and berate and put down all aniumals.

Such as the usual asinine:

Because some blacks act like animals then they msut all be animals.

so on and so forth.

 

I am tired of trying to keep up with the politically correct terminology that keeps trying to run away from the definition that words need.

Isn't the current term something like "people of color"?

Sorry, but things are just getting a bit too vague to be of any use. If I say "Look at the jugs on that person of color over there!" and you've got a mexican chick and a black chick over where I'm pointing, the chick with the nicest jugs might be the one I am referring to, but it's not as precise as saying "Look at the jugs on that negro chick!". Then you know precisely which girl I'm referring to.

 

Minor correction to my last post: It should say to put them all down as animals.

Sorry about that.

 

African-American is definitely PC, however "black" is still an acceptable middle ground afaik. Blacks commonly refer to themselves as "blacks", it's really only the ultra-leftie protester types who bother with the hyphens.