US Census form for 2010 includes the word "Negro"

[Revy]

link (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2010/01/06/2010-01-06_census_negro_issue_use_of_word_on_forms_raises_ hackles_memories_of_jim_crow.html)

Alongside Black and African-American , they put "or Negro".

The only reason I could see to keep it is that it is Spanish for black.

Why would an older black person object to identifying as Black or African American in the census? That seems an odd way to justify it.

[Drace]

Negro is also the Latin word for black.

I don't think its too big of a deal but I still don't see why they made use of the word.

[Sendo]

Nothing wrong with the word...just antiquated. "Nigger" has been turned into a pejorative, but colored and Negro are just antiquated--in America at least.

The way history is taught is despicable. The dark times of race relations were 1890-1920. Right after the civil war, a Mississippi state senator could marry a black woman and get re-elected while in the 1910s Wilson introduces segregation to the federal government workplace.

The natural reaction is to assume that things steadily get better all by themselves. By that logic, many people assume a word which was neutral as opposed to "nigger" and once more popular than "black" represents racism because it's from the past. Ive heard "black" and "euphemisms" like "sketchy" in racist statements.

Compare:
"..a big, scary black man at the bar....." (why does it matter that he's black? You said he was big and scary....does the black part imply a violent element?)
vs.
"Colored people in America are under-represented in politics."

[mikelepore]

That's a minor concern compared to the census bureau's position that the human species is biologically divided into such "races" as Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, Laotian, Thai, Cambodian, and others -- not nationalities or national origins, but "races" -- and then imposing a $100 fine on anyone who doesn't select one of the official answers, and a $500 fine for giving a false answer [13 U.S. Code 7 II 221-223] There seem to be no biologists in the whole country who are willing to raise the objection that these categories are not genotypes.

[Chambered Word]

Please, excuse my ignorance, but I've never in my whole life understood the big difference between the terms 'negro', 'black' and 'African American', apart from some being older than others.

'African American' isn't always correct either, what about a black Caribbean person who happened to also be American?

What's the whole point of the PC wank over what we should call black people? If there are black people who actually take offense to being called a 'negro' or 'black' I'd like to know.

[LeninBalls]

'African American' isn't always correct either, what about a black Caribbean person who happened to also be American?.

Well seeing as Black Carribeans originated from Africa, and the Carribeans are part of the American region, African American is still the correct term.

[Yazman]

The real problem is that the US government seems to reinforce the social construct of race, something that was refuted by biology a long time ago.

[The Red Next Door]

Please, excuse my ignorance, but I've never in my whole life understood the big difference between the terms 'negro', 'black' and 'African American', apart from some being older than others.

'African American' isn't always correct either, what about a black Caribbean person who happened to also be American?

What's the whole point of the PC wank over what we should call black people? If there are black people who actually take offense to being called a 'negro' or 'black' I'd like to know.
Only those who was born after the period where Negro was accepted.

[Liberateeducate]

Malcolm X originally coined the term "African-American" at an OAAU (Organization of Afro American Unity) meeting, saying "Twenty-two million African-Americans - that's what we are - Africans who are in America."

[j4x]

Alongside Black and African-American , they put "or Negro".

The only reason I could see to keep it is that it is Spanish for black.

Why would an older black person object to identifying as Black or African American in the census? That seems an odd way to justify it.


well, older blacks were called negros long ago. thats really the only reason i could think of why they would do it, inb4 racism.

[Yazman]

Malcolm X originally coined the term "African-American" at an OAAU (Organization of Afro American Unity) meeting, saying "Twenty-two million African-Americans - that's what we are - Africans who are in America."

I always thought this was interesting, especially given I know a lot of Sudanese refugees and many of them have said that they take issue with Americans calling themselves Africans, because they felt that it marginalises them as refugees, almost like people from a rich country trying to co-opt their identity.

[Martin Blank]

Why would an older black person object to identifying as Black or African American in the census? That seems an odd way to justify it.

I've met some who do, but that's not really the point.

"Negro" was a term coined by Europeans wanting to describe their slaves from Africa. It was the master's term for his or her body servant (slave). For that reason alone it should be rejected, except in an historical context.

[Sendo]

I've met some who do, but that's not really the point.

"Negro" was a term coined by Europeans wanting to describe their slaves from Africa. It was the master's term for his or her body servant (slave). For that reason alone it should be rejected, except in an historical context.

Did they have any term for dark Africans before that? Or was racial color ignored, like in the Egyptian and Roman empires where rulers geographic or cultural origins were noted but never their races. Seriously, I'm curious.

[Luís Henrique]

"Negro" was a term coined by Europeans wanting to describe their slaves from Africa. It was the master's term for his or her body servant (slave). For that reason alone it should be rejected, except in an historical context.

Why then is it the prefered word of the Brazilian Black movement (Frente Negra Brasileira, Movimento Negro Unificado)?

Luís Henrique

[hulk_hogan]

From my experiance with the black people i have met they like the word...

[Le Libérer]

It seems a bit ironic the use of the word "Negro" in the 2010 Census', when the US has elected its first black president.

[Dimentio]

Why then is it the prefered word of the Brazilian Black movement (Frente Negra Brasileira, Movimento Negro Unificado)?

Luís Henrique

Probably because it has different connotations in English and Portuguese?

[Martin Blank]

Probably because it has different connotations in English and Portuguese?

This is exactly right. In Spanish and Portuguese, "negro" is the same as the English word, "Black", and is used similarly. But in English, "Negro" has taken on a social definition, based on its historical usage, that goes beyond merely a description of color. Prior to the Civil War, "Negro" was actually used as a category of property on a shipping manifest, alongside barrels, crates and casks. Both state and federal laws defined "Negro" as a form of property. "Black" was never used for the purpose.

[Martin Blank]

Did they have any term for dark Africans before that? Or was racial color ignored, like in the Egyptian and Roman empires where rulers geographic or cultural origins were noted but never their races. Seriously, I'm curious.

Prior to the 15th century, it was more common for Europeans to refer to Africans as Moors -- an ethno-religious category of Black Muslim North Africans, but applied across the board -- than as Black or "Negro". That mostly came out of European contact with Muslim armies over the previous millennium.

[Floyce White]

My experience is that most white folks in Texas used the local Spanish term "negro" or "negra" to refer to a black person--in contradistinction to racists who used that other word that means "lazy." Some people would mistakenly use the feminine "negra" instead of the masculine "negro," but that was ignorance and not intent to degrade. The Southwestern slang is peppered with Spanish--so is the Floridian--and both spread throughout the South. Louisiana has many French- and English-based terms for black and mixed people; those words spread too. Louisianan dialect migrates to Dallas and Houston, and is a major influence in the speech in those cities.

Among black people, the word "negro" is used mostly by people born before the Baby Boom generation.

I remember a Saturday Night Live fake commercial for "Old Negro Beer" that pretty much hit the nail on the head. You don't have to be Wanda Sykes to find humor in the fact that only old folks call themselves "negro."