Is "black" the new "negro"...

[HardWorkingDem]

Not trying to be offensive, but what is the most agreeable way to refer to black Americans? Is "black" offensive? Should it be "African-American" or not?

[jaysunb]

1. You can call me anything you want.

Just don't call me late for dinner. :rofl:

Seriously, negro is spanish/portugeese for back. So, take your pick.

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. First a post about Rachel Maddow and now this?

:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

[HardWorkingDem]

3. I'm off tonight and seeking answers...nt

why do so many DU'ers seem to be so conspiratorial...?

[Deja Q]

10. Because it's easier to get than sex.

:7

[lligrd]

4. WTF? Maybe You Shouldn't Refer To Their Race At All

Just sayin...

[wuushew]

5. bingo

well said

[Deja Q]

11. Race, gender, blah blah blahbedy blah, we're all human.

Uh-oh. So much for the joy of GDP...

[aquart]

12. "Their"? Because race is somebody else?

LOL! Yeah, don't make it an issue, because it's "THEIR" issue.

[DireStrike]

18. I know I don't. I don't even see race.

</Colbert>

[Fuzz]

37. Me neither. Apparently I'm white, because people tell me I am.

[goclark]

6. I'm African American and

that can be tricky.

Thanks for asking ~ When we are talking to each other, we use the term African American as a formal term.

When we are playing around with each other - Black or Negro can be used as a term of endearment. We may even expand on it when we are playing Basketball and hit 2 baskets in a row for example.

That's when we start "high fives" and may even "play the dozens" when we get mad with each other ~ the dozens are treading into a Don't SAY IT ZONE for those that are not AA, unless you have been given permission to say it. That is if you still wish to remain friends with the listeners.

The tricky part is what we feel that others can call us: You will never be wrong in saying, " I have a new guy in my class. He happens to be African American."

Let me know if you have additional questions. I feel it is a good thing to be sensitive to the practices of others.

I have worked for many years around Whites as well as other ethnic groups. I treasure my friendships and love my multi-cultural life.

I would be so bored if I only had African American friends. Not that we don't have fun together but life should expand our horizons not limit them.

Goclark

[HardWorkingDem]

9. Thank you for your reply...

I work in an occupation where we have to describe people all the time and lately it has made me wonder if "black" is sort of heading the way of the word "negro" and AA is becoming the preferred descriptor and if "black" is slowly growing into a sort of offensive word.

Thanks again.

[goclark]

21. Depends on who is saying it ~ but you may have a point

When we talk to each other, we generally don't say ~ "There is a new African American in my class."

We would say, "There is a Brother/Sista' in my class that is sooo fine!"

When Whites are talking to each other,it would be OK to say (instead of other words we won't mention) "There is a real nice Black guy in my class. We were studying together yesterday."

Hope that helps, but yes, African American is more 21st Century. :)

[Thurston Howell III]

19. What is "play the dozens"? Isn't it just insulting people?

Thanks.

[goclark]

20. It can be but it must be done among friends....

I say you can't shot the basketball in the hoop

Everyone laughs and waits until the other friend says something to one up me

And you keep playing back and forth like tennis.

Usually everybody laughs and is impressed with how long the game can go on.

Rarely do you hear girls do it, it is done with close friends.

[LWolf]

24. I worked for several years with a terrific woman

who preferred "colored." Her explanation to me, as best I remember it:

"I'm not African-American. My people have been here for many generations, and only some of them came from Africa. You don't call yourself British-American or German-American or even Native-American. We're all just Americans. I'm not black. I'm a warm, rich brown color, like milk chocolate. We aren't carbon copies; we don't all look the same, and we don't all think the same, either. I prefer "colored," because that's what we are. Different shades of color, but we're all obviously not white. We're the rest of the world."

That left me with "African American" for people I didn't know, but always on the lookout for personal preference, as well.

My goddaughters prefer "black." So have many other friends and colleagues.

My students carefully use "African American" in my presence. Many of them grow up with less respectful terms at home.

Will I live to see the day when we're all just people?

[goclark]

27. What a wonderful day that will be

You are so right.

I've noticed when I'm out and about, I can't tell what race a lot of people are ~ America is becoming "blended" and that is OK with me.

[LWolf]

28. Thanks for opening

this positive conversation about where we are, and where we're going.

:hi:

[tachyon]

7. It changes every 10 years or so. Well it DOES!...don't yell at me!

When I was a kid, the "n" word was common (there were variations...some ended with "ger" and some with "ra".)

Those words were -not- always used hatefully - they were part of the lingua franca of the day. Then in the 60s, someone decided "black" was the proper adjective. That decision was made by those who it described and virtually everyone acceded to it...for a decade or so. If anybody doubts this, look into the history of "black is beautiful."
That phrase didn't originate in any white supremacist's basement.

Condemning the actions of our predecessors is well and good but complaining about their -words- is nothing short of idiotic. Yes, words do have meaning...which changes. Get used to that fact because as long as words are the
medium of communication they will evolve just as their speakers do.

[RedCappedBandit]

8. Not all "black" people are African-American so.. nt.

[aquart]

13. True. Obama is half-Kenyan, not African-American.

Now that we're getting immigrants from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and all those tiny countries in Africa, we really do have a whole other mix of population with varying degrees of dark skins, but very different histories and attitudes.

Also, within our black communities here in New York, we now have African communities(?) where African ex-pats hang out together, as well as Carribbean ones. They have different tastes in food, for one thing.

[Forrest Greene]

14. B-b-but

...Kenya is in Africa & his mother was American, so why isn't Obama African-American? (This is a genuine, sincere question.) Perhaps I'm missing a reference to his life history, dissimilar to that of the majority of American Negroes / Blacks / African-Americans, so that Obama is not _culturally_ African-American?

One problem with "African-American' is that it has too many syllables. It hangs up the spoken word.

I'm "white," personally. My genetic background is British, German, French, & Canadian Native North American. But I don't mind "white," that's what I am culturally, & that's what I look like.

I can appreciate that, given the horrific history of how most Africans arrived in the Americas, & it's relative historical recentness, that naming is an important & sensitive issue. I grew up during the transition from "Negro" to "black," & I thought that worked well. Balanced "white" nicely, anyhow. But then, no one calls Asian-Americans "yellow." That sounds extremely bigoted.

There are legitimate, non-racist reasons to occasionally refer to ethnic groups as ethnic groups, & there are many non-bigots who need clear, concise, inoffensive terms to use in those cases. Please, what are we to say?

[RedCappedBandit]

15. Personally, I think the whole "white" and "black" thing is absurd.

I'm not white. I'm not black. Nobody is either. We're all brown damn it! Just different shades.. and it really doesn't matter.
I will raise my children to look past color. Hopefully society won't screw them up.

Edit: Meant to reply to the OP. Sorry.. :shrug:

[Poll_Blind]

17. I know! Agreed. n/t

PB

[aquart]

44. Oooh, you have amerindian DNA.

I always wanted to be part Cherokee.

I know I'm about 1/8 asian. They called my Grandpa Max "chinaman" behind his back. Great Grandma was a Mongol hanging out in the Caucasus. My other grandfather had to ride in the back of the bus when he was down south despite the Lithuanian accent, so who knows where his DNA came from. My freckles are from my grandmother Rose who had a family full of redheads.

But we're newbies on this continent so no Cherokee.

On edit: I got distracted by desirable genetic material and never answered your question.

An African-American is someone who can't claim a specific nation in Africa because, being descended from slaves, the origins and identities were deliberately obfuscated and blotted out. They only know for sure they came from Africa. AND THAT THEY HAVE BEEN HERE FOR FOUR HUNDRED YEARS. The Americans descended from slaves are responsible for so much of the culture and shaping of American thought in every possible area that they are uniquely entitled to their own designation. Jazz didn't come from the recent immigrants from Nigeria, Uganda, or any other nation in Africa. Neither did so many of our words, songs, fashion choices, and the general freedom we have to be different from each other.

Do you really think you can imagine an America as it would be without those people who were forced to come here? They gave us so much.

The new immigrants, the ones from the islands, and the ones from Africa have utterly different histories than our African-Americans. The ones coming over from Africa today have made a completely voluntary decision to be here. And they know who they are, who their families, tribes, nations are. They know their own history.

[Poll_Blind]

16. Different people are sensitive to different words. I use negro.

It's what Martin Luther King used in his "I have a dream" speech and also what Malcom X used. I figure I'm in pretty good company. I don't like black because most black people aren't. I don't like African-American because, damnit, they're Americans. Occasionally I'll use "brown" or "brown-skinned" to make a clearer distinction. As in "He was pulled over by the cop for the infraction of driving while brown-skinned."

I call white people "white". I think most white people would freak out if you referred to them as anything else even though they are, of course, generally pinkish in appearance.

PB

[misanthrope]

23. How about...

..."melanin-gifted" and "melanin-challenged?"

[Poll_Blind]

39. I like it but too many syllables for the way I talk. 8^) n/t

PB

[bobbolink]

26. where I grew up, "white" is "anglo", so there you have it.

:)

[Poll_Blind]

40. Ah, thank you! n/t

PB

[goclark]

29. Generally "negro" was a term used by my deceased grandfather

and he has been dead 30 years.

I certainly wouldn't try to stop you from using the term but it is not used generally between our race and other races.

Negro can get your mouth twisted trying to say it. And there are some people that I know that would not appreciate having anyone other than their best friends refer to them with that term.

Good luck!

[Poll_Blind]

41. I know what you mean- I generally don't make racial distinctions unless...

...it's somehow pertinent to the tale I'm telling. I know about that mouth thing you mention, btw. (pained smile)

PB

[lonestarnot]

22. Skin is just skin person.

[Bright Eyes]

25. Black is an adjective.

African-American is a noun. Calling someone "a black" is not just offensive, but stupid.

[RedCappedBandit]

30. Callin some darker toned people african american is stupid, too..

kind of like calling a European Hawaiian.

[Feron]

32. Gay is an adjective as well.

However in the context of talking about people it's also a noun.

I personally prefer the term black. It's not perfect by any stretch ,but I think that it's better than African-American. AA is even more imprecise than the term black (insert white African person ancedote here). To me at least AA is PC speech at its worst.

Black can be disparaging depending on the tone of voice and context it is in, however that doesn't mean that it is always offensive. AA can easily be treated the same way as the word black.

But hey if someone wants to be called AA then I'm happy to oblige.

[HardWorkingDem]

35. If you read my second reply...

you would have read I stated I'm in an occupation that deals with the description of people - so any use of a color designator would go with "man" or "woman" et cetera.

And in my occupation, we have to describe people so often it becomes a habit that is hard to shake. Which kind of stinks because when telling stories away from people in my occupation I have been asked when saying either "a white man" or "a black man", "um, what's race have to do with your story."

So I guess that is sort of stupid too, eh?

[Ichingcarpenter]

31. Is Negro the new Negroid?

Black became the preferred term in English in the late 1960s, and this continues to the present day. In the United States this has been displaced to some extent by African American, at least in politically correct usage; this resembles the term Afro-American that was in vogue in the early 1970s. Nevertheless, black continues in widespread use as a racial designation in the United States and is rarely regarded as offensive.

[sammythecat]

33. If I was speaking among people I didn't know very well

I'd use African-American. Casually, I use "Black". Much the same as White and Caucasian. I refer to myself as "White" because I am. I'll check the box for Caucasian on a job application.

Depending on the situation, someone could say "man", "guy", or "dude". "Lady", "girl", "woman". It just depends on who you're talking to and who you're talking about. A whole lot also depends on the inflection used. The wrong inflection can make an innocent word an insult.

Hillary is a white woman and Barack is a black man. It's part of their description, their identity. It's the truth of the matter.

In my future Utopia we'll all be mutts and we'd be much better of for it. A little bit like dogs. Mutts tend to be generally healthier, more resilient, and more intelligent. Unfortunately, I'm sure our Pride will find other ways to discriminate. It always has.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

34. Here in the UK, black is standard.

Although, as someone pointed out upthread, it's an adjective, not a noun - talking about "blacks" rather than "black people" would raise eyebrows at best.

African-American, for obvious reasons, isn't in common use over here...

[spin]

36. Not all Africans are "black" or "negro"...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_African

What would be the proper term for a American citizen who happened to be white but whose ancestors came from Africa? Say for example, his parents, grand parents, great grand parents and great great grand parents were Afrikaners from Cape Town.

I always felt black American was a more accurate term.

Note: no offense meant to any ethic group.

[aquart]

46. They call themselves South Africans. At least, my cousins do.

I'll bet it's probably Afrikaans-American. Something like that. Although I expect my two-year-old cousin will just think of himself as American or Jewish-American.

[Dorian Gray]

38. Why in tarnation

would black be any more offensive that white?

[Jed Dilligan]

42. Working for state government on racial equity issues,

I can say that different agencies prefer one or the other term for their websites, press releases, etc. They tend to be consistent. I sent a draft of my initiative to an African-American colleague and it came back with African-American changed to black in every case. As a student of the social sciences, I tend to prefer black because it is more specific to the experience of this particular group of people. A-A is somewhat confusing because it never encompasses North Africans or White Africans (Rhodesians and Afrikaners) who become American, and cognitively it does not even apply to more recent, non-enslaved transplants from Africa like Barack Obama! Also, black people in America have a good deal of non-African heritage, most commonly European and American Indian ancestors. (Don't get me started on the latter!)

[JeffR]

43. "People" seems to work well

Just sayin'.

[TroglodyteScholar]

45. Where I live...

...I've noticed people referring black folks as "Canadians". This is accompanied by a brushing-the-wrist motion. Don't know where it came from, but I don't like it.

[Jack_DeLeon]

50. I've heard of that...

I've never actually known anyone to use it, but I've read of it before.

Supposidly waiters or and the like sometimes use it because Canadian tourists dont usually tip, its not common in Canada, so its used to refer to the fact that they dont think that Blacks will tip.

[BlooInBloo]

47. (whine) It's hard work being white! (whine)

[HardWorkingDem]

49. Care to elaborate?

....

[TheDoorbellRang]

48. I wonder if people 100 years from now will look at

the wording of 2008 survey questions and laugh at the incongruencies in the descriptors.
"Are you A)White B)African American C)Hispanic D)Native American E)Other."

I usually check "other" and then write down my haplogroup. Had a woman trying to do a survey on the phone with me get mad and hang up because I wouldn't admit I was "white." Told her it was more accurate to list me in haplogroup R1b.

:D

[backscatter712]

51. What's wrong with "black"?

Disclaimer, I'm a white guy, which makes me clueless by default.

In general, I prefer to refer to my African-American friends as "my friends" or by name rather than referring to their race or making a big deal of it, but race does come up in conversation, and in that case, I'll either use "African-American" or "black", perceiving both terms to be non-offensive.

Am I off the mark here?