"Negro"

[lethargic_man]

When did the term "negro" become offensive [ETA: in the UK]? Or is it only so in the United States? It's hard to tell nowadays, with one's online social life spread over half the world, and no one in my RL social circles who would use the word at all. It never seemed offensive to me, but when recently I was listening to a recording of an event I was involved in in 1990, I was... I suppose more surprised than shocked to hear the word "negro" used. It's not that I perceive it as offensive even today; I perceive it as taboo.

Comments

[onyxlynx]

Late '60s.

I think UNCF kept it, but that's the only place I've heard it in about forty years not counting old movies and TV shows.

[ofearthandstars]

In the United States, it's been offensive since the 1960's Civil Rights era. Malcolm X objected to the use of the term "Negro" and preferred the term "Black" or "African-American" (note that the term was certainly used by Martin Luther King, Jr), due to the association of the former with the history of slavery. He was joined by Jesse Jackson in this regard. The word fell out of favor with the growth of the Black Power movement.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

I can't answer the question, but I was surprised a few years ago when an English-born friend described a singer in a jazz club as a "negro lady". From the context, he obviously didn't perceive it as offensive or taboo, although I would never have used that expression.

[lethargic_man]

Well, looks like "Negress" is well and truly dead, then. (Along with "Jewess", "poetess", "huntress", etc.)

[(Anonymous)]

Stop hack the program!!!