Is the word 'Negro' now unacceptable?

Question

I recently answered a question asking what the term for a black person was, and answered that the word was 'Negro', as opposed to 'Caucasian for white people, and possibly 'Mongoloid' for Oriental people. I promptly received a Violation Notice, presumably for using the word negro. My answer was almost word for word as above, without a hint of anything racist, so I can only conclude that the offending item was the use of the word above! Can someone please help
me to figure out why this word has suddenly become offensive?

And may I please have the points that were deducted back at once!

Thanks guys! Except JOHN J. who called me a racist jerk! I'm a person of colour John! So whos is the jjerk now! Oh, yeah, YOU!

Answer 1

When I was growing up, "Negro" was considered a polite term. You can still see evidence of this today. For example, you may be familiar with the prestigious and well-established organization known as the "United Negro College Fund."

However, language is constantly changing and this is particularly true in sensitive areas such as race identification. In the late 1960's, the term "black" gained popularity as the self-chosen ethnonym and the term "negro" was discredited as being racist. Of course, the evolution of language is reflective of many factors, including social and political sensibilities. It makes sense that during the 1960's, a time when great change in the civil rights of minorities was occurring, the language associated with race would also evolve.

It is important to stay abreast of changes in our language though it can be challenging. However, to my way of thinking, it is equally important to avoid using inflammatory labels such as "racist" when someone is understandably confused about our ever-changing world.

Answer 2

–noun 1. Anthropology. a member of the peoples traditionally classified as the Negro race, esp. those who originate in sub-Saharan Africa: no longer in technical use.
–adjective 2. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of one of the traditional racial divisions of humankind, generally marked by brown to black skin pigmentation, dark eyes, and woolly or crisp hair and including esp. the indigenous peoples of Africa south of the Sahara.
3. being a member of the black peoples of humankind, esp. those who originate in sub-Saharan Africa.


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[Origin: 1545–55; < Sp and Pg negro black < L nigrum, masc. acc. of niger black]

or

–noun 1. a river in NW South America, flowing SE from E Colombia through N Brazil into the Amazon. 1400 mi. (2255 km) long.
2. a river in S Argentina, flowing E from the Andes to the Atlantic. 700 mi. (1125 km) long.
3. a river in SE South America, flowing S from Brazil and W through Uruguay, to the Uruguay River. ab. 500 mi. (800 km) long.

Another entry for the anthropological term says it's no longer in scientific use, and that it can be regarded as offensive. It's a tough one. I did an archaeology degree, and we still used the word, along with Mongoloid and Caucasoid. If it's no longer acceptable as a term for a race, I don't know what it's been replaced with?

Answer 3

Someone asked a question and referred to negro as "the N word" and it still got deleted.

Answer 4

back in the olden days 'negro' was a term meaning slave....so yeh i guess its not right to use it, unless you are black.

Answer 5

racist jerk.