Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

‘Negro’ Is An Acceptable Term for Black Soldiers, U.S. Army Says
NYDN ^ | November 5, 2014 | GINGER ADAMS OTIS

Posted on 11/06/2014 2:59:25 PM PST by DogByte6RER

african american soldier photo: African American Civil War Memorial in Boston CivilWarAfricanAmericanSoldierMemomialBoston.jpg

‘Negro’ is an acceptable term for black soldiers, U.S. Army says

• Color it a confusing command update. One military official says using the word to describe ‘a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa’ might be for people who prefer to refer to themselves this way. But another calls it ‘the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.

What year is it again?

Army regulations still allow for black soldiers to be labeled Negro — a term that faded in the late 1960s.

The archaic policy was spelled out as recently as Oct. 22, when the Army issued an update to some of its command procedures. But the review failed to strike the term from its books.

Negro is an acceptable classification for “a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa,” according to section 6-2 of the Army’s AR 600–20 regulations.

The same clause — part of the Army’s equal opportunity policy — also gives the OK to use “Haitian” in addition to the more common black or African-American.

The Army said it didn’t know how long the paragraph had been in its directives. It could stretch back decades.

A spokesman said Wednesday that a change was already in the works.

“The racial definitions in AR600-20 . . . are outdated, currently under review, and will be updated shortly,” Lt. Col. Alayne Conway said.

(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: army; multicult; negro; pc; racism; soldier; thatsracist; usa
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-42 next last
To: DogByte6RER

Is “mulatto” an acceptable term for the Commander-in-Chief, then?


21 posted on 11/06/2014 3:30:13 PM PST by lightman (O Lord, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance, giving to Thy Church vict'ry o'er Her enemies.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ViLaLuz

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2013/0525/Fired-for-word-Negro-in-Spanish-class

Negro is the Spanish word for the color black. This bronx bilingual teacher got fired for using the word in the context of colors while speaking Spanish, and it was not used to describe any persons of color. By the way, the teacher is black. Negro is not a bad word, it describes a color.


22 posted on 11/06/2014 3:37:54 PM PST by roadcat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: DogByte6RER
"Army regulations still allow for black soldiers to be labeled Negro — a term that faded in the late 1960s."

When the term "African American" came into vogue in the late 1960s, a black soldier friend of mine would take umbrage at the term and demand, "Don't call me an African. My ancestors were in this country long before yours left Ireland. You can call me a black American, but don't call me an African."

23 posted on 11/06/2014 3:40:53 PM PST by DJ Taylor (Once again our country is at war,and once again the Democrats have sided with our enemy.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: DogByte6RER
Where do "Colored" and "People of Color" fit in this linguistic babble?

Should I be upset by being called "Eggshell" rather than "White"? (some days I could legitimately be called "off-white" as in "that white boy is a little 'off'! ")

You can call me Ray, you can call me Jay...just don't call me late for dinner!

24 posted on 11/06/2014 3:42:11 PM PST by BwanaNdege (Mother of Epidemics- "Gang Green and the Government Staff Infection" - G. Morgan, Freedom Foundation)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Uncle Miltie

“Indeed, I suspect they want the change because their collective behavior has been so bad they left a stink on “Black.””

Spot on! It’s the same reason liberals keep inventing new terms for everything under the sun, “gay”, “differently abled”, “reproductive freedom”, etc. They think that with a new phrase, people will forget all the past associations, but I don’t think such linguistic manipulations gain them anything in the long run. If they did, they wouldn’t have to keep inventing new terms every decade or so.


25 posted on 11/06/2014 3:46:07 PM PST by Boogieman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: CodeToad
I am white and would be pissed if someone called me “Irish” or “British”, my two heritages. I am an American and neither Irish nor British are my race.

Non-Hispanic whites are often referred to as Anglos, a term that many of them almost certainly resent.

26 posted on 11/06/2014 3:49:13 PM PST by Fiji Hill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: DogByte6RER

I read an old piece today by Roger Ebert, reviewing “Night of the Living Dead” when it first came out in the 60s, and it was strange to see him use the word “negro” so often in reference to the protagonist of the film. The really odd part was that Ebert didn’t just mention that the lead actor was a negro, he continued to refer to him throughout the article as “the negro”, as if that was his defining characteristic (he referred to other characters by such characteristics as “the teenagers”, “the mother”, “the father”). Now, at the end of the piece, he does refer to him as the “hero”, but it made me wonder, why he couldn’t refer to him by that name throughout the article?

You could justify by the standards of the day using the word to mention the significant fact that the main character was a black man, but to make that his defining characteristic really seemed to me to show Ebert as a bit of a racist, at least back then. Here’s the article, check it out:

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-night-of-the-living-dead-1968


27 posted on 11/06/2014 3:53:40 PM PST by Boogieman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DogByte6RER
I grew up when it was perfectly acceptable to use 'negro' in polite society. It was the black liberation radicals that killed the word and changed it to "black." Now, ridiculously we call melanin blessed individuals "african American". They are no more African than I am. I have friends from St. Kitts and St Lucia. NO ONE says "I'm African Caribbean." Is there any other country in the world that blacks call themselves "African ?"
28 posted on 11/06/2014 3:55:38 PM PST by Organic Panic
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Boogieman

Pretty typical of an era. Ebert may have been a little behind the times, but not by much. He did go on to marry an African-American woman, though.


29 posted on 11/06/2014 4:02:40 PM PST by x
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Joe 6-pack

I’s guess the reason someone thought negro was an acceptable term is that it means black.


30 posted on 11/06/2014 4:05:50 PM PST by luvbach1 (We are finished. It will just take a while before everyone realizes it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: roadcat

Wow that’s crazy.


31 posted on 11/06/2014 4:10:19 PM PST by ViLaLuz (2 Chronicles 7:14)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Fiji Hill

But I am an Anglo-Saxon. many Americans from the formation of this nation were.


32 posted on 11/06/2014 4:13:02 PM PST by CodeToad (Islam should be outlawed and treated as a criminal enterprise!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: luvbach1

I once publically humiliated a blowhard liberal spouting off how negro was word invented by English slave traders. It was in the middle of our design studio. I pulled a box with an India Ink bottle inside. Slowly rotated so each side became visible to all. Labels were; black, noir schwarz, and negro. Man never forgave me. It’s a good thing.


33 posted on 11/06/2014 4:16:25 PM PST by Covenantor ("Men are ruled...by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern." Chesterton)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: Organic Panic

Me too. When I was a kid “negro” was considered to be the most polite word to describe black people. The word “colored” was OK to use and was the most common term. I was taught that calling them “black” was offensive. The “n” word was always considered to be extremely offensive where I grew up. Now that I am getting old and confused I am ready to start calling them “negroes” again.


34 posted on 11/06/2014 4:22:14 PM PST by forgotten man
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Uncle Miltie

A while back while looking for something else, I came across a piece written by H.L. Mencken in 1944 called “Designations for Colored Folk.” I was amazed to find out that this had been a hot topic since the late 1800’s, and that nearly all the designations we are familiar with since the 1960’s had already been recommended or tried out in the 80 years before Mencken wrote this.


35 posted on 11/06/2014 4:28:09 PM PST by Southside_Chicago_Republican (If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Pollster1
Negro, black, Black, colored, Afro-American, African-American, African American

About 1970, a black woman who was friends with my mom was talking about the terms you listed and they were up to African-American by then, I think. She said, "I wish they would figure out what we're supposed to call ourselves, I get tired of changing all the time."

36 posted on 11/06/2014 4:51:26 PM PST by eartrumpet
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: DogByte6RER

“Soy negro. No disparo.” —The Alamo (2004)


37 posted on 11/06/2014 4:59:43 PM PST by onedoug
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DogByte6RER
"Petrona Smith, 65, non-tenured, junior high school teacher, was let go from P.S. 211 in the Bronx in March 2012, according to the New York Post. She was allegedly fired after a pupil reported her for calling a student "negro" during a Spanish class.

However, the Post reported that Smith, a black woman from the West Indies, said she only used the word in reference to the color black. She then reportedly explained to her students that it is not a derogatory term and that the Spanish word for a black person is “moreno.”"

38 posted on 11/06/2014 5:08:36 PM PST by Paladin2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DogByte6RER

“Black” isn’t a race, “negro” is. “African-American” fails to account for negros who are not American, and for white/asian Africans.
“Colored” is an apt descriptor, but somehow racist.
Of course, many AAs are more white than black, so negro isn’t very correct.


39 posted on 11/06/2014 5:16:29 PM PST by SampleMan (Feral Humans are the refuse of socialism.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DogByte6RER

“Negro — a term that faded in the late 1960s.”

Not to worry, it’ll be in vogue again.

Some don’t want to be called “negro”, preferring “black.” Others don’t like “black” and insist on “African American.” Still others can’t abide “African American” and demand to be described as a “person of color.”

And, of course, in intra-group settings, the nom de choice might be “_igge_.”

It’s a very fluid situation.


40 posted on 11/06/2014 5:56:32 PM PST by SharpRightTurn (White, black, and red all over--America's affirmative action, metrosexual president.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-42 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson