Well, that, and not calling me late for dinner. I love to eat, you see. ;-)
Posted on 06/03/2004 5:17:32 AM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
Some people are particularly disturbed by my use of the word Negro as opposed to the latest fashionable label. I am not bothered by such people, but I am disturbed by the reliance on cosmetic identity that has become so important to black people over the last 35 or 40 years.
More than a few people were actually taken in by the obsession with naming that came out of the Nation of Islam, when Malcolm X, chief heckler for Elijah Muhammad, inspired many to begin responding to the word "Negro" as if it were the dirtiest of insults.
The argument was that "Negro" separated black people from their African identity. It did not acknowledge the greatness of Africa, wonderful Africa, that lost paradise where everything was perfect. It did not recognize that black people had not always been slaves - that they were, in fact, a separate nation descended from kings and queens.
Hmm. No one, of course, ever considered that if most of the millions of black Americans really were descended from kings and queens, one would have needed a lot more land than Africa provided to support all that royalty. Millions of kingdoms definitely present a challenge.
It was, at best, cult thinking. But it was also a way of getting people to think of themselves as perpetual victims who were oppressed at every turn. That seems to me the greatest impact of believing that the history connected to the name Negro was all second-class travail and injustice.
Some 40 years ago, Malcolm X said: "You're not an American, you're a victim of Americanism."
That's too crude and simpleminded. But the crude and simpleminded are not unusual when the subject is the Negro. While such statements might sound good on a podium, they miss a great and substantial truth.
Black Americans have had an enormous impact on American history. Almost every important effort to better the position of people in this nation has its roots in the Negro-American story. Consider the history of the labor movement, for one.
Being called something other than Negro will not better the state of the people who now walk around challenging others to call them African-Americans. They think that to be proud and effective, people with dark skins of a certain pedigree need to know they are connected to the grandeur of Africa, the fountain of civilization. Hogwash.
Clearly, knowing that they are Africans has done nothing special for Africans themselves, as we can see in the massacres in Rwanda during the 1990s, the many brutal African dictatorships and the abundance on the continent of backward ideas about women, slavery and a number of other things.
People can call themselves whatever they want. But the challenges facing this nation and its darker ethnic group will not be solved by anything other than deep thinking and hard work. Pride comes from accomplishment. Cosmetic nonsense will not get it.
Well, that, and not calling me late for dinner. I love to eat, you see. ;-)
White people calling black people "Negro" because they think it is "proper" is like black people calling white people "redneck" because they think it is popular.
Safe to use both:
"colored" as in NAACP
"negro" as in UNF http://www.uncf.org/
But, you're not playing right. The rules clearly state that if you are not "Native American" (You know, one of them Injun-types) you are not a plain old American. We have to know how you're different so we can help you by punishing people who recognize your difference. And besides, if you're different enough, we might even give you things out of guilt and/or perceived threats to our communities.
So, be a good young fella and fill in the little circle next to your color. Isn't America wonderful?!
This is the way with euphemisms. You use one to replace a perfectly good word that people find offensive; then, after a time, the euphemism itself becomes offensive, and you need to find another euphemism.
This emphasizes one thing: If you wake up in the morning with the intent that someone is going to offend you, you will probably find someone who will.
Over the Memorial weekend, another writer (I think it was someone else--I haven't looked up article), this writer was complaining that Native Americans were not specifically lauded at the WW II Memorial. He/she was very offended at feeling slighted. [Another FR poster in that news thread posted that he/she remembered Native Americans being mentioned and that that writer must have gone to the bathroom.]
If you want to be offended, somebody will oblige you if you try hard enough.
And what is the exact problem with the word 'oriental?'
My two cents:
The reason why some get negative vibes from the word Negro is because it is associated with the term nigger. Which as we all know is one of the most derogatory ways to refer to a black person. Now in my eyes if my fellow black people say something on the terms of Negro like it was mentioned Mario Van Peebles did earlier then I have no problem. But if someone from another race does a red fag will go up in my mind instantly.
Call this hypocritical if you want but I will keep it real with you when I say this.
For so long we were brainwashed to believe being black was a hindrance, and that having African origins was not something to be proud of etc. In saying that I am African American I am saying that I am proud of both sides of my heritage. This will be a stigma we will forever have to fight.
Black guys hate it when you call them that. [::rimshot::] :)
Try since 1970!
I'm not that old.
No it's like calling me Caucasian.
Redneck is like calling me Nigger.
Yup, and Bill Cosby donated $23 million to them. (I guess he's in more trouble now)
If you are going to define which term to use, you can use any one you want. I doubt whites using the term "Negro" are using it because it is proper.
American --- it sure would be nice when everyone can just get to that point. It's almost got to when the census has to have so many categories now --- and too many people have a mixture of ancestors to keep worrying about where they all came from.
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