Why I Use the Word "Negro"

New York Daily News ^ | 6/3/04 | Stanley Crouch

[ErnBatavia]

You don't want to be messing with mhking...seeing as you just signed up today, you're probably unaware that he's one of the more celebrated and high profile FReepers.

On top of that, he gives us his Turducken recipe every Thanksgiving...

[albertp]

And now they want to go back to Negro?

I think there is a reason for it. I call it 'quantum logic' - the ability of a progressive to occupy multiple states of mind at one and the same time. If you guess wrong, and believe me, you will ALWAYS guess wrong when in the presence of the superior intellect (sarcasm) of a postmodern progressive ultraliberal, you are an 'insensitive racist' also known as a 'compassionate conservative.' It gives them a sense of power and total control over every conceivable situation.

[Atlas Sneezed]

The word you are looking for is African which is more like Frenchman. Negro was a way to separate blacks from "our race".

---

No, "negro" is a term for race. Race is real. There is no shame in accurately describing or discussing it.

The fact that some people in some times who did not like people of this race used this accurate term does not (should not) invalidate it. "African-American" is not an accurate racial description. Nor is "black".

[Polybius]

Negro was used by masters to separate the "Negros" from the "humans"(whites). Read the diaries of the time.

I am now browsing through an original 1856 printing of the 383 page pro-slavery apologia “An Essay on Liberty and Slavery” written by Albert Taylor Bledsoe .

The following terms are interchangeably used in Bledsoe's book:

"the African"......."justify the servitude in which the providence of God has placed the African."

"the African race"......."the case with the African race in its present condition....."

"the blacks"......."elevation of the blacks by Southern slavery..."

"the black men"......."We shall refuse to head a conspiracy against the good order , the security, the morals and the very lives of both the white and the black men of the South."

"negro"......."An independent negro state was thus established in Hayti."

The pro-slavery arguments of the time (and Bledsoe wrote 383 pages of them) did not claim that (blacks, Africans, negroes) were "not human". The pro-slavery arguments of the time claimed that that they were humans created by God with a lack of industry and morals and therefore needed the control of the master just as a child needed the control of the parent.

In short, the terms "balcks", "Africans" and "negro" were used interchangeably with no difference in meaning between them, there was no connotation of "human" vs "non-human", only "African" was capitalized, and "negro" was used to describe both a slave and an independent negro republic.

[cyborg]

I like that.

[cyborg]

Turducken???

[mhking]

I refute you downplaying the usage of the term “African American”.

Oh, gee. I've been chastized. [rolling eyes] Am I supposed to be hurt by that? Feh.

[mhking]

Turducken???

A properly dressed (and preferably boned) chicken, slathered with a sausage stuffing outside, and trussed up inside a (likewise boned) duck, which is then slathered with more dressing and trussed up inside a turkey.

It's expensive, but if done right, incredibly tasty!

[cyborg]

hehehehe chanty will learn that the only disciplinarian in your life is She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed.

[cyborg]

WOW thanks :)

[mhking]

the only disciplinarian in your life is She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed

Indeed. There is no fury like that of a black woman (especially my wife) when she is mad...

[chanty_2001]

I didn’t mean it like that, I was using the same terminology you were using. That why sometimes conversating online is not the best because facial expressions and the tone in which something is said makes that much difference . . . But anyhow life is life

The more I learn / I am mindful that there's a lot more that I do not know / and I realize that in fact / I know nothing ...

[maryz]

I generally say colored as in the NAACP's choice of words.

LOL! I lived in a largely black neighborhood in the 50s for a few years (age 9-13); "colored" was the word polite people used, "Negro" being too high-falutin' and the "n" word, of course, unthinkable!

[BraveMan]

I've got a little secret to share with you here. When I stumble across posts such as this, I immediately scroll down to look for the comments (if any) from you and Mr. King. This is my barometer; my means of measuring the validity (or lack thereof) of the author's comments. Like it or not, earned or not, I evaluate whats on the other side of the coin through your reaction, your honest measure of worth.

That said, I cannot disregard the fact that your point of view is unique (or so it would seem, given the cacophony of voices from the "politically correct" arena, for lack of a better term). I wish to be tactful and respectful toward persons on either side of the racial, political and ideological fence; it helps reasoned debate flourish if (perceived) epithets are not thrown about during a discussion, like so much refuse out the car window . . .

(By now you're thinking, "theres got to be a point in here somewhere".)

If I find a need to refer to color (race) in a discussion with the, ahem, sensitive persons in our midst, exactly what the hell term do I use this week that won't automatically piss people off? Damn, I need another linguistics lesson . . .

[cyborg]

You will like it here. I've made good friends off of FR.

[ladyjane]

And what is the exact problem with the word 'oriental?'

Interesting. Just one response so far. I've often wondered that but no one has been able to tell me.

[chanty_2001]

It refers more accurately to a flavor and not a people(?????)

[ErnBatavia]

Turducken???

Turkey, which is stuffed with a duck, which is stuffed with a chicken. I believe the whole package is then deep fried, but will leave Mr. King to the details!

[happygrl]

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.

HOT D***!!!

This is clarity.

[happygrl]

Negroe is Retro.

Retro is Cool.

Retro is In.