Blacks started out being called "Blacks" or NEGROS, then "colored, then back to Negro, then back to Black, and finally "African Americans", which is patently ridiculous! Egyptians are Africans, so are Libyans, and white South Africans;to list but a few people,who aren't classified as "NEGROIDS".
“It was Jesse Jackson who demanded that Blacks be called that, only a few decades ago.”
Yea, I suspected that JJ was part of the move to change.
I think “colored” is, and always has been the best description.
Why else would the NAALCP have chosen it?
It also fits mixed, or mulatos, as NEGRO does not fit all colored/mixed. It would fit Obama.
It was the common term in Memphis when I was growing up.
I see nothing derogatory with the term.