I cringed when they (Jackson?) came out with the term African-American, and thought it sounded so stupid.
Negro had been the correct term for many years, and accepted
by blacks, as in The United NEGRO College Fund.
In my youth, being from Memphis, we used the term “colored”. I do not recall anyone taking offense with colored.
Negro, simply meaning black in Spanish, had to be discarded by those of Jackson’s ilk because it was used during the slave era. It wasn’t the only name used then for blacks, but it was the most polite.
In my youth in the South, “Black” was very offensive. “Nigra” was the normal way “Negro” was pronounced. “Colored” was considered polite by white and ....well, Colored folk.
“African” was probably as offensive as “Black”.
Me? I’m an American who lives in a tanish-redish hide, when it’s not muddy or sunburned. In the winter, it gets a bit pale.
Right now, my miniscule Cherokee and Blackfoot blood is showing.
No, I’m not running for Senator from Massachusetts or for a Harvard faculty position.
I'm a color...no matter what I look like.