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Negro

The term "negro" was formerly used to refer to Sub-Saharan Africans and people with that heritage, such as African Americans. From the 18th century to the mid-20th century "negro" was considered the correct and proper term for African-Americans, but fell out of favor by the 1970s, in the United States. In current English-language usage, the word is generally considered acceptable only in a historical context or in the name of older organizations such as the United Negro College Fund.

Lyndon Johnson was the last American president to publicly refer to the African American population as negroes (to which, for much of his life, he gave the Texas pronunciation "nigras", widely considered an insult by African Americans at the time).

The related word "negroid" was used by 19th and early 20th century anthropologists to refer to a purported race of people from Africa. Both the use of this word and the concept of race associated with it are generally now in disfavor, though the word has not passed completely out of use

The word has had a similar history in languages such as Italian. Today in Italy using the term negro to refer to a black person would be considered a trivial and racist insult, suggestive of holding fascist politics.

A specifically female form of the word -- "negress" -- was sometimes used, but, like many similarly gender-specific words ("Jewess", "poetess", "aviatrix"), and like "negro" itself has almost completely passed out of the language: since at least the 1960s (and perhaps earlier) it has been considered racially and sexually insulting. Much as with "nigger" (although to a lesser degree) some individuals have tried "reclaiming" the word. An example of this is artist Kara Walker. [1]

See also: colored

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