Dictuionary.com noun, plural Negroes. 1. Anthropology. (no longer in technical use) a member of the peoples traditionally classified as the Negro race, especially those who originate in sub-Saharan Africa. 2. Older Use: Often Offensive. a black person ----- Word Origin C16: from Spanish or Portuguese: black, from Latin niger black --- Usage notes
In the United States of America, the word *negro* is considered acceptable only in a historical context or in proper names such as the United Negro College Fund <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Negro_College_Fund>. *Black <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Black>*, which replaced *negro* from 1966 onward, or the more recent *African-American <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/African-American>* (from the 1980s), are the preferred alternatives, with neither being categorically preferred as an endonym <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/endonym> (self-designation) or by publications. Before 1966, *negro* was accepted and in fact the usual endonym – consider *The Negro <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Negro>,* 1915, by W. E. B. Du Bois <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Bois> – which itself replaced the older *colored <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/colored>* in the 1920s, particularly under the advocacy of Du Bois (who advocated capitalization as *Negro <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Negro>*). Following the coinage and rise of Black Power <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Power> and Black pride <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pride> in the 1960s, particularly post-1966, the term *black* became preferred, and *negro* became offensive; in 1968 *negro* was still preferred by most as a self-designation, while by 1974 *black* was preferred; usage by publications followed.[1] <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/negro#cite_note-1> ---- When Did the Word Negro Become Taboo?By Brian Palmer It started its decline in 1966 and was totally uncouth by the mid-1980s. The turning point came when Stokely Carmichael coined the phrase *black power* <http://www.interchange.org/Kwameture/nytimes111698.html> at a 1966 rally in Mississippi. Until then, *Negro* was how most black Americans described themselves. But in Carmichael's speeches and in his landmark 1967 book, *Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America* <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679743138?ie=UTF8&tag=slatmaga-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0679743138>, he persuasively argued that the term implied black inferiority. Among black activists, *Negro* soon became shorthand for a member of the establishment. Prominent black publications like *Ebony* switched from *Negro* to *black* at the end of the decade, and the masses soon followed. According to a 1968 *Newsweek *poll, more than two-thirds of black Americans still preferred *Negro*, but *black *had become the majority preference by 1974. Both the Associated Press and the *New York Times *abandoned *Negro *in the 1970s, and by the mid-1980s, even the most hidebound institutions, like the U.S. Supreme Court, had largely stopped using *Negro*. Read more at http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2010/01/when_did_the_word_negro_become_taboo.html -== Negro (n.) <http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Negro&allowed_in_frame=0> [image: Look up Negro at Dictionary.com] <http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Negro>"member of a black-skinned race of Africa," 1550s, from Spanish or Portuguese negro "black," from Latin nigrum (nominative niger) "black, dark, sable, dusky," figuratively "gloomy, unlucky, bad, wicked," of unknown origin (perhaps from PIE *nekw-t- "night;" see Watkins). As an adjective from 1590s. Use with a capital N- became general early 20c. (e.g. 1930 in "New York Times" stylebook) in reference to U.S. citizens of African descent, but because of its perceived association with white-imposed attitudes and roles the word was ousted late 1960s in this sense by Black <http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Black&allowed_in_frame=0> (q.v.). Professor Booker T. Washington, being politely interrogated ... as to whether negroes ought to be called 'negroes' or 'members of the colored race' has replied that it has long been his own practice to write and speak of members of his race as negroes, and when using the term 'negro' as a race designation to employ the capital 'N' ["Harper's Weekly," June 2, 1906] Meaning "English language as spoken by U.S. blacks" is from 1704. French nègre is a 16c. borrowing from Spanish negro. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=negro -- I think Stephen is out of step with the times.. It was okay perhaps during his Portuguese time. The world has changed. I challenge him to go and say that word to a "black" person in Bronx, Los Aneles and in a community or group of "blacks." I then wanted to hear him or read him, if he's alive to return to Goa. Best of luck, Stephen. Take the CM if you will. Eugene Correia
