Of Coloreds, Negros, Blacks, and African Americans

January 11, 2010 by blackgirlgrown
Filed under race

Senator Harry Reid’s (D-NV) “poor word choice” and a mini uproar on the use of the word Negro on the upcoming U.S. Census forms has me thinking about black folks and name changes. I swear we have to be the most-renamed population in America.

One of my favorite quotes is from W.C. Field’s in which he reminds us all: “It ain’t what they call you, it’s what you answer to.”

So what are we answering to these days?

My grandfather still uses the word colored, sometimes interchangeably with black.

My parent’s generation is most comfortable with black (say it loud!). The term African American is an outgrowth of the 90s. My mother uses it intermittently and always with a sense of pride. She reserves the word Negro (along with a certain N-word) for black folks with no sense, no class, or no home training.

Me, I use the term black in spoken word, and African American in professional settings and the written word. But it also depends on the context. And just like my momma, I reserve N-words for the most unsavory among us (yeah, yeah, I’m working on it).

My younger cousins, nephews, and nieces? They stick to the term black, but use the N-word as a term of endearment (I grew out of that awhile ago). If they went to college, they use African American in spoken word more than I do, but slip back into the colloquial black around peers.

In my family alone we have a personality disorder on what we call ourselves. Within our community it is equally complex and exponential in its depth.

For every colored, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,

…. there is a Negro, National Council of Negro Women.

And for every black, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation,

… there is an African American, National Museum of African American History and Culture.

So you can only imagine how confusing this probably is for White folks (or is it Caucasians?) and Hispanics (or is it Latinos?).

But I am certain that this blackgirlgrown knows nothing about, or ever had, a Negro dialect.

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http://twitter.com/blackgirlgrown blackgirlgrown

just posted…: Of Coloreds, Negros, Blacks, and African Americans http://bit.ly/7D5jHV

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http://twitter.com/matthewdlyons matthewdlyons

Good post. RT @blackgirlgrown: just posted…: Of Coloreds, Negros, Blacks, and African Americans http://bit.ly/7D5jHV

This comment was originally posted on Twitter
http://twitter.com/blackgirlgrown blackgirlgrown

Are you black or African American? http://bit.ly/7D5jHV

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http://twitter.com/Missredlocks Missredlocks

Of Coloreds, Negros, Blacks, and African Americans http://viigo.im/22zA

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http://twitter.com/miyacom miyacom

Of Coloreds, Negros, Blacks, and African Americans http://viigo.im/22CB

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http://www.matthewdlyons.com matthewdlyons

Nice article. I was just thinking about writing a blog piece this morning after watching this issue “debated” on Morning Joe. (Why does Michael Eric Dyson annoy me so much???)

I, too, use black. I almost find it a struggle to say African American. Like your mother, Negro has a special place for someone acting a fool or flighty. I would be lying if I said the “n-word” has exited my vocabulary. I've moved beyond apologizing about using it, but I am rather selective about where I'll drop it. It's kind of like cursing. I don't drop f-bombs around people I know it might offend.

As for the issue of people being confused about what to call us…I don't know. I think most people, particularly someone as “exposed” as Sen. Reid, should know Negro is antiquated. Who knows? Maybe Reid calls Pelosi the Wop Speaker. (eyes rolling)
http://twitter.com/nic_mclean nic_mclean

Of Coloreds, Negros, Blacks, and African Americans http://bit.ly/5grhPk via @AddToAny

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Ms Eye

I prefer to be called Black American. It defines who I am. I am black and proud and American and proud. God bless America.
Maize&Blue

Interesting reading that several people reserve Negro and the “N word” for those that (not to further divide us) are not “Our Kind of People” and make us cringe every time they are on the news. (No matter how much money they have.) The “N word” has very negative connotations for me, so I do not use it. However, I always thought of Negro as the formal, outdated Black. I use Black, partly out of laziness (African-American is so long), but mostly out of defiance. My White counterparts who do not have the lineage in this country that I do, do not use a prefix. This has always annoyed me. Someone whose family came to the US after World War I is just American, yet I am African-American??? We are a country of immigrants and instead of everyone being American, everyone has a prefix including the indigenous people of the land (Native Americans), except those of European ancestry. Even with all of that, I use “African-American” in writing and presentations because I feel like that is the PC term right now.
Maize&Blue

Interesting reading that several people reserve Negro and the “N word” for those that (not to further divide us) are not “Our Kind of People” and make us cringe every time they are on the news. (No matter how much money they have.) The “N word” has very negative connotations for me, so I do not use it. However, I always thought of Negro as the formal, outdated Black. I use Black, partly out of laziness (African-American is so long), but mostly out of defiance. My White counterparts who do not have the lineage in this country that I do, do not use a prefix. This has always annoyed me. Someone whose family came to the US after World War I is just American, yet I am African-American??? We are a country of immigrants and instead of everyone being American, everyone has a prefix including the indigenous people of the land (Native Americans), except those of European ancestry. Even with all of that, I use “African-American” in writing and presentations because I feel like that is the PC term right now.