Negro means the color black in both Spanish and Portuguese languages, being derived from the Latin word niger of the same meaning.
The term "negro", literally "black," was used by the Spanish and Portuguese to refer to black Africans and people with that heritage. From the 18th century to the mid-20th century, "negro" (later capitalized) was considered the correct and proper term for African Americans. It fell out of favor by the 1970s in the United States. In current English language usage, "Negro" generally is considered acceptable in only a historical context or in the name of older organizations, as in the United Negro College Fund, and is in more common use among those born before the post World War II baby boom.
Lyndon B. 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). Before he left office, he had begun to employ the word blacks, too.
The related word Negroid was used by 19th and 20th century anthropologists (ending variously in the mid-to-late 20th century) to refer to a race of people from Africa. This word is now widely considered offensive.
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 racist insult, suggestive of fascist opinions. However, in Portuguese, the socially accepted term nowadays is "negro" (literally, "black"), while "preto" (meaning, in this context, "dark-skinned") usually is seen as an insult because of societal color bias.
In French, nègre was the word generally used in the 19th century and earlier times to describe blacks persons of African origin. However, it now has heavy colonial undertones, and the word noir (literally, "black") is always used instead, except occasionally when specifically discussing slavery or colonialism, or when nègre is used as slang for ghost writer.
In Argentina and Cuba, negro is a word commonly usually used to refer to friends or people in general, and does not have a blatantly racist connotation. For example, one may say to a friend, "Oye, negrito. ¿Como estás?" Literally, that translates as, "Listen (or "Hey"), little black man, how are you?" Here, "negro" is used in its diminutive form, as a term of endearment meaning "pal", or "buddy" or "friend." "Negrito" has come to be used to refer to a person of any ethnicity or color, and also can have a sentimental or romantic connotation similar to "sweetheart," or "dear" in English.
Controversy about word "Negro" has spread to many languages, because many people perceive usage of any word similar to "Negro" about black people in any language as a racist insult. While some people argue that people of America should have no business deciding what words people use in other languages, many people are still trying to avoid using "Negro", which can offend somebody. That is not always easy, because in some languages the word for "black" does not sound better at all (In Russian chornyi is racist name for minorities like chechens, in Estonian must means also "dirty" etc.) Other options are "dark skinned" or "African". However, many languages presently do not have any widely accepted alternatives for "Negro".
A specifically female form of the word—negress—was sometimes used; but, like another gender-specific word "Jewess", it has all but completely fallen from use. Both are considered racist and sexist.
As with other racial, ethnic, and sexual words that are seen as pejoratives, some individuals have tried "reclaiming" the word. An example of this is artist Kara Walker. [1]
See also
Last updated: 10-14-2005 23:24:59
