Negro

Negro is an archaic racial term referring to people of high melanin content mainly of African origin. Prior to the shift in the lexicon of American and worldwide classification of race and ethnicity in the late 1960s, the appellation was accepted as a normal formal term both by those of African descent as well as non-African blacks. Now it is considered by many an ethnic slur. "Negro" means "black" in Spanish and Portuguese, and the Italian "nero" is similar (Latin: niger = "black"). Modern synonyms in common use include:

• "black"
• "dark-skinned" or "swarthy"
• "African" (though White Africans and people of North Africa can be considered African but not Negroes)
• "African American" in the United States

In English

Around 1442, the Portuguese came into contact with Africa while trying to route the continent to India. The term negro, literally meaning "black", was used by the Spanish and Portuguese to refer to people. From the 18th century to the mid-20th century, "negro" (later capitalized) was considered the proper English term for all people of sub-Saharan African origin.

It fell out of favor by the 1970s in the United States after the Civil Rights movement. However, it is necessary to note that older African Americans from the period when "Negro" was considered acceptable, initially found the term "Black" more offensive than "Negro". Evidence for this is in historical African-American organizations and institutions' utilization of the term--such as the United Negro College Fund. In current English language usage, "Negro" is generally considered acceptable in a historical context or in the name of older organizations, as in Negro spirituals or the United Negro College Fund. The U.S. Census now uses the grouping "Black or African American."

The related word Negroid was used by 19th and 20th century racial anthropologists. The suffix -oid means "similar to" and is meant to designate a wider or more generalized category than the original word.

In other languages

In contemporary Portuguese, negro is the preferred term for a black person. Preto has a similar meaning, but is less respectful. Each of the two words can designate the color black, or a black person. However, some Portuguese people and Portuguese-speaking Africans prefer the latter, possibly because preto is the most common antonym of branco (white), while negro can sound condescending, since it is a word generally associated with higher registers. In Brazil the word is considered respectful and the appropriate manner to refer to the black race, though it is often considered impolite to take note of an individual's skin color in any context (which causes the word to be used only in reported speech or in third-person).

Further information: pt:Negro § Negro ou preto?

In Spain, negro (note that ethnonyms are generally not capitalized in Romance languages) means "black person" in colloquial situations, but it can be considered derogatory in other situations (for example, by French influence, negro is also the word for a ghost writer). However, in Spanish-speaking countries, such as Argentina, Chile, Cuba and Dominican Republic, negro (negra for females) is commonly used to refer to partners, close friends or people in general independent of skin color.

It is similar to the use of the word "nigga" in urban communities in the U.S. For example, one may say to a friend, "Oye, negrito. ¿Como estás?" (Literally, "Hey, black man, how are you doing?") In this case the diminutive negrito is used, 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. (In the Philippines, Negrito was used for a local dark-skinned short person, living in the Negros islands among other places)

In other Spanish-speaking South American countries, the word negro can also be employed in a roughly equivalent form, though it is not usually considered to be as widespread as in Argentina or Cuba (except perhaps in a limited regional and/or social context).

The popular Argentinian singer Mercedes Sosa is nicknamed "La Negra" by her fans, which in this case refers to the colour of her hair rather than of her skin, and is meant as a highly positive and indeed admiring term.

Moreno can be used as an euphemism but it also means just "tanned" or brunette.

In Haitian Creole the word nèg, derived from the French "nègre", refers to a dark-skinned man and does not have pejorative connotations; it can also be used for any man, regardless of skin color, roughly like "guy" or "dude" in American English.

The Dutch "neger" is generally (but not universally) considered as neutral, or at least less negative than "zwarte" (black one).

In Russia the term "негр" (negr) was commonly used in the Soviet period without any negative connotation, and its use continues in this neutral sense. In modern Russian media, the word is used somewhat less frequently "африканцы" ("Africans") or "афро-американцы"("Afro-Americans") are used instead, depending on the situation), but is still common in oral speech. The word "black" (чёрный) used as a form of address is pejorative, although it is primarily used with respect to peoples of the Caucasus, natives of Central Asia, and not black people.

The names of two African countries, Niger and Nigeria, are derived from the same etymological origin.

Further reading

• P. A. Bruce, The Plantation Negro as a Freeman, (New York, 1889)
• Edward Ingle, The Negro in the District of Columbia, (Baltimore, 1893)
• W. E. B. DuBois, The Negroes of the Black Belt, (Washington, 1899)
• B. T. Washington, The Future of the American Negro, (Boston, 1899)
• Claude Bernard-Aubert, My Baby Is Black!, (Hollywood, 1965)
• Montgomery Conference Proceedings, (Montgomery, 1900)
• J. A. Tillinghast, The Negro in Africa and America, (New York, 1902)
• T. N. Page, The Negro: The Southerner's Problem, (New York, 1904)
• Library of Congress, List of Discussions of Negro Suffrage, (Washington, 1906)
• W. E. Fleming, Slavery and the Race Problem in the South, (Boston, 1907)
• Jackson and Davis, Industrial History of the Negro Race in America, (Richmond, 1908)
• A. H. Stone, Studies in the American Race Problem, (New York, 1908)
• W. P. Pickett, The Negro Problem, (New York, 1909)
• E. G. Murphy, The Basis of Ascendency, (New York, 1909)
• Stevenson, Race Distinctions in American Law, (New York, 1910)
• A. B. Hart, The Southern South, (New York, 1910)
• W. P. Livingstone, The Race Conflict, (London, 1911)
• B. G. Brawley, A Short History of the American Negro, (New York, 1913)
• The Negro Year Book, (Nashville, et. seq.)
• "Negroes in the United States," in Bulletin of the United States Census Bureau, (Washington, 1915)
• A. D. Mayo, Third Estate of the South, (Boston, 1890)
• J. L. M. Curry, Education of the Negro since 1860, (Baltimore, 1894)
• J. L. M. Curry, A Brief Sketch of George Peabody and a History of the Peabody Education Fund through Thirty Years, (Cambridge, 1898)
• W. H. Thomas, The American Negro, (New York, 1901)
• Sadler, "The Education of the Colored Race", in Special Reports of Great Britain Education Board, volume xi, (London, 1902)
• Kate Brousseau, L'Education des nègres aux Etats-Unis, (Paris, 1904)
• B. T. Washington, Education of the Negro, (new edition, New York, 1904)
• W. E. B. DuBois, "A Select Bibliography of the American Negro for General Readers," in Atlantic University Publications, (Atlanta, 1901)
• C. B. Davenport Heredity of Skin-Color in Negro-White Crosses, Carnegie Institution Publication Number 188 (1913)
• C. H. Vail Socialism and the Negro Problem (1903)
• M. Pickren, Negroes in the Military, (New York, 1934)
• "I'm A Negro" by Mr. Chris (New York, 2007)

See also

• Human skin color
• Race (classification of human beings)
• Free Negro
• African American or Black people
• Creole
• Quadroon
• Ethnic slur
  • Coloured, Colored
  • Mulatto
  • Nigger