Is 'black' mildly offensive?

[lucem-ferre]

He identifies as black...and "black" is more about culture and identification more than anything else.

it doesn't matter what he "identifies" as, at the end of the day he has a black father and a white mother, which makes him mulatto, biracial, multiracial, whatever you choose to call it.

 

[Sha-Rok]

If you're getting offended over being called black.. there's something wrong. There are a lot of positive associations with the word black as well.

Nothing wrong with the word black..

"Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud"

Nah, I'm not with the okie doke. People are crazy if you don't see what going on with this whole "Lets label people by colors" shit. If your gonna label me a color choose the right one.

 

[Zabotugi]

it doesn't matter what he "identifies" as, at the end of the day he has a black father and a white mother, which makes him mulatto, biracial, multiracial, whatever you choose to call it.

Right. However this isn't latin america where people actually will identify as mulatto. There really isn't any identity in the world, "mulatto". Just like most native americans (most native americans are abut half white anyway at this point) do not call themeselves mestizos.

The word mulatto isn't used in mainstream culture that much, and while Obama is in fact a mulatto, that did not stop people around where i live from buying obama masks, putting them on garbage bags and hanging them from a tree. (Yes this actually happens)

On the other side, I have known whites that dont like being called white, they preferred european american or Caucasian.

The crazy thing is, rather Obama is black or not, people still swear up and down he's an Arab lol.

 

[fabulouslyghetto]

Depends on the context. It does cause me to lift an eyebrow when people identify race in situations where it's seemingly irrelevant, as if mentioning that the person is black somehow adds an exclamation point.

It does confuse the rationalist in me. Example, say the cops are chasing a suspect. The description "black" could be a million different shades, and light-skinned blacks might be confused as white. Maybe this is just me, but if you're hunting a paedophile or a guy who just robbed a bank, wouldn't it be desirable to use ACCURATE descriptions? I can't think of anything less accurate than referring to a person as "black" (or "white" for that matter).

 

[USEDCAR]

I like the Term black better then African American im not African and i never been to africa. They don't call whites European Americans

 

[Homothug]

No, because not all black people in America are African American.

I'm one of them.

 

[fabulouslyghetto]

I like the Term black better then African American im not African and i never been to africa. They don't call whites European Americans

Though noticeably less frequent, in everything from books to movies to everyday dialogue it isn't uncommon for me to hear/read terms like Irish-American or Arab-American.

PS: Technically we all originate from Africa.

 

[fabulouslyghetto]

Yeah. Ain't that a kicker?

What also confuses me is the great offense people take, for instance calling a Puerto Rican "Mexican", or a black person "African American." What's so bad about being Mexican or African-American that mistaken-identity is so offensive?

If someone calls you (not YOU Pianist) the wrong height would it be as offensive? Would you simply correct them or launch a profanity-laced tirade about how you are NOT that height and dare not ever be referred to as such? **scratches head** Methinks Americans still have some sensitivities about race that need to be addressed.

 

[fetaby]

What also confuses me is the great offense people take, for instance calling a Puerto Rican "Mexican", or a black person "African American." What's so bad about being Mexican or African-American that mistaken-identity is so offensive?

If someone calls you (not YOU Pianist) the wrong height would it be as offensive? Would you simply correct them or launch a profanity-laced tirade about how you are NOT that height and dare not ever be referred to as such? **scratches head** Methinks Americans still have some sensitivities about race that need to be addressed.

Seems that the people who get offended believe they need to be. Perhaps the assumptions made in regards to skin, could also be seen to hold other assumptions.

It was said that the term black is also offensive for the negative connotations that have been attributed to that word.

Personally, I think it has less to do with what is said than the intent behind the words.

 

[CUMMINGS]

HOT TOPIC. I'm not sure what the right answer is in this thread. When I'm talking with someone, I always take my cue from that person .... the person I'm talking to. That's the person that matters at that moment.

Rather than it being in the abstract, because everyone has a different choice, preference on how to self identify, just know your friend, neighbor, or coworker. If you've taken the time, effort, and care to know someone well enough, chances are, you'll do right.

 

[Sam Blum]

When I was beginning my Masters, I wrote a series of children's stories in the form of classical fairytales - except queer... One of them had a bear (imagine!) and when I first described this enchanted bear (who was, of course, a prince) I included the word 'black.' My mentor edited it out, telling me that I may not use it as it could easily be read as racially marginalising. I was somewhat surprised and asked a few students, all of whom were Indian, Aboriginal and one American whom I would have said was black, as opposed to white. None of them thought it offensive, but all commented that although they had not seen reason to associate the colour reference of my bear (so described to point to the historically identified 'dark/black magic,' long described as such before we misconstrued the connection between occult and the night for occult and people of darker skin tones) to a group including occult/evil and non-Caucasions, perhaps others may, and therefore it is safer to avoid alienating readers than risk it.

It's a balancing thing: One reads one's audience and speaks/writes accordingly to the best of one's abilites, or? A specialised and particular group is likely to read (comprehend) the words differently, and so one may write in a different manner for this group: But it's also important to remember the huge number of times a paper has been written and then excerpts leaked to the media or to a group who try always to subvert the first group or audience; the writing is taken out of context and voila - a catastrophie!

Also, these questions are so temporal in nature: A. Lorde (one of my very favorites) used the word black to describe herself frequently. But she also asked we be ever aware of our associations. Oprah used the word coloured a lot in the 80's early 90's, but then used the word black. Some say we use the word black too often, as shorthand for 'other than absolutely and unmistakably Caucasion. I understand that there are many different words used in Brazil to describe black folk, depending on shade! (Brazilian friends told me this) Context is all, and we can usually circumlocute difficulties with proof-reading (and forward thinking in spoken word).

 

[MetaKnight]

If you are black, you are black, nothing wrong with the word. That's who you are.

The problem is not what you say, its how you say it.

 

[bankside]

When I was beginning my Masters, I wrote a series of children's stories in the form of classical fairytales - except queer... One of them had a bear (imagine!) and when I first described this enchanted bear (who was, of course, a prince) I included the word 'black.' My mentor edited it out, telling me that I may not use it as it could easily be read as racially marginalising. I was somewhat surprised and asked a few students, all of whom were Indian, Aboriginal and one American whom I would have said was black, as opposed to white. None of them thought it offensive, but all commented that although they had not seen reason to associate the colour reference of my bear (so described to point to the historically identified 'dark/black magic,' long described as such before we misconstrued the connection between occult and the night for occult and people of darker skin tones) to a group including occult/evil and non-Caucasions, perhaps others may, and therefore it is safer to avoid alienating readers than risk it.

It's a balancing thing: One reads one's audience and speaks/writes accordingly to the best of one's abilites, or? A specialised and particular group is likely to read (comprehend) the words differently, and so one may write in a different manner for this group: But it's also important to remember the huge number of times a paper has been written and then excerpts leaked to the media or to a group who try always to subvert the first group or audience; the writing is taken out of context and voila - a catastrophie!

Also, these questions are so temporal in nature: A. Lorde (one of my very favorites) used the word black to describe herself frequently. But she also asked we be ever aware of our associations. Oprah used the word coloured a lot in the 80's early 90's, but then used the word black. Some say we use the word black too often, as shorthand for 'other than absolutely and unmistakably Caucasion. I understand that there are many different words used in Brazil to describe black folk, depending on shade! (Brazilian friends told me this) Context is all, and we can usually circumlocute difficulties with proof-reading (and forward thinking in spoken word).

I must disagree with your mentor. Next we'll be saying that 10 000 year old west coast aboriginal legends about Raven the Trickster are offensive because Raven is always portrayed as black.

Some readers ought to be alienated.

 

[MyReply]

Anything (no matter how general or vague) can sound offensive -- depending on the intent of how it's used and the tone in which the person spoke it.

That being said...

In most instances, I don't like the term African-American because it's too uptight, too political, too PC, too classifying, and too anal retentive. In general, I don't find "Black" offensive at all, and vastly prefer it. Plus I get tired of White people nervously using African-American...thinking that it's "progressive," "today," or the term that won't get them in trouble. They say it more than Black people do.

From what I've seen, the vast majority of Black people in America casually identify as Black. We merely accept "African-American" as an alternate identifier. It's only when people go out of their way to bring up or attach "BLACK" to something when it wasn't necessary that it becomes annoying and quasi-offensive, because it implies that you see color over anything else. If a woman in a red shirt is standing in the corner, it's not necessary to point out "That BLACK woman over there," nor is it necessary to make a reference to what some BLACK guy said to you earlier today. Why can't it just be a woman over there? Why can't you just mention what some guy said?

 

[Sha-Rok]

If you are black, you are black, nothing wrong with the word. That's who you are.

The problem is not what you say, its how you say it.

And therein lies the problem. I'm not black, the term really only represents a part since we come in array of colors. In fact labeling people by a color system is stupid anyway.

 

[NedNickerson]

A couple of thoughts:

First of all:
Something I've wondered about for years: What do Canadians, Europeans, Australians, etc., call black people in their country? "African-American" wouldn't be the appropriate term to use for black citizens outside of the U.S.

Secondly:
Also, several news stations in Memphis (which has a majority black population) have ceased using "black" or "white" when they report on crime in Memphis. They'll say something like, "Witness described the suspect as a male about 5' 8" , weighing about 160 pounds, with black hair, wearing blue jeans and a yellow shirt with a Nike logo on the front. If you have any information, please contact... etc. etc.."

I finally posted a comment on their website, "Witnesses noticed all of that, but they couldn't tell you if he was black or white?"

Of course, another person commented on my post, "That's racist!"

What's a fellow to do?

 

[Apollo]

i'm gonna saaaay...no i prefer it to african-american.

 

[bankside]

Depends on the country and on who in the country it is that is speaking and in what setting.

As I pointed out upthread, the number of US citizens whose ancestry dates back to Africa within the past few centuries is massive. It's much larger than in most other countries within the African diaspora, which is probably a major reason that issues facing citizens with recent African ancestry are a much more common topic of discussion in the national discourse of the US than is the case in many other countries.

Second, partly related to the first point, African Americans arguably experienced a much more profound awakening of black consciousness and black pride, with a sense of belonging to a community that has a distinct history and perspective, than has occurred in many other countries.

In fact, governments of countries other than the US have in a number of cases made efforts to promote the idea (some would argue propaganda) that racism does not exist in their country, or at least is much less prevalent than in places such as the US. (Cuba, Brazil, Costa Rica, and France come to mind as examples.) In some cases, these efforts have included measures taken to attempt to suppress the development of a black consciousness among the citizens.

Third, it's important to remember the role that language idiosyncrasies play here. Spanish speakers have the terms estadounidense and hispanohablante, for instance, that have no direct English equivalent. So a Spanish or French speaker might be more comfortable using linguistic constructions that could seem alien to many US English speakers.

I mentioned that who it is who is speaking or writing makes a difference. An academician, a demographer, a census official, and a poorly-educated layperson may all have different opinions. As might someone of recent African descent him- or herself versus someone of European descent.

Actually, états-uniens exists in Canada among francophones, which I understand is equivalent to estadounidense. There is no equivalent like "unitedstatesers" in Canadian English.

However, anglophone and francophone are universally understood here to mean english speakers and french speakers respectively, and that is the same word and would be understood by a french or english speaker.

Most people would also understand "hispanophone" even if they had never heard the term before, though it is commonly used. Other variants of that are probably not used or seldom used though they would be understood. i.e. "japanophone" or "germanophone."

 

[mydrew1]

If it's pronounced with a certain tone or context, then it is.

Obviously in imperial times even the word 'native' was used sometimes in a derogatory way, but the English language allows flexibility thankfully.

 

[kennny88]

I consider myself black, and every black american thats born, raised, resides and has no ties with Africa should be highly offensive with the term ''african american''.