<div dir="ltr"><h1 class="">Army Command Policy Briefly Lists “Negro” as Acceptable Descriptor for Black Soldiers</h1><div class="" id="main_byline">
By <a href="http://www.slate.com/authors.filipa_ioannou.html">Filipa Ioannou</a>
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<img title="455543970-senate-majority-leader-harry-reid-answers-questions" alt="455543970-senate-majority-leader-harry-reid-answers-questions" src="http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/uploads/2014/11/07/455543970-senate-majority-leader-harry-reid-answers-questions.jpg.CROP.promo-mediumlarge.jpg"> <span>Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid answers questions at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 16, 2014, in Washington.</span> <p class="">Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images</p>
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<p>The U.S. Army found itself in an embarrassing spot when a revised
update of its Army Command Policy listed "negro" among acceptable terms
to be used in reference to black soldiers.</p>
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<p>The Army first published its revisions to the Army Command Policy,
which outlines regulations and responsibilities, on Oct. 22, with
nothing obviously amiss. On Tuesday, though, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/05/politics/army-says-word-negro-ok-to-use/index.html">a CNN article</a> pointed
out some anachronistic language in a section on equal opportunity that
contained definitions of various races and ethnicities. The policy
definition read, "Black or African American. A person having origins in
any of the black racial groups of Africa. Terms such as 'Haitian' or
'Negro' can be used in addition to 'Black' or 'African American.' "</p>
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<p>The Army is not the first to draw criticism for its use of the term <em>Negro</em> in recent years; Harry Reid faced backlash <a target="_blank" href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/09/reid-apology-for-negro-dialect-comment/">back in 2010</a> for
his remarks that Obama's success was due partially to his lack of a
"Negro dialect" (like the Army, Reid quickly apologized).</p>
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<p>Conversation around race, gender, and Army policy flared up with
another policy update earlier this year, when a personal grooming policy
change banned twists, dreadlocks, and large cornrows, referring to them
as "unkempt" and "matted." <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/01/opinion/when-black-hair-is-against-the-rules.html">Many said</a> the
measure unfairly targeted black servicewomen, and after Defense
Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered that the policy be reviewed, the military
eventually <a target="_blank" href="http://time.com/3107647/military-black-hairstyles/">lessened the severity</a> of the restrictions.</p>
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<p>On Thursday, the Army removed the criticized section of the
definition in the Command Policy and issued an apology to those
offended. The definition <a target="_blank" href="http://www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/r600_20.pdf">now reads</a> "Black or African American. A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa." Still a bit of a <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_definition">circular definition</a>, but at least it's been updated for the modern era.</p>
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<a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/11/07/army_command_policy_language_problems_briefly_says_negro_acceptable_term.html">http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/11/07/army_command_policy_language_problems_briefly_says_negro_acceptable_term.html</a><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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