McWhorter on "Negro" [Was: on "Negro English"]

[Judy Prince]

These views sound like the 1950s, Tom, and saying "Darkies is not so
bad" sounds as if it came from the 19th century.

Our nearly-unique USAmerican history of tying skin colour to slavery
(i.e., blacks are slaves, whites are not) has virtually guaranteed
wholesale prejudice against blacks (which, tragically, includes
blacks' prejudice against themselves), and it places an enduring
obligation on whites to listen sensitively to blacks.  We need to get
to the place where our social as well as our professional contacts
naturally include blacks.  In short, we need to personally integrate.
It may seem as if I'm portraying this as an onerous task, but far from
it----it's a thrilling, challenging, surprising, mind-expanding,
life-adventure.

Best,

Judy


2010/1/16 Tom Zurinskas <truespel at hotmail.com>
>
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> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Â  Â  Â  Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Â  Â  Â Re: McWhorter on "Negro" [Was: on "Negro English"]
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I've always thought the term "colored" was a nice term for Negro people and=
> Â that Negro was a neutral scientific kind of term=2C like Caucasian (awe-dr=
> oppers are forbidden to say cockasian). Â Darkies is not so bad. Â It's even =
> in my FL state song.

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