Latest on "negro"

[Joel S. Berson]

At 4/26/2014 09:23 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

>To clarify: Costello and everyone else who commented scored Bundy as a
>racist for his idiot musings about slavery. But they also condemned his use
>of what one black commentator called "the 'Negro' word."
>
>Nobody explained why "the 'Negro' word" was bad, however. It just is.
>You're just supposed to know. You're not supposed to say it.
>
>How does the American Negro College Fund stay in business??  They even run
>ads on TV!!
>
>(I think the word is still OK for anthropologists, because they write books
>nobody else reads.)

I hope it's also still OK for writers about the 18th century, even in
paraphasing!  Because if I could only write, I'd try to publish a
book, if only anyone might read it.

By the way, I know two journals that will not publish the word
"Negro" unless it is in a direct quotation -- "Slavery and Abolition"
and the "South Carolina Historical Magazine".

Joel


>JL
>
>
>On Sat, Apr 26, 2014 at 1:03 AM, W Brewer <brewerwa at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       W Brewer <brewerwa at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Latest on "negro"
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > WB:  <<Can we still use the A-A word?   Jist wundrin'.>>
> > WG: <<Why does it matter to you? Are some of your best friends n-words? Do
> > you otherwise expect to have occasion to speak to black Americans about
> > black Americans? If so, then use whatever terms you ordinarily use. If not,
> > then use whatever terms you ordinarily use. Who is included in that "we,"
> > BTW?>>
> > WB: Judge not, lest ye be judged.
> >
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> >
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>
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>--
>"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
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