Changes

'''Negro''' is an obsolete term for a person of black African ancestry or racial characteristics.  It was a commonly used and generally well-intentioned and polite term in the United States through the middle of the 20th century.  During the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's the term fell out of favor, and has been generally replaced by "black person" or "African-American".

'''Negro''' is an obsolete term for a person of black African ancestry or racial characteristics.  It was a commonly used and generally well-intentioned and polite term in the United States through the middle of the 20th century.  During the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's the term fell out of favor, and has been generally replaced by "black person" or "African-American".

The reasons for this change are a bit subtle.  The point is that "negro" is a noun, whereas "black" is an adjective, used with the noun "person".  The use of the word "negro", just by itself, therefore suggested in a subtle way that the subject was something other than a person.  Reading things that were written prior to around 1960, one can sometimes see the word used in a way that slyly makes the distinction between a "negro" and an ordinary "person".  This difference may seem trivial and picayune now, but it was felt by many to be very real at the time.

The reasons for this change are a bit subtle.  The point is that "negro" is a noun, whereas "black" is an adjective, used with the noun "person".  The use of the word "negro", just by itself, therefore suggested in a subtle way that the subject was something other than a person.  Reading things that were written prior to around 1960, one can sometimes see the word used in a way that slyly makes the distinction between a "negro" and an ordinary "person".  This difference may seem trivial and picayune now, but it was felt by many to be very real at the time.  As an example of the former widespread acceptability of this word, it was used 15 times in Martin Luther King Jr.'s [[I Have a Dream]] speech.

The word comes from the word for "black" in the Latin-based languages, such as Spanish, where the word is simply an adjective meaning "black".  The names of the nations of Nigeria and Niger are both widely assumed to come from this root, but the etymology is somewhat obscure.

The word comes from the word for "black" in the Latin-based languages, such as Spanish, where the word is simply an adjective meaning "black".  The names of the nations of Nigeria and Niger are both widely assumed to come from this root, but the etymology is somewhat obscure.