Changes

'''Negro''' is an obsolete term for a person of black African ancestry or racial characteristics.  Through the middle of the 20th century, it was commonly used in the United States, and was generally considered a well-intentioned and polite term.  As an example of this, it was used 15 times in Martin Luther King Jr.'s [[I Have a Dream]] speech.  But during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's the term fell out of favor, and has generally been replaced by "black person" or "African-American".

'''Negro''' is an obsolete term for a person of African ethnicity or racial characteristics.  Through the middle of the 20th century, it was commonly used in the United States, and was generally considered a well-intentioned and polite term.  As an example of this, it was used 15 times in Martin Luther King Jr.'s [[I Have a Dream]] speech.  But during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's the term fell out of favor, and has generally been replaced by "black person" or "African-American".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.