Originally Posted by Robodog (Post 7483168)

Apologies to anyone who is offended by the word (i am mixed race and do not find the word offensive, nor have i EVER heard of it being considered an offensive term until this series of BB. As far as i knew it was a perfectly acceptable and commonly used word for a racial type.

I just wondered what everyone else thought about it.

Of course we know that the word 'N----r' is offensive. That is undeniably clear to us all.
But 'Negro'? When did that become a racial slur? I thought it was a generally acceptable racial category like Caucasian, Hispanic, Nordic, Oriental, Inuit etc.

So if 'White' is described as 'Caucasian' - what is the acceptable 'Black' equivalent then?

And check out this Wikipedia page; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro

Martin Luther King used to the word 'Negro' to describe his race (and he didn't like the term 'Black')
Whereas Malcolm X preferred the term 'Black' and didn't like the term 'Negro'.

Confused? I am! It goes on;

The U.S. census of 2010 - still uses the word 'Negro' as a racial category.

There is also the 'United Negro College Fund' and the 'Negro League' in sports.

So how is it offensive if it is still being used in an official capacity ??

So what terms ARE we allowed to use? And who decides what's right and wrong? And how do we know if (and when) the rules change? A word that's ok one day might be offensive the next. How would you know??

It's all gone a bit mad i think!

Originally Posted by jennyjuniper (Post 7483621)

I agree it's confusing. Especially as many 'black' people aren't black, but many shades of brown.

Originally Posted by lostalex (Post 7483811)

That's just silly. Most white people aren't white, they are many shades of pink.

Originally Posted by Firewire (Post 7483450)

If you're not black you don't really have a say

Originally Posted by Robodog (Post 7483168)

Apologies to anyone who is offended by the word (i am mixed race and do not find the word offensive, nor have i EVER heard of it being considered an offensive term until this series of BB. As far as i knew it was a perfectly acceptable and commonly used word for a racial type.

I just wondered what everyone else thought about it.

Of course we know that the word 'N----r' is offensive. That is undeniably clear to us all.
But 'Negro'? When did that become a racial slur? I thought it was a generally acceptable racial category like Caucasian, Hispanic, Nordic, Oriental, Inuit etc.

So if 'White' is described as 'Caucasian' - what is the acceptable 'Black' equivalent then?

And check out this Wikipedia page; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro

Martin Luther King used to the word 'Negro' to describe his race (and he didn't like the term 'Black')
Whereas Malcolm X preferred the term 'Black' and didn't like the term 'Negro'.

Confused? I am! It goes on;

The U.S. census of 2010 - still uses the word 'Negro' as a racial category.

There is also the 'United Negro College Fund' and the 'Negro League' in sports.

So how is it offensive if it is still being used in an official capacity ??

So what terms ARE we allowed to use? And who decides what's right and wrong? And how do we know if (and when) the rules change? A word that's ok one day might be offensive the next. How would you know??

It's all gone a bit mad i think!

Originally Posted by Dash Darington (Post 7484408)

It's funny how people actually believe that the producers don't want to participate in the race-baiting, and are getting dragged along by some outside pressure. They want to race-bait. They pretend that people of different races (genders, sexual orientations, religions, etc.) are constantly looking to harm one another, and set themselves up as the authority to which these factions appeal "injustices."

A divided population is powerless. Neo-liberal social politics are intended to disempower the public through factionalization. Divide-and-conquer is a simple enough concept for anyone to understand.

They have succeeded in sensitizing you to a new word. You'll notice that the black and mixed-race people here have said repeatedly that they didn't even know that they were supposed to be offended by the word "negro." You're being conditioned to be offended.

Originally Posted by Dash Darington (Post 7484408)

It's funny how people actually believe that the producers don't want to participate in the race-baiting, and are getting dragged along by some outside pressure. They want to race-bait. They pretend that people of different races (genders, sexual orientations, religions, etc.) are constantly looking to harm one another, and set themselves up as the authority to which these factions appeal "injustices."

A divided population is powerless. Neo-liberal social politics are intended to disempower the public through factionalization. Divide-and-conquer is a simple enough concept for anyone to understand.

They have succeeded in sensitizing you to a new word. You'll notice that the black and mixed-race people here have said repeatedly that they didn't even know that they were supposed to be offended by the word "negro." You're being conditioned to be offended.

Originally Posted by Pincho Paxton (Post 7484424)

Here are some more future racist remarks...

Ace of Spades!!!
Shovel of Coal!!!
Batman!!!
Honky!!!
Cue Ball!!!
Frostbite!!!
Snowman!!!
Marshmellow!!!
Blackjack!!!

Originally Posted by lostalex (Post 7484427)

i thought cue ball was a slur against bald guys, not white people. or is it dual purpose?

Would a bald black guy would be an eight ball?

Originally Posted by Jose Mourinho (Post 7484416)

Bored of this debate tbh. In a nutshell Alexander kindly explained to Ken that his use of the word might get his "Ass kicked". There is no doubt there was a time when the word was acceptable, but as Alex kindly taught us all, that time is no longer and it is clearly no longer acceptable. Who are we to argue with a man of his experience? Hope this answers your question.

Originally Posted by lostalex (Post 7484417)

but why did Ken say it again, after he was already warned by big brother, and after Alexander had already told him that he was offended by it. Alexander explained it to him in the most forgiving manner possible. Alexander was clearly offended, but he reacted in a calm cool and collected manner and explained it calmly and with some humor.

I can accept that maybe the word is not as well known in the UK as an offensive term, but he was told twice not to use it, both by big brother and Alexander, and then he went on to use it again.

Just like when it came to women, it was explained him by both big brother, and the women in the house that what he was saying was offensive, and then he continued to try to offend them.

He is either completely daft, or he was intentionally being offensive and trying to get kicked out. I think probably both are true.

Originally Posted by GiRTh (Post 7484420)

This black person is well aware of the history of the word. Its not the most offensive word ever used to describe black people but due to its misuse over the years and transformation into other words it has been a taboo word for a quite a few years.

Originally Posted by Dash Darington (Post 7484525)

Your feelings about the word have nothing to do with misuse. You've been deliberately sensitized to the word in order to further racial resentment and factionalization. There is no objective reason why "black" is a better word than "negro." In fact, they have precisely the same meaning: a reference to dark skin colour.

Originally Posted by GiRTh (Post 7484541)

No not at all. I have heard these words for decades , I've heard these word as terms of endearment and to cause offense, I have family who still freely use the word 'Pickney' and thus I have made up my OWN mind about these words.

Please dont ever tell me what I've deduced from my own life experience as you have no idea what you are talking aboiut.

Originally Posted by lostalex (Post 7483811)

That's just silly. Most white people aren't white, they are many shades of pink.

Originally Posted by Petemitch (Post 7484558)

Alexander was offended, so it is offensive

Originally Posted by Dash Darington (Post 7484555)

You haven't deduced anything. You've been sensitized. Sensitivity to a word has nothing to do with logic, and therefore cannot be the product of deductive reasoning.