[Jose Mourinho]

Originally Posted by Robodog

Obama was ok enough with the word to allow his administration to use it as an official racial category in their 2010 census.

Not saying it hasn't become offensive to some people since 2010 but what i'm highlighting is the bizarre confusion surrounding the use of the word when it has been used in a legitimate official capacity like the census and then suddenly becomes regarded as an offensive term on Big Brother within 4 short years. It's an alarming switch from one end of the acceptability scale to the other, in a very short space of time.

No wonder people are confused by it.

And seeing as you asked, I'm mixed race and am happy with the word blanc or negro. In fact, you can call me what you like. I am an adult and don't need anyone to police what people say to me, i can deal with it myself. I don't take offence unless people mean to cause me offence - no matter what language they use.

And if you CBA with this convo then don't bother yourself with it. That's case closed. Cheers.

Errr its actually been removed from the U.S census now.. Don't really think Obama was in presidency long enough nor did he have the time to have it removed by 2010. But it has been removed now. For obvious reasons. Case closed.

Cheers.

Go read about the history of the word. And why the meaning of it has changed over the years. It might simply be "A word" to you. But that word has a very SYMBOLIC meaning and we should respect and allow for that as decent, civilized human beings.

[Robodog]

Originally Posted by Jose Mourinho

Errr its actually been removed from the U.S census now.. Don't really think Obama was in presidency long enough nor did he have the time to have it removed by 2010. But it has been removed now. For obvious reasons. Case closed.

Cheers.

Go read about the history of the word. And why the meaning of it has changed over the years. It might simply be "A word" to you. But that word has a very SYMBOLIC meaning and we should respect and allow for that as decent, civilized human beings.

For someone who just told me you CBA with this convo, you seem unable to actually follow that through and walk away from it.

You are telling me to 'go read about the history of the word'? I know all about it son and i have given examples of its history. I am simply pointing out the confusion surrounding its use from being a very recent, accepted official racial category on the census in 2010 to suddenly switching and being an offensive term in 2015.

Yes it's 'A word' - but whatever term is used to describe racial types is always going to be 'A word'. And we need words to describe ourselves and the world around us. The question is - what words CAN we use without someone getting offended? My point being what is an acceptable term on mpnday may become unacceptable by wednesday, so how do you keep up? The rules keep changing and it's maddening, do you not see that?

For example - What word would YOU use to describe the racial type of Martin Luther King?

He didn't like the word 'black', he preferred the word 'negro'. But what would YOU call him?

[Jose Mourinho]

Originally Posted by Robodog

For someone who just told me you CBA with this convo, you seem unable to actually follow that through and walk away from it.

You are telling me to 'go read about the history of the word'? I know all about it son and i have given examples of its history. I am simply pointing out the confusion surrounding its use from being a very recent, accepted official racial category on the census in 2010 to suddenly switching and being an offensive term in 2015.

Yes it's 'A word' - but whatever term is used to describe racial types is always going to be 'A word'. And we need words to describe ourselves and the world around us. The question is - what words CAN we use without someone getting offended? My point being what is an acceptable term on mpnday may become unacceptable by wednesday, so how do you keep up? The rules keep changing and it's maddening, do you not see that?

For example - What word would YOU use to describe the racial type of Martin Luther King?

He didn't like the word 'black', he preferred the word 'negro'. But what would YOU call him?

Martin Luther King was born when that word was acceptable. His use of it is far different from the one this thread is related to. To compare it to that is avoiding the reality of the situation. The word has now become unacceptable over the years. Do you not see that? And its not just "A word " anymore. The world is not as simple as that.

[Robodog]

Originally Posted by Jose Mourinho

Martin Luther King was born when that word was acceptable. His use of it is far different from the one this thread is related to. To compare it to that is avoiding the reality of the situation. The word has now become unacceptable over the years. Do you not see that? And its not just "A word " anymore. The world is not as simple as that.

I knew you couldn't give that a straight answer because as you rightly say - the world is not as simple as that. But it should be - which is my point.

There is too much unnecessary confusion when it comes to words describing racial types. A word considered acceptable as recently as 2010 (in the census) is suddenly not acceptable come 2015. It's crazy and it causes people to be branded 'racist' today just for using a term that was acceptable yesterday - even when they have no racist intent whatsover. The goalposts moved and they never got the memo telling them what the new bad word of the day is.

I know Black people who prefer the word 'Negro' to the word 'Black' when it comes to describing their genetic lineage. They use 'negro' instead of 'black' as others would use 'caucasian' instead of 'white'. Are they wrong to have that preference?

[Jose Mourinho]

Originally Posted by Robodog

I knew you couldn't give that a straight answer because as you rightly say - the world is not as simple as that. But it should be - which is my point.

There is too much unnecessary confusion when it comes to words describing racial types. A word considered acceptable as recently as 2010 (in the census) is suddenly not acceptable come 2015. It's crazy and it causes people to be branded 'racist' today just for using a term that was acceptable yesterday - even when they have no racist intent whatsover. The goalposts moved and they never got the memo telling them what the new bad word of the day is.

I know Black people who prefer the word 'Negro' to the word 'Black' when it comes to describing their genetic lineage. They use 'negro' instead of 'black' as others would use 'caucasian' instead of 'white'. Are they wrong to have that preference?

I did not go into detail because YOU said you knew the history of the word? But hell on a subject like this I'd be more than happy to write or link you some posts detailing what that word means.

It is not acceptable now. Stick to the facts. There is a reason it has been removed from the census and a reason it is no longer used by the U.S army and a reason why that guy apologised to Obama for using it in that link I gave you.

Sure they may be some very very very old school black people who still accept the word. But times have changed. The fact someone apologised to Obama for using the word says it all don't you think? And don't think of it as just a spanish word or an Italian word. Think of it from UK perspective.