I'm not sure what to say here..?

Question

I really mean no offense to anyone, but I am so confused. I do not know how to refer to a colored person. I feel really awkward calling them 'black' and I think it's racist. I used the term 'N.e.gro' today and my friends were like '=O'. I thought it was a non-derogative term, but I guess not. I used to just say African American, but a few people suggested that that might be offensive to some people, because although being colored, they may not be from Africa. Excuse my teenage ignorance, but I really do not want to offend anybody. I feel 'colored' is too vague. Can someone help me out =/

Answer 1

yes

Answer 2

Believe me, it is not teenage ignorance.

The word ***** never used to be a derogatory term, but now it apparently is. I have heard black people refer to themselves as black and I don't see a problem if you are referring to someone as black. For example if you are asking someone "who is that cute black guy that just moved in?" I have no problem being called white, even though I'm more of a pinkish brown, tending to darker brown in the summer.

The world needs to look beyond political correctness and look at the context in which words are used.  

Answer 3

Why don't you call them by their name?

If you don't know their name, use "person" - it works for everyone.

Answer 4

The PC term is melaninically privileged.

Answer 5

Ok first off never use ***** unless you're refering to a coperation. Not even if you're a black person. Idk why you'd want to anyway... sounds weird.

Now, people who are black are usually from African decent unless their like dark hispanic.

Your best bet is to use black. I'm black and I hang out with tons of white people and when it comes time to use the word, they just use black.

"you're black!" or  "black people!"

Ofcourse using that person's name would be an automatic win simply because no one wants to be reffered to as black guy or black girl all the time.

Answer 6

I don't think "*****" is offensive...I think it's because "*****" sounds similar to the other N word. I think you should say "Black", because some of them are considered Black but not from Africa. Colored people are actually all people that are not white. So, the appropriate term is "Black".

Answer 7

black.

it isnt racist, its just a term to describe their color.

people call us "white" all the time, so whats the big deal?