Is the word "*****" racist?

Question

I am making a documentary for a school project about the Loving v. Virginia supreme court case, in which I refer to Mildred Loving as "part ***** and part Native American." another student in my class commented that the word "*****" is racist, but the teacher didn't mention it. i was always under the impression that ***** was the academically correct term, like Caucasian. in court documents, her wedding license, birth certificate, and arrest warrant she is said to be "*****." this project is a big part of my grade and i would hate to lose points for not being politically correct. also the word ***** is in the spell-check dictionary(it corrected me for not capitalizing it).

Answer 1

For decades the polite word was *****.  In the sixties Black became the polite word.  Black gave way to African American.  I guess I could start calling myself a European American as my grandparents were from Europe.  Because of political correctness run amuck  kids today are missing out on some great literature.  No more Mark Twain because he had Huck Finn using the N word.  Will what else would a white boy, son of a low class white man use if not the N word when discussing a runaway slave he was helping.  Huck came to realize that n_____Jim was a man afterall which was pretty revolutionary for the nineteenth century.  I am sure Mark Twain was considered a N lover for the positive way he portrayed the slave Jim. You probably never heard of O'Henry who wrote a ton of great short stories just over 100 years ago, perhaps the best known being "The Gift of the Maji"  Even though he slammed my nationality I still love his stories.

Answer 2

The word "*****" has historical accuracy.  It is not a contemporary noun, but if your are using historical documents for your references, then I believe it is perfectly acceptable.  I would go to the  wikipedia site you can access using the yahoo search engine at the top of this page, and see what wikipedia has to say about it.

Answer 3

techniqually, the word means black in spanish, so literally, not at all..it's the same as saying black in english.

the word has just been used by so many southerners it's gotten it's rep, like a lot of other ridiculous words.

Answer 4

***** is the spanish word for black...

the black house=la casa negra

the black raze      la raza negra

Answer 5

First, I think it's completely acceptable considering your context and reference material. Second, (this might just be my opinion) the word race get thrown around far too much and has been taken way out context when it comes to discussing ETHNICITY. Human is our race, *****, Caucasian, etc... is ethnicity.  By the way can someone help me find Caucasia on a map, as I've been told I'm from there.

Answer 6

nope, words in general aren't racist, just some of the people who use them

Answer 7

The term is more archaic the racist.  The following organizations use the term:

United ***** College Fund

http://www.uncf.org/

http://gmsp.org/default.aspx

***** Leagues Baseball Museum

http://www.nlbm.com/

National Council of ***** Women, Inc.

http://www.ncnw.org/

Journal of ***** Education

http://www.journalnegroed.org/

The ***** Ensemble Company, Inc.

http://www.necinc.org/

Given today's PC climate, with those expecting to be offended at every turn, it no doubt will be much safer for you the currently correct buzzwords of the revisionists.

You might check and see if "Native American" is still OK.

Answer 8

Goodirish boy 2004 wrote

"By the way can someone help me find Caucasia on a map, as I've been told I'm from there."

well here you go

http://mapstor.com/article/caucausus-mou...

Answer 9

It wasn't a few decades ago, when they demanded to be called by this term.

Answer 10

its not as bad as  another word commonly used when refering to blacks.

if your not sure about it...say african american.

Answer 11

Honestly, I don't think the word is considered racist. I think you are correct when you say it is like using Caucasian when refering to a white person. But I would personally take offense to it if someone called me a *****. Especially if it was directed to me by someone of another race. But I do believe you are right though, just try to use it in the nicest way as possible if any. And if you dont mean it racially...

Answer 12

Most physical and biological anthropologists no longer have faith in the idea of race, or the use of racial terms, scientifically speaking.

That means that race is strictly a social construct.

Now, whether the word "*****" is racist depends entirely on context.

Current preference in the community of American persons descended from southern slaves is "African  American." The sensitive option is to use the term that most people call themselves by. For instance, you do not want to go around calling Jews "people of the Hebraic persuasion." You shouldn't call people with disabilities "the handicapped." Think about the terms you use; if how you are using a term makes sense and is not intended in a derogatory manner, it is likely OK.

But, all in all, one should call people what they want to be called. Thus, just because he spells his name D-W-Y-A-N-E doesn't mean that the Miami Heat basketball star shouldn't have his name pronounced as if it were spelled D-U-A-N-E or D-W-A-Y-N-E. That's how he pronounces it, so that's how it should be pronounced!

Answer 13

Its a great power you have when you can p**s of a whole section of society just by using a word.

Answer 14

If another student thinks it is racist then don't use it. You could try Native American mulatto and see if that works.

Answer 15

It is the proper name of a race.  African is racist or just stupid when describing Negroes.

Answer 16

As with all words, whether or not the word '*****' is racist, is subjective and dependant upon context.  Any kind of racial distinction could potentially lead to offence from someone, somewhere.

For your information, the word '*****' comes from the Spanish/Portugese word for 'black'.  '*****' is not in "technical use", but I personally would think that it is fine for a school project -particularly when your source documents use it.

Answer 17

Skin color has very little to do with anthropological development.

The term "*******" is a scientific term applying to the shape of human skulls typical to central and southern Africa. So, words like "*****" and "Caucasian" have little room in academia (especially considering the origins of the term "Caucasian")