"Colored">"Negro"> Black">"African American">"Black"?

My hometown is a a very small town, but it was okay to say black or colored or african-american, as long as you do not say it in a racist tone.

I now live in a town of over 200,000 and the same concepts seem to apply

Wow. “Colored” is still used where you live? I was thinking that term was the oldest of those that I mentioned…

I’m reminded how I used the term “colored” around my first black friend, at his house (I think I was around ten. I grew up in a very white neighborhood and I was pretty sheltered). He and his mother couldn’t stop laughing! His mother sensed my embarrassment and just told me with a smile, “Blippio, we’re black. It’s ok to say ‘black’.”

Well, it’s kind of like calling me a cracker because I’m white, it is not used frequently but noone get’s mad if you do say it

I have always said “Black”. I have several black friends who would rather me use the N-word around them. It was a little weird at first, but one friend in particular said, “We’re brothas, I’m yo’ N****, and you my N****!” I wouldn’t advise ever saying that, unless you are very close, and it is understood that you mean nothing derogatory.

blippio, I love your story, I got a good chuckle out of it.

i grew up in new york city, went to college in providence, and live now in portland, oregon. nobody i know says “colored”. black and African American are both seen as generally acceptable. African American seems to be the more formal, technically polite term, likewise “Caucasian” is more formal and polite than “white”.

You might find this recent New York Times op-ed to be helpful. It’s about the differences between the terms “black” and “African-American.”

I think the term “black” is acceptable.

As far as color blindness goes, I feel like being blind to color is not the way to go. I don’t think we can ignore the color of people’s skin. We need to celebrate each other’s culture, but we should not use race as a reason to hire someone or accept them to college.

excellent article, bob!

black people for me I’m from Brooklyn
also as ignorant as it sounds we refer to everyone as my nigga.. I’m puertorican hope I didn’t offend anyone. Just my 2 cents.

I use the term black with my friends.

I think black is fine. I’m always amused when people try to “skirt the issue” but end up taking forever to point someone out when they could have just said, “the black guy.”
My friend Mike tells a story:
In college a friend of his was trying to point someone out to him, but was being too politically correct in his speech. When Mike finally realized whom he was talking about he said. “Oh, you mean the asian guy with tourettes?”

I personally prefer to be called tan/brown. I’m a dark Puerto Rican; fair-skinned individuals tend to automatically lump me into the “black” conglomerate. I’ve learned to live with it because most just don’t know. But in a day and age where people are becoming more and more mixed, and there are so many hues of tan, is it fair to say a tan person is “black”, only because their skin is not fair?
I’ve wondered this. I know there isn’t an outright way to know/identify a person’s culture – but isn’t it more fair to refer to them by their predominant culture? What do we call the kid who is mixed with black and Chinese, and raised in the Chinese culture (and can speak the native tongue?) that boy, in his mind, is Chinese – but outwardly – he is called black. I’ve lived this life – and it’s not fair to make someone choose.

Senator Obama fought this same fight. White culture was what he was raised in, and what he identified with – until he learned his difference meant something to everyone else. That was about the time he exposed himself to the black culture and worked as a community organizer in black communities.

As for me, I will call people by their hue. I will teach my children to do the same – and if I become a teacher (I’d like to one day), I will teach my students the same. People are pink, fair, golden, brown, yellowish, black, bronze… It isn’t one or the other – black or white.

Forget the old ways, people. It boxes people in and causes frustration and self-confusion.

(some may identify – it is the same battle of self that a closeted gay person felt in this society years ago – I feel one way but everyone sees me that way…

I use the term Black as I certainly wouldn’t find it offensive to be called White. And if they were born in England I certainly wouldn’t call them African, that’s stereotypic racism, and false!
Until recently I used the phrase coloured, but then I found out it came from – where a white person has been coloured in from the proper ‘colour’.
I think things like this actually all depend on the people you’re talking to.
I find it really hypocritical though that some black people can go around saying “hey nigger!” whilst if I were to say it I would be condemned.