Almost Worth Knowing: A term best left in the last millennium

This April, many of us will, yet again, fill out a census form. In the United States, a census is conducted every ten years and, as a part of that, residents of the United States (citizen and non-citizen alike) are expected to include information such as race. While this same question (and term) has been included previously, it comes somewhat as a surprise that this year, Americans again have the option to be identified as "Negro."

The term Negro comes from the Latin base niger meaning black. It is also the word for black in Spanish, Portuguese, and ancient Italian. Prior to the civil rights movement, Negro was actually the polite term to use in reference to Black people, superseding the term "colored." However, the term fell out of favor, largely due to the fact that it was associated with the long history of slavery, segregation, and discrimination that treated African Americans as second class citizens, or worse. Today, it still exists in historical references as well as in the names of older organizations such as the United Negro College Fund.

Another place it can be found is Question 9 in the upcoming Census 2010 (one option for racial designation is "Black, African Am., or Negro"). The US Census Bureau has been criticized in several media publications for reviving the controversial term, with members of the public calling the word improper and unnecessary.

In the US Census Bureau's defense, however, the term "African American" was added to the form in 2000, catering to that political notion. Similarly, the term "Black" was added in 1970. Before that, the only racial signifier found on the form was "Negro." Logically, one might assume the antiquated term would be eliminated now that it has fallen to disuse and has been replaced by more politically correct terms. The US Census Bureau justifies their decision to retain the term, however, stating it is a term of inclusion and "Many older African-Americans identified themselves that way, and many still do. Those who identify themselves as Negroes need to be included." Personally, while I do not feel strongly that the term should be removed, I find the purported reasoning to be silly and think the term could easily be retired without affecting the accuracy of Census results. I doubt that there is a significant number of individuals remaining who consider themselves Negroes, but would not also be able to identify as Black or African American.

Then again, perhaps I'm wrong. All I know is that I've been waiting years for a box marked Oriental. This April, I guess I'll just have to check "Other."