Is it 2010 or 1910? said Jonathan Pitts-Wiley in TheRoot.com. Black folk have to be wondering, after hearing the news that on the race section of this year’s official census form, one of the boxes for Americans to check is labeled “Black, African-Am., or Negro.” The term Negro, I thought, was a relic of the Jim Crow era that no one, with the exception of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, uses anymore—least of all the government. The Census Bureau has now explained that it was attempting to be “inclusive,” as many older African-Americans apparently still think of themselves as Negroes. That may be true, but would the omission of this “negatively loaded” term really cause anyone to check the wrong box? I don’t think so.
“Negroes, please,” said Darryl Owens in the Orlando Sentinel. I understand “the heartburn some feel for a word that is outdated as lunch-counter protests,” but let’s not have a “collective coronary about its inclusion on the census form.” The question of what to call black Americans has vexed well-meaning linguists for generations, and “Negro” has appeared on the census form since 1950. The Census Bureau is now reviewing whether the word should be dropped for the 2020 census, but in the meantime we black Americans can reflect on the “unabashed progress we’ve made.” Whatever you think of the wording of that particular box, remember that this year, the president of the U.S. will be checking it off.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
