{{short description|Historical term for Black people}} {{About|the historical term|the outdated race concept|Negroid|other uses|Negro (disambiguation)|and|Negress (disambiguation)}} {{pp-vandalism|small=yes}} {{Italic title}}{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} In the English language, the term '''''negro''''' is a term historically used to refer to people of [[Black people|Black]] [[Africa]]n heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color [[black]] in Spanish and Portuguese (from [[latin language|Latin]] ''niger''), where English took it from.<ref name=Oxford/> The term can be viewed as [[Offensive language|offensive]], inoffensive, or completely neutral, largely depending on the context, region or country where it is used, as well as the time period and context in which it is applied. It has various equivalents in other [[languages of Europe]].
==In English== [[File:Negroland and Guinea with the European Settlements, 1736.jpg|thumb|450px|A European map of [[West Africa]], 1736. Included is the archaic mapping designation of [[Negroland]].]] Around 1442, the Portuguese first arrived in [[Southern Africa]] while trying to find a sea route to India.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Thatcher|first1=Oliver|title=Vasco da Gama: Round Africa to India, 1497–1498 CE|url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1497degama.asp|website=Modern History Sourcebook|publisher=Milwaukee: University Research Extension Co.|access-date=19 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Vasco da Gama's Voyage of 'Discovery' 1497|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/vasco-da-gamas-voyage-discovery-1497|website=South African History Online|access-date=19 February 2018}}</ref> The term {{lang|pt|negro}}, literally meaning 'black', was used by the Spanish and Portuguese as a simple description to refer to the [[Bantu peoples]] that they encountered. {{lang|es|Negro}} denotes 'black' in Spanish and Portuguese, derived from the [[Latin]] word ''[[:wikt:niger#Latin|niger]]'', meaning 'black', which itself is probably from a [[Proto-Indo-European root]] {{lang|ine-x-proto|*nekw-}}, "to be dark", akin to {{lang|ine-x-proto|*nokw-}}, 'night'.<ref>{{cite book |title=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language |year=2000 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston |isbn=0-395-82517-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/americanheritage0000unse_a1o7/page/2039 2039] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/americanheritage0000unse_a1o7/page/2039 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=An Indo-European Comparative Dictionary |last=Mann |first=Stuart E. |year=1984 |publisher=Helmut Buske Verlag |location=Hamburg |isbn=3-87118-550-7 |page=858}}</ref> ''Negro'' was also used for the peoples of West Africa in [[history of cartography|old maps]] labelled [[Negroland]], an area stretching along the [[Niger River]].
From the 18th century to the late 1960s, ''negro'' (later capitalized) was considered to be the proper [[English language|English-language]] term for people of black African origin. According to Oxford Dictionaries, use of the word "now seems out of date or even offensive in both British and US English".<ref name=Oxford>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/Negro |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120809235841/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/Negro |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 August 2012 |title=Negro: definition of Negro in Oxford dictionary (British & World English) |publisher=Oxforddictionaries.com |access-date=2014-05-11 |quote=The word Negro was adopted from Spanish and Portuguese}}</ref>
A specifically female form of the word, ''negress'' (sometimes capitalized), was occasionally used. However, like ''[[Jews|Jewess]]'', it has completely fallen out of use.
''[[Negroid]]'' was used within [[physical anthropology]] to denote one of the three purported races of humankind, alongside [[Caucasoid race|''Caucasoid'']] and ''[[Mongoloid]]''. The suffix "[[wikt:-oid|-oid]]" means "similar to". ''Negroid'' as a noun was used to designate a wider or more generalized category than ''Negro''; as an adjective, it qualified a noun as in, for example, "negroid features".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/famous/royalfamily.html |title=Queen Charlotte of Britain |publisher=pbs.org |access-date=2013-05-19}}</ref>
===United States=== {{more citations needed section |reason=Too much original research in this section. |find=racial labels |find2=colored Negro Black United States |date=February 2022}} {{Quote box | quote = "If on no other issue than this one [the capitalization of the word ''Negro''], [[W. E. B. Du Bois|Du Bois]] and [[Booker T. Washington|Washington]] were in total agreement; each of them consistently urged the adoption of upper-case treatment by mainstream publications. Du Bois's ''[[The Suppression of the African Slave-trade to the United States of America|Suppression]]'' and ''[[The Philadelphia Negro|Philadelphia Negro]]'' monographs had been among the first to have the noun placed in capitals, and Washington's success in getting [[Doubleday, Page and Company]] to capitalize the word in ''[[Up From Slavery]]'' represented a significant breakthrough." | source = ''[[W. E. B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 1868–1919]]'' by [[David Levering Lewis]]<ref name="Lewis Biography">{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=David Levering |title=W. E. B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 1868–1919 |date=1993 |publisher=Henry Holt |isbn=0-8050-2621-5 |page=385}}</ref> | align = right | width = 29% }} ''Negro'' superseded ''[[colored]]'' as the most polite word for [[African Americans]] at a time when ''black'' was considered more offensive.<ref>Nguyen, Elizabeth. [http://www.thespartandaily.com/news/2004/02/24/CampusNews/Origins.Of.Black.History.Month.Discussed-1498219.shtml "Origins of Black History Month", ''Spartan Daily'', Campus News. San Jose State University. 24 February 2004. Accessed 12 April 2008.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002025209/http://www.thespartandaily.com/news/2004/02/24/CampusNews/Origins.Of.Black.History.Month.Discussed-1498219.shtml |date=2 October 2011 }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=December 2020}}{{failed verification|date=December 2020}} In [[Colonial history of the United States|17th-century colonial America]], the term ''Negro'' had been also, according to one historian, used to describe [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]].<ref name="true">{{cite web|url=https://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/10/09/5-little-known-facts-about-african-americans-natives-and-slavery-17th-century-151664|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009153721/https://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/10/09/5-little-known-facts-about-african-americans-natives-and-slavery-17th-century-151664|archive-date=9 October 2013|title=6 Shocking Facts About Slavery, Natives and African Americans|access-date=30 November 2021|date=9 October 2013|publisher=[[Indian Country Today Media Network]]}}</ref> [[John Belton O'Neall]]'s [[The Negro Law of South Carolina]] (1848) stipulated that "the term negro is confined to slave Africans, (the ancient [[Berbers]]) and their descendants. It does not embrace the free inhabitants of Africa, such as the Egyptians, [[Moors]], or the negro Asiatics, such as the [[Lascar|Lascars]]."<ref name="Law">{{cite web|last1=O'Neall|first1=John Belton|title=The Negro Law of South Carolina|url=https://archive.org/stream/negrolawsouthca00goog#page/n8/mode/2up|website=Internet Archive|publisher=Printed by J.G. Bowman|access-date=1 June 2018}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> The [[Negro Academy|American Negro Academy]] was founded in 1897, to support [[liberal arts]] education. [[Marcus Garvey]] used the word in the names of [[black nationalism|black nationalist]] and [[Pan-Africanism|pan-Africanist]] organizations such as the [[Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League|Universal Negro Improvement Association]] (founded 1914), the ''[[Negro World]]'' (1918), the [[Negro Factories Corporation]] (1919), and the [[Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World]] (1920). [[W. E. B. Du Bois]] and Dr. [[Carter G. Woodson]] used it in the titles of their non-fiction books, ''[[The Negro]]'' (1915) and ''[[The Mis-Education of the Negro]]'' (1933) respectively. Du Bois also used in the titles of his books ''[[The Study of the Negro Problems]]'' (1898) and ''[[The Philadelphia Negro]]'' (1899). ''Negro'' was accepted as normal, both as [[endonym and exonym]], until the late 1960s, after the later [[Civil Rights Movement]]. One example is [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] self-identification as ''Negro'' in his famous "[[I Have a Dream]]" speech of 1963. [[File:All-Negro_Comics_1.jpg|thumb|Prevalence of ''negro'' as a [[demonym]] has varied in American English. ''[[All-Negro Comics]]'' was a 1947 comic anthology written by African-American writers and featuring black characters.]] However, during the late 1950s and early 1960s, the word ''Negro'' began to be criticized as having been imposed by white people, and having connotations of racial subservience and [[Uncle Tomism]]. The term ''Black'', in contrast, denoted pride, power, and a rejection of the past. It took root first in more militant groups such as the [[Black Muslims (United States)|Black Muslims]] and [[Black Panthers]], and by 1967, [[SNCC]] leader [[Stokely Carmichael]] pushed for the abandonment of ''Negro''. After the [[1967 Newark riots|Newark riots]] in the summer of 1967, one third to one half of young Black males polled in Newark self-identified as ''Black''. The term coexisted for a while with ''Negro'', with the newer term initially referring only to progressive or radical Blacks, while ''Negro'' was used more for the Black establishment.<ref name="Smith-1992">{{citation |last=Smith |first=Tom W |title=Changing Racial Labels: From 'Colored' to 'Negro' to 'Black' to 'African American'. |date=1992 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/2749204 |journal=The Public Opinion Quarterly |volume=56 |issue=4 |publisher=[[OUP]], [[AAPOR]] |pages=496–514 |doi=10.1086/269339 |jstor=2749204|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{rp|499}} [[Malcolm X]] preferred ''Black'' to ''Negro'', but also started using the term ''Afro-American'' after leaving the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>Liz Mazucci, "[http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccbh/mxp/Souls.Going_Back_To_Our_Own.pdf Going Back to Our Own: Interpreting Malcolm X's Transition From 'Black Asiatic' to 'Afro-American'", ''Souls'' 7(1), 2005, pp. 66–83.]</ref>
Since the late 1960s, various other terms have been more widespread in popular usage. These include ''[[Black people|Black]]'', ''[[Black African]]'', ''[[Afro-American]]'' (in use from the late 1960s to 1990) and ''[[African American]]''.<ref>Christopher H. Foreman, The African-American predicament, Brookings Institution Press, 1999, p. 99.</ref> The word ''Negro'' fell out of favor by the early 1970s and major media including [[Associated Press]] and ''[[The New York Times]]'' stopped using it that decade.<ref>{{Cite web |title=When Did the Word Negro Become Socially Unacceptable? - 2010 - Question of the Month - Jim Crow Museum |url=https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/question/2010/october.htm |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu}}</ref> However, many older African Americans initially found the term ''black'' more offensive than ''Negro.''
The term ''Negro'' is still used in some historical contexts, such as the songs known as [[Negro spirituals]], the [[Negro leagues]] of baseball in the early and mid-20th century, and organizations such as the [[United Negro College Fund]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uncf.org |title=UNCF New Brand |publisher=Uncf.org |access-date=2013-05-19}}</ref><ref name="NYTimesUNCFName">{{cite news | last =Quenqua | first =Douglas | title =Revising a Name, but Not a Familiar Slogan | work = [[The New York Times]] | date = 17 January 2008 | url= https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/business/media/17adco.html?ex=1358312400&en=9ea1e9b5b0107c07&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink}}</ref> The [[academic journal]] published by [[Howard University]] since 1932 still bears the title ''[[Journal of Negro Education]]'', but others have changed: e.g. the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (founded 1915) became the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History in 1973, and is now the [[Association for the Study of African American Life and History]]; its publication ''The Journal of Negro History'' became ''[[The Journal of African American History]]'' in 2001. [[Margo Jefferson]] titled her 2015 book ''[[Negroland: A Memoir]]'' to evoke growing up in the 1950s and 1960s in the [[African-American upper class]].
African-American linguist [[John McWhorter]] has bemoaned attacks on the use of ''Negro'' in "utterances or written reproductions of the word when referring to older texts and titles". He cites reports that performances or publishing of certain works ([[William L. Dawson (composer)|William L. Dawson]]'s ''[[Negro Folk Symphony]]'', and an anthology of [[Norman Mailer]]'s works) have been avoided, "out of wariness of the word 'Negro'” used in titles; and of "two cases" between 2020-2021 "of white college professors having complaints filed against them by students for using the word 'Negro' in class when quoting older texts."<ref>{{cite news |title=I Can't Brook the Idea of Banning 'Negro'| last1=McWhorter |first1=John |date=7 January 2022 |newspaper=The New York Times }}</ref>
The [[United States Census Bureau]] included ''Negro'' on the [[2010 United States Census|2010 Census]], alongside ''Black'' and ''African-American'', because some older black Americans still self-identify with the term.<ref>[http://2010.census.gov/2010census/how/interactive-form.php U.S. Census Bureau interactive form, Question 9. Accessed 7 January 2010.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108084300/http://2010.census.gov/2010census/how/interactive-form.php |date=8 January 2010 }}</ref><ref>[http://wcbstv.com/national/negro.census.form.2.1409469.html CBS New York Local News. Accessed 7 January 2010.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109115238/http://wcbstv.com/national/negro.census.form.2.1409469.html |date=9 January 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/01/06/Census-Bureau-defends-negro-addition/UPI-70241262798663/|title=Census Bureau defends 'negro' addition|date=2010-01-06|work=UPI|access-date=7 January 2010}}</ref> The [[U.S. census]] used the grouping "Black, African-American, or Negro". ''Negro'' was used in an effort to include older African Americans who more closely associate with the term.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2010/01/06/2010-01-06_census_negro_issue_use_of_word_on_forms_raises_hackles_memories_of_jim_crow.html | location=New York | work=Daily News | title= Use of word Negro on 2010 census forms raises memories of Jim Crow| first1=Katie | last1=Mcfadden | first2=Larry | last2=Mcshane | date=6 January 2010}}</ref> In 2013, the census removed the term from its forms and questionnaires.<ref>{{Cite news|title=No More 'Negro' For Census Bureau Forms And Surveys|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/02/25/172885551/no-more-negro-for-census-bureau-forms-and-surveys|access-date=2021-06-26|newspaper=NPR|date=25 February 2013|language=en|last1=Brown|first1=Tanya Ballard}}</ref> The term has also been censored by some newspaper archives.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Healy |first1=Paul |title=Segregation on buses ruled unconstitutional by Supreme Court in 1956 |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2015/11/12/segregation-on-buses-ruled-unconstitutional-by-supreme-court-in-1956/ |access-date=2025-11-04 |work=New York Daily News |date=2015-11-12 |orig-date=14 November 1956 |quote=The case grew out of the boycott by [African-Americans] of segregated buses in Montgomery.}}</ref>
===Liberia=== The [[constitution of Liberia]] limits Liberian nationality to ''Negro'' people (see also [[Liberian nationality law]]).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tannenbaum |first1=Jessie |last2=Valcke |first2=Anthony |last3=McPherson |first3=Andrew |last4=Mueller |first4=Leah |last5=Conté |first5=Simon |title=Analysis of the Aliens and Nationality Law of the Republic of Liberia |journal=SSRN Electronic Journal |date=2009-05-01 |doi=10.2139/ssrn.1795122 |ssrn = 1795122}}</ref> [[Liberia#Ethnic groups|People of other racial origins]], even if they have lived for many years in [[Liberia]], are thus precluded from becoming citizens of the Republic.<ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/directories/roli/liberia/liberia_analysis_of_the_aliens_and_nationality_law.authcheckdam.pdf|title = ANALYSIS OF THE ALIENS AND NATIONALITY LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA|last = American Bar Association|date = May 2009|journal = ABA Rule of Law Initiative}}</ref>
==In other languages==
===Spanish language=== In [[Spanish language|Spanish]], {{lang|es|negro}} (feminine {{lang|es|negra}}) is most commonly used for the color black, but it can also be used to describe people with dark-colored skin. In Spain, Mexico, and almost all of Latin America, {{lang|es|negro}} (lower-cased, as [[ethnonym]]s are generally not capitalized in [[Romance languages]]) means just 'black colour' and does not refer by itself to any ethnic or race unless further context is provided. As in English, this Spanish word is often used figuratively and negatively, to mean 'irregular' or 'undesirable', as in {{lang|es|mercado negro}} ('[[black market]]'). However, in most Spanish-speaking countries, {{lang|es|negro}} and {{lang|es|negra}} are commonly as a form of endearment, when used to refer to partners or close friends.<ref name="DRAE">"[http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltGUIBusUsual?LEMA=negro&TIPO_HTML=2&FORMATO=ampliado negro]" in the ''[[Diccionario de la Real Academia Española]]''</ref>
===Spanish East Indies=== [[File:Bosquejo del archipiélago filipino, 1885 "Negritos o Aetas" (3817431370).jpg|thumb|"Negritos o Aetas" illustration in ''Bosquejo Geográfico e Histórico-natural del Archipielago Filipino'' ({{Interlanguage link multi|Ramon Jordana i Morera|ca}}, 1885)]] In the [[Philippines]], which historically had almost no contact with the [[Atlantic slave trade]], the Spanish-derived term {{lang|fil|negro}} (feminine {{lang|fil|negra}}) is still commonly used to refer to black people, as well as to people with dark-colored skin (both native and foreign). As in Spanish usage, it has no negative connotations when referring to black people. However, it can be mildly pejorative when referring to the skin color of other native Filipinos due to traditional beauty standards. The use of the term for the color black is restricted to Spanish phrases or nouns.<ref>{{cite thesis |last= Rondilla |first=Joanne Laxamana |date= 2012|title=Colonial Faces: Beauty and Skin Color Hierarchy in the Philippines and the U.S. |type=PhD|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9523k0nb}}</ref><ref name="mana">{{cite book |last1=Manalansan IV |first1=Martin F. |title=Global Divas |date=2003 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=9780822385172 |page=57}}</ref>
''[[Negrito]]'' (feminine {{lang|fil|negrita}}) is also a term used in the Philippines to refer to the various darker-skinned native ethnic groups that partially descended from early [[Australo-Melanesian]] migrations. These groups include the [[Aeta people|Aeta]], [[Ati people|Ati]], [[Mamanwa people|Mamanwa]], and the [[Batak people (Philippines)|Batak]], among others. Despite physical appearances, they all speak [[Austronesian languages]] and are genetically related to other [[Austronesian people|Austronesian]] Filipinos. The island of [[Negros]] is named after them.<ref name="del Castillo">{{cite news |last1=del Castillo |first1=Clem |title=A closer look at our indigenous people |url=https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/38381 |access-date=21 November 2018 |work=SunStar Philippines |date=22 October 2015 |archive-date=11 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511015647/https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/38381 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The term [[Negrito]] has entered scientific usage in the English language based on the original Spanish/Filipino usage to refer to similar populations in South and Southeast Asia.<ref>Snow, Philip. ''The Star Raft: China's Encounter With Africa.'' Cornell Univ. Press, 1989 ({{ISBN|0801495830}})</ref> However, the appropriateness of using the word to bundle people of similar physical appearances has been questioned as genetic evidence show they do not have close shared ancestry.<ref>{{citation |url=http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/msl124v1.pdf |title=Phylogeography and Ethnogenesis of Aboriginal Southeast Asians |author1=Catherine Hill |author2=Pedro Soares |author3=Maru Mormina |author4=Vincent Macaulay |author5=William Meehan |author6=James Blackburn |author7=Douglas Clarke |author8=Joseph Maripa Raja |author9=Patimah Ismail |author10=David Bulbeck |author11=Stephen Oppenheimer |author12=Martin Richards |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2006 |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |doi=10.1093/molbev/msl124 |pmid=16982817 |volume=23 |issue=12 |pages=2480–91 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409132033/http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/msl124v1.pdf |archive-date=9 April 2008|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Chaubey_and_Endicott">{{Cite journal|last1=Chaubey|first1=Gyaneshwer|last2=Endicott|first2=Phillip|date=2013-02-01|title=The Andaman Islanders in a regional genetic context: reexamining the evidence for an early peopling of the archipelago from South Asia|journal=Human Biology|volume=85|issue=1–3|pages=153–172|doi=10.3378/027.085.0307|issn=1534-6617|pmid=24297224|s2cid=7774927|url=http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2055&context=humbiol|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
===Other Romance languages=== ====Italian==== In [[Italian language|Italian]], {{lang|it|negro}} was the archaic form of the adjective {{lang|it|nero}}; as such, the previous form can still be found in literary texts or in surnames (cfr. the English-language surname ''Black''), while the latter form is the only one currently used today. However, the word could also be used as a noun and at a certain point it was commonly used as term equivalent to English ''negro'', but without its offensive connotation. However, under influence from English-speaking cultures, by the 1970s it had been replaced with {{lang|it|nero}} and {{lang|it|di colore}}. {{lang|it|Nero}} was considered a better translation of the English word ''black'', while {{lang|it|di colore}} is a loan translation of the English word ''colored''.<ref>[http://www.accademiadellacrusca.it/it/lingua-italiana/consulenza-linguistica/domande-risposte/nero-negro-colore Accademia della Crusca, ''Nero, negro e di colore'', 12 ottobre 2012 [IT]]</ref>
The noun is considered offensive today,<ref>[http://italians.corriere.it/2013/05/13/negro-per-noi-e-disprigiativo/ "'Negro'? Per noi è dispregiativo"] ("'Negro'? For us it is a derogatory term") by [[Beppe Severgnini]], ''[[Corriere Della Sera]]'', 13 May 2013 (in Italian)</ref><ref>"...the most banned word in the [[politically correct]] dictionary..." : From [http://www.liberoquotidiano.it/news/italia/11623894/La-Kyenge-sdogana-la-parola-tabu.html "La Kyenge sdogana la parola tabù - Da oggi si può dire 'negro'"] ("Kyenge clears the taboo word - From today we can say 'negro'") by Franco Bechis, ''[[Libero (newspaper)|Libero Quotidiano]]'', 28 May 2014 (in Italian)</ref><ref>See also [[Racism in Italy]]</ref> but some attestations of the previous use can still be found.<ref>For example, famed [[1960s in music|1960s]] [[pop music|pop]] singer [[Fausto Leali]] was [[nickname]]d ''il negro bianco'' ("the white negro") in Italian media on account of his naturally [[hoarse voice|hoarse]] style of singing. Compare: "[http://brescia.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/14_ottobre_25/fausto-leali-negro-bianco-compie-70-anni-335c92aa-5c55-11e4-a063-152f34c0ded7.shtml?refresh_ce-cp Fausto Leali, il 'negro-bianco' compie 70 anni]" ("Fausto Leali, the 'white negro', is 70 years old"), ''Corriere Brescia'', 25 October 2014; "[http://www.ansa.it/sito/photogallery/spettacolo/2014/10/25/auguri-a-fausto-leali-il-negro-bianco-compie-70-anni_32e28c07-3006-4c0c-969e-d27912150f6b.html Auguri a Fausto Leali, il 'Negro Bianco' compie 70 anni]" ("Felicitations to Fausto Leali, the 'White Negro' is 70 years old"), [[Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata|ANSA]], 25 October 2014"; [http://www.bresciaoggi.it/home/spettacoli/fausto-leali-i-70-anni-del-negro-bianco-1.4085835 Fausto Leali, i 70 anni del Negro Bianco] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180121071235/http://brescia.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/14_ottobre_25/fausto-leali-negro-bianco-compie-70-anni-335c92aa-5c55-11e4-a063-152f34c0ded7.shtml?refresh_ce-cp |date=21 January 2018 }}" ("Fausto Leali, the 70 years of the White Negro"), ''Brescia Oggi'', 25 October 2014.</ref>
In [[Italian law]], Act No. 654 of 13 October 1975 (known as the "[[Oronzo Reale|Reale]] Act"), as amended by Act No. 205 of 25 June 1993 (known as the "[[Nicola Mancino|Mancino]] Act") and Act No. 85 of 24 February 2006, criminalizes incitement to and racial discrimination itself, incitement to and racial violence itself, the promotion of ideas based on racial superiority or ethnic or racist hatred and the setting up or running of, participation in or support to any organisation, association, movement or group whose purpose is the instigation of racial discrimination or violence.<ref>[http://www.legislationline.org/documents/action/popup/id/19322 Criminal Code of Italy (excerpts)], ''Legislation online''</ref><ref name=euro/> As the [[Council of Europe]] noted in its 2016 report, "the wording of the Reale Act does not include language as ground of discrimination, nor is [skin] color included as a ground of discrimination."<ref name=euro>"[https://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/ecri/country-by-country/italy/ita-cbc-v-2016-019-eng.pdf ECRI Rerport on Italy]" by the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance, [[Council of Europe]], 7 June 2016</ref> However, the [[Supreme Court of Cassation (Italy)|Supreme Court]], in affirming a lower-court decision, declared that the use of the term ''negro'' by itself, if it has a clearly offensive intention, may be punishable by law,<ref>[http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/cronache/dare-negro-reato-dice-cassazione-1057719.html "Dare del 'negro' è reato : lo dice la Cassazione"] ("Calling out 'negro' is a crime : so says the [[Supreme Court of Cassation (Italy)|Supreme Court]]") by Ivan Francese, ''[[Il Giornale]]'', 7 October 2014 (in Italian)</ref> and is considered an [[aggravating factor]] in a [[criminal prosecution]].<ref>[https://www.quotidiano.net/cronaca/2013/07/15/920107-razzismo-insulti-discriminazione-sentenza-cassazione.shtml "Razzismo, la Cassazione: 'Insulti, sempre aggravante di discriminazione'"] ("Racism, the Supreme Court: 'Insults are always an aggravating factor'"), ''[[Quotidiano.net]]'', 15 July 2013</ref>
====French==== [[File:Rue des Nègres (El Ouesfane) نهج الوصفان.jpg|thumb|Street plate in [[Medina of Tunis]] showing, in Arabic and French, Negroes street]] In the [[French language]], the existential concept of {{lang|fr|[[negritude]]}} ('blackness') was developed by the Senegalese politician [[Léopold Sédar Senghor]]. The word can still be used as a synonym of ''sweetheart'' in some traditional Louisiana [[French-based creole languages|French creole]] songs.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac8ZyDxzW0U Radio Canada, 1971, "Le Son des Français d'Amérique #3 Les Créoles, interview with Revon Reed]</ref> The word {{lang|fr|nègre}} as a racial term fell out of favor around the same time as its English equivalent ''negro''. Its usage in French today ({{lang|fr|nègre littéraire}}) has shifted completely, to refer to a [[ghostwriter]] ({{lang|fr|écrivain fantôme}}), i.e. one who writes a book on behalf of its nominal author, usually a non-literary celebrity. However, [[Ministry of Culture (France)|French Ministry of Culture]] guidelines (as well as other official entities of [[Francophone]] regions<ref>E.g. "[http://www.granddictionnaire.com/ficheOqlf.aspx?Id_Fiche=8870782 prête-plume]", ''Office Québécois de la Langue Française'' (Quebec Office for the French Language), 2012 (in [[French language|French]])</ref>) recommend the usage of alternative terms.
====Haitian Creole==== In [[Haitian Creole]], the word {{lang|ht|nèg}} (derived from the French {{lang|fr|nègre}} referring to a dark-skinned man), can also be used for any man, regardless of skin color, roughly like the terms ''guy'' or ''[[dude]]'' in [[American English]].
====Romanian==== In the [[Romanian language]], {{lang|ro|negru}} can refer to either the color or a black person (as a neutral term).
===Germanic languages=== The [[Dutch language|Dutch]] word {{lang|nl|neger}} was considered to be a neutral term, but since the start of the 21st century it is increasingly considered to be hurtful, condescending and/or discriminatory. The consensus among language advice services of the Flemish Government and Dutch Language Union is to use {{lang|nl|zwarte persoon/man/vrouw}} ('black person/man/woman') to denote race instead.<ref>[https://www.slavernijenjij.nl/de-erfenis-nu/het-n-woord/#item-kun-je-het-woord-nog-gebruiken-of-niet "Het n-woord"]. ''[[Ninsee]]''</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Standard Dictionary of the Dutch Language: neger|url=https://www.vandale.nl/gratis-woordenboek/nederlands/betekenis/neger|access-date=2020-08-11|website=Van Dale|language=nl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=zwarte / neger / negerin|url=https://www.taaltelefoon.be/zwarte-neger-negerin|access-date=2020-08-11|website=www.taaltelefoon.be|language=nl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=neger|url=https://vrttaal.net/taaladvies-taalkwestie/neger|access-date=2020-08-11|website=VRT Taal|language=nl-BE}}</ref>
In [[German language|German]], {{lang|de|Neger}} was considered to be a neutral term for black people, but gradually fell out of fashion in the 1970s. {{lang|de|Neger}} is now mostly thought to be derogatory or racist. In 2014, the {{Interlanguage link|Österreichischer Presserat|de|Österreichischer Presserat}} (Austrian Press Council) claimed that the use of "{{Lang|de|Negerkinder}}" (negro children) in a magazine was discriminatory and offensive.<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 April 2014 |title=Presserat: Begriff "Negerkinder" verstößt gegen Ehrenkodex |url=https://www.derstandard.at/story/1395365002544/presserat-begriff-negerkinder-verstoesst-gegen-ehrenkodex |access-date=4 December 2024 |website=[[Der Standard]] |language=de}}</ref> In [[Bavaria]] and [[Upper Austria]], a [[mixed drink]] consisting of wheat beer and cola is traditionally called and sold as {{Lang|de|Neger}}'','' though many restaurateurs have supported renaming it to "{{Lang|de|Cola-Weißbier}}" after growing criticism of the name.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 June 2001 |title="Neger-Bier" aus dem Verkehr gezogen |url=https://www.derstandard.at/story/630857/neger-bier-aus-dem-verkehr-gezogen |access-date=4 December 2024 |website=[[Der Standard]] |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Plötz |first=Martina |date=5 August 2009 |title="Neger" soll in Bayern verboten werden |url=https://vorwaerts.de/artikel/neger-bayern-verboten |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204133552/https://vorwaerts.de/artikel/neger-bayern-verboten |archive-date=4 December 2023 |access-date=4 December 2024 |website=[[Vorwärts]] |language=de}}</ref>
In Denmark, usage of {{lang|da|neger}} is up for debate. Linguists and others argue that the word has a historical racist legacy that makes it unsuitable for use today. Mainly older people use the word {{lang|da|neger}} with the notion that it is a neutral word paralleling ''negro''. Relatively few young people use it, other than for provocative purposes in recognition that the word's acceptability has declined.<ref>Anne Ringgaard, Journalist. [http://videnskab.dk/sporg-videnskaben/hvorfor-ma-man-ikke-sige-neger "Hvorfor må man ikke sige neger?"]. ''videnskab.dk''. Retrieved on 2 January 2016.</ref>
In [[Swedish language|Swedish]] and [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], {{lang|sv|neger}} used to be considered a neutral equivalent to ''negro''. However, the term gradually fell out of favor between the late 1960s and 1990s. {{Citation needed|reason=1960s? I strongly doubt that. I would say from the mid 90s|date=May 2018}}
In [[West Frisian language|West Frisian]], the word {{lang|fy|neger}} is largely considered to be a neutral term for black people with [[Demographics of Africa|African]] roots.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Neger|url=https://taalweb.frl/wurdboekportaal/4d206fb7-8750-4751-9abf-193745beb4c4?previous_search%5Bfilter_options%5D%5B%5D=lemma&previous_search%5Bpage%5D=&previous_search%5Bq%5D=Neger|access-date=2021-01-21|website=Taalweb Frysk}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2016-03-09|title=Nikker|url=https://www.demoanne.nl/nikker/|access-date=2021-01-21|website=de Moanne|language=en}}</ref> The word {{lang|fy|nikker}} (evil water spirit) is considered to be offensive and derogatory, but not necessarily racist due to the term's historic definition.<ref name=":0" />
==Elsewhere==
In the [[Finnish language]] the word {{lang|fi|neekeri}} (cognate with ''negro'') was long considered a neutral equivalent for ''negro''.<ref name="rastast">{{cite book |last1= Rastas |first1= Anna |title= Neutraalisti rasistinen? Erään sanan politiikkaa |url= http://acta.uta.fi/pdf/Rastas_A6.pdf |access-date= 8 February 2009 |year= 2007 |publisher= Tampere University Press, 2007 |location= Tampere |language= fi |isbn= 978-951-44-6946-6 |archive-date= 19 February 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200219202058/https://trepo.tuni.fi/handle/10024/59337 |url-status= dead }}</ref> In 2002, {{lang|fi|neekeri}}<nowiki />'s usage notes in the ''[[Kielitoimiston sanakirja]]'' shifted from "perceived as derogatory by some" to "generally derogatory".<ref name="rastast"/> The name of a popular Finnish brand of [[chocolate-coated marshmallow treats]] was changed by the manufacturers from {{lang|fi|Neekerinsuukko}} (lit. 'negro's kiss', like the German version) to {{lang|fi|Brunbergin suukko}} ('Brunberg's kiss') in 2001.<ref name="rastast"/> A study conducted among native Finns found that 90% of research subjects considered the terms ''{{lang|fi|neekeri}}'' and ''{{lang|fi|ryssä}}'' among the most derogatory epithets for ethnic minorities.<ref name="raittila">{{cite book |last1=Raittila |first1=Pentti |title=Etnisyys ja rasismi journalismissa |pages=25–26 |url=http://tampub.uta.fi/tup/951-44-5486-3.pdf |access-date=24 May 2010 |year=2002 |publisher=Tampere University Press |location=Tampere |language=fi |isbn=951-44-5486-3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313012759/http://tampub.uta.fi/tup/951-44-5486-3.pdf |archive-date=13 March 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In [[Turkish language|Turkish]], the appellation {{Wikt-lang|tr|zenci}} can be translated as ''negro'', although the two words do not fully correspond. The Turkish appellation was derived from the Arabic ''[[zanj]]'', literally meaning "black". Although it has been argued by some in Turkey that {{lang|tr|zenci}} does not carry a pejorative connotation, the sociologist Ayşegül Kayagil pointed out a semantic relation between the word and "slave" due to its usage in the name of the [[Zanj Rebellion]], a major slave revolt in the 9th century. According to Kayagil, {{lang|tr|zenci}} is also often accompanied by derogatory adjectives such as "dirty" or "slave". Opinions on the word among [[Africans in Turkey|African Turkish]] interviewees in Kayagil's research were complex, with respondents highlighting its common usage in Turkey in addition to its negative connection to the English word ''negro''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kayagil |first=Ayşegül |date=2020-05-08 |title=Vocabularies of (In)Visibilities: (Re)Making the Afro-Turk Identity |url=https://www.ledijournals.com/ojs/index.php/antropologia/article/view/1624 |journal=Antropologia |volume=7 |issue=1 N.S. |pages=45–66 |doi=10.14672/ada2020162445-66 |issn=2420-8469}}</ref>
In [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] the word ''néger'' is still used (see [[:hu:Négerek|this Hungarian wikipedia article]]) as a neutral term for black people besides ''fekete'' (meaning black in Hungarian).
In Russia, the term {{lang|ru|негр}} ({{Transliteration|ru|negr}}) was commonly used in the [[USSR|Soviet]] period without any negative connotation, and its use continues in this neutral sense. In modern Russian media, {{Transliteration|ru|negr}} is used somewhat less frequently. {{lang|ru|Чёрный}} ({{Transliteration|ru|chyorny}}, 'black') as an adjective is also used in a neutral sense, and conveys the same meaning as {{Transliteration|ru|negr}}, as in {{lang|ru|чёрные американцы}} ({{Transliteration|ru|chyornye amerikantsy}}, 'black Americans'). Other alternatives to {{Transliteration|ru|negr}} are {{lang|ru|темнокожий}} ({{Transliteration|ru|temnokozhy}}, 'dark-skinned'), {{lang|ru|чернокожий}} ({{Transliteration|ru|chernokozhy}}, 'black-skinned'). The latter two words are used as both nouns and adjectives.{{Citation needed|date=March 2026}} See also [[Afro-Russian]].
==See also== {{div col|colwidth=30em}} *[[Free Negro]] *[[Kaffir (racial term)]] *[[Nigger]] *[[Blackfella]] *[[Nigga]] *[[Magical Negro]], a trope in fiction *The ''[[Book of Negroes]]'', a historical document {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Wiktionary|negro}} {{commons category|Negro (archaic term)}} *{{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Negro |short=x}}
{{Ethnic slurs}}
[[Category:Historical ethnonyms]] [[Category:Ethnonyms of dark-skinned Africans]] [[Category:Ethnonyms of African Americans]] [[Category:Anti-African and anti-black slurs]] [[Category:English words]] [[Category:Portuguese words and phrases]] [[Category:Spanish words and phrases]] [[Category:African-American-related controversies]] [[Category:Spanish language in the United States]]