Should the U.S. Census Offer 'Negro' as an Identity Option?

[ironsides]

The immediate reason the word Negro is on the Census is simple enough: in the 2000 Census, more than 56,000 people wrote in Negro to describe their identity - even though it was already on the form. Some people, it seems, still strongly identify with the term, which used to be a perfectly polite designation. To blindly delete it is to risk incorrectly counting the unknown number of (presumably older) black Americans who identify with the term.

Should the Census Offer 'Negro' as an Identity Option? - Yahoo! News

 

[TenPenny]

I'm confused. You're saying that the reason it's on the form is because people wrote it in even though it was on the form?

It's there because it's there?

 

[ironsides]

Yes, some people are just used to writing it in even though it is on the form. Some who are against the term negro to reference blacks want it removed. It is like someone being gay, does it mean they are happy or is it a politically correct term for being homosexual.

 

[karrie]

Negro makes as much sense to me as anything else.

The new PC term of 'African American' is bizarre when you consider that not all black people are from Africa.