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Rooney and "negro": a question of intention

18:02 H | Topics: Celebrities - Language - Politics

The hottest topic on the blogs today: CBS' Andy Rooney's proclamation on the Imus in the Morning show of his regard for the word "negro" to qualify individuals of African-American descent:

ROONEY: The word negro, which is a perfectly good word, it’s a strong word and a...a good word. I don’t see anything wrong with that.

On the blogs, I've read several people defending Rooney's stance by saying that "negro" is used as a term for black people in Spanish-speaking countries. In Spanish, they say, it's not offensive, so why should it be in English?

Well...it's not the word but what it connotes. "Negro" is a term that is sometimes associated with the oppression of black people. Sometimes, it is not. From State of the Qusan:

During my stint on this earth and in this country we've been called colored, negro, Afro-American, black and now the very inaccurate African American (that's right, I think that Teresa Heinz Kerry has more claim to the label African American than me - a native black/negro/colored American).

It's not the word itself, it's the intention of the speaker. In this case, I believe the intention of this "white" man is to attempt to move social progress back a few years, when no one was "politically correct" and before communities had the right to decide what to call themselves. Or maybe he's just old and can't think straight.

I wonder what he likes to call Latinos. I think I know.

Via / The Political Teen

Check out the video on The Political Teen

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