Made2Obey
Posts: 357
Joined: 8/21/2008 Status: offline
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Wicked I know you don't care for the term black, but darky might not be the best replacement option. I don't know about your country, but in this one prior to the Civil War the term black was used as a generalized description of race, slave or free, and wasn't generally used in a derogatory sense, primarily descriptive. Darky, on the other hand was commonly used to refer to slaves so it has a more hurtful connotation. Prior to the war it was the most commonly used term to describe slaves. The N word didn't come into use commonly until reconstruction after emancipation. I can't really suggest a better replacement term for you. African American seems cumbersome and not entirely accurate. It fails to include those who aren't Americans, and here it should more correctly be something like Americans of African Heritage, that's even more cumbersome. Personally, I use black as a race descriptive in the same way people use white to describe Caucasians, it's not a negative thing. If we were being technically correct the word Negro should be used to refer to those of that race, but it's a bit too close to that other N word and could easily offend. Black just seems to be the least offensive choice, and has even been embraced by blacks, as phrases like "Black Power" or "Black Lives Matter" seem to indicate. It's a touchy subject all around and hard to find a neutral inoffensive descriptor, but darky probably isn't the best choice.
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