Posted by Bennie Sue (63.11.65.203) on November 30, 2000 at 05:03:55:
In Reply to: Thanks Charlie, but.... posted by Riccardo on November 30, 2000 at 02:11:41:
"African-Americans" and "Blacks" are acceptable designations for our brothers and sisters belonging to one of our many minority races in America.
While there is still prejudice in the world, of course, I am proud to say it is not as rampant in the South as many people might believe. A lot of us have a tradition of growing up with Blacks and respecting their culture. I never felt any of the
"hatred" so much publicized. But I always felt sad that their living conditions were not as good as mine.
True, back when I was a child, the Blacks who lived in my grandmother's "neighborhood"- meaning close to her in the country - were often domestic servants. But they were not mistreated. Just the opposite, in fact. Often my sister and I choose to wait until the adults had had their Thanksgiving meal before we ate - simply because we liked to eat with the cook who was an amiable, grandmotherly soul and loved to entertain us with stories about herself and her family.
Fortunately, the cook's descendants now have the opportunity to enter desirable professions. We still have a way to go, but progress has been made.
"Negro" was a perfectly acceptable word a long time ago and meant "black." You will find it in literature a good bit. But our American speech is sometimes very sloppy, and we tend not to say the word correctly - making it sound like "nigger" which is very unacceptable. "Colored" was also okay at one time, but not any more.
BTW, Dennis, I have two adopted grandchildren who are black. My husband's son and his wife chose these children (not siblings - a boy and a girl).
They are very sweet and much loved.