Re: Is It Me ?

It's possible that the fact that he is black is significant in terms of genetic predisposition to some diseases. If it wasn't relevant, then I agree he should just have been Mr. Bloggs.

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Good point ..... We dont know the ins and outs of it .....

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Whilst that is a good point I would still think black is the correct word not negro unless the person is actually from that area of the world with a disease prevalent only in his area.

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I would be interested to know in what context the word was used, it may have been in a clinical context and was overheard.

There are certain diseases specific to ethnicity.

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Sickle cell I believe

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I honestly don't know what to be saying nowadays without offending someone or something, so I mostly keep me mouth shut when dodgy subjects appear, words we were taught, even in school, can no longer be used, it's hard to keep up with what is the right thing to say, everyone is so easily offended these days, God help them when they have to face real trouble and hardships, trouble don't care if you're black or white, years ago we would shrug the names off and say 'Sticks and Stones', didn't do us any harm, is this the meek taking over the world?

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Well it's always been a bit like that, people who don't want to offend have generally tried not to use descriptions of people that might upset them. A question came up on another forum the other day asking if it was offensive to call someone fat, I answered when would you need to say it ? as most of us are aware we are fat it doesn't need pointing out to us.

If you don't want to offend then it's often better to not say too much I find

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I agree with your comments Steve - it does tend to be white people who are more sensitive to this than anyone. I had a Muslim friend where I used to live in Bournville and it was around the time when all this 'Christmas festivities may offend XYZ) but she always decorated their shop with a tree, baubles and tinsel. She would have her regular customers in on the last day of business (shop would be closed to all intents and purposes) and she had baked a Christmas cake, mince pies (she was very skilled with the cooking) and sandwiches as a thank you to her customers.

Maybe the reference to Negro may have had something to do with the man's condition or suspected condition as I do know that Negroes are susceptible to some conditions that white people are not (black men are more likely to develop prostate problems, Africans and Asians are more likely to develop lupus than any other race - that kind of thing) so when he used the term, it may have been relevant but then taken out of context.

On the Isle of Man, the locals will still call them colourds and look puzzled if you tell them they shouldn't!

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The use of the word coloured is an odd one for me, I know we should be incensed by it but when my youngest nephew came home from school told of for using the term about himself I was more angry with the school than him. To him it made perfect sense his Dad was black, his mum was white and he was somewhere on the spectrum between so called himself coloured. So it's more complicated to me than many terms.

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I don't feel incensed by the word being used, it just surprised me when I moved here to hear it. As long as a word isn't used in a derogatory manner, I think I feel okay with most words (although if someone comes along and says 'what about this word' - I might change my mind ).