Racial Labels Throughout History Paper Example

Introduction

Black Americans see the ethnic labels to be essential to their life as they lost their identities as they were chased away from their homelands. The movement from their native lands made them lose their core values like languages, culture, and their families. The Blacks later became slaves in the foreign lands as they experienced a new culture different from their culture. However, over time, the Blacks gained power and started forming organizations which would fight for their rights in the land of slavery. These organizations attracted considerable criticism from the whites who were supreme at the time. The whites controlled everything the Blacks did so that they could remain on top of them.

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The formation of organizations by the Blacks gained potential after the Civil War. The Civil War helped stop the trend of slavery, but Racism and segregation in the Southern System remained a threat to the Blacks. As the Blacks grew from the discriminated society, they formed various organizations like schools, churches which they hoped would help them define their significance in the community. Although some people know the Blacks as the "Colored" as it was the name in the 19th century, others in the 20th century termed them as "Negro." The "Negro" name changed to "Black" in the 9160s and later to the "African Americans" (Smith, 496). As the name for the Blacks changed with time, their core value is to name themselves in such a way that will boost their pride as a group and self-esteem.

"Colored" to "Negro"

The Blacks were best referred to as the "Colored" in the 19th century, and the White Society liked the idea. The "Colored" name mostly referred to the all-black people and the other ethnic groups which did not belong to the White Society like the Spanish. Later, in the 19th century, the name changed, and people preferred the name "Negro" to refer to the Blacks. This name came as a force from the Black leaders. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois came up with this name after the Civil War although people were more used to the "Colored" name. Nevertheless, people liked the name "Negro" to refer to the Blacks as they said it was more usable and meaningful in the real sense that it was both a noun and an adjective. The authors of the Negro name agreed that their name was better than the previous title and had more logic to them.

Other scholars saw the name "Negro" to be a stronger term to refer to refer to the Blacks. The name "Negro" was also a turnover for the problems the Blacks faced like criticism and segregation. Earlier before the introduction of this name, the whites would call the Blacks "Nigger" and "Niggah." Some scholars criticized the idea behind this name stating that it implied a sense of inferiority. Despite this criticism, the name affirmed amongst the people who later used it to refer to the Blacks (Bennett, np). "Negro" appeared to be a better name for the Blacks as "Colored" did not define the Blacks in a good way. The change of the Blacks name from "Colored" to "Negro" was as a result of the high immigrants from the Asian continent who inflated into the states. With time, the name "Negro" had to change to address the different ethnic groups who were not black but belonged to other groups other than the whites.

In the late 19th century and the early 20th century, more white immigrants occupied the states encouraging the change of the name of the Blacks. The name would twist in such a way to incorporate the Italian, Polish, and the Spanish people who were not all blacks. The term "Negro" was advantageous in that it changed the mentality the Whites had against the Blacks. According to the author of the name "Negro," the new name isolated the miserable terms that associated with the blacks back then in time. "Colored" was a name that held the odd patterns of slavery and criticism, as it was the case during the early 19th century (Bennett, np). Therefore, the new name indicated the progress in the Blacks as they tried to establish themselves in the White-dominated society. With years of struggle, "Negro" became the name for the Blacks as "Colored" became history to many people. According to Bennett, the name "Negro" was a militia in nature as it was a way of the Blacks to fight for their position in the society.

After many people had adopted the new Blacks name, their organizations also dropped their old name "Colored" and replaced it with "Negro" which better defined the Black people. Although many organizations changed their names to "Negro," an organization like the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) maintained the name "Colored" in their title (Bennett, np). However, no other organization used the name "Colored" in their title as they used "Negro." As more people adopted the "Negro" name to refer to the Blacks, some found it difficult to pronounce it correctly. It was after several trials in the states when the NAACP forced the name "Negro" to be a word in the New York Times stylebook. Many stated that this name was a significant change for the Blacks as they gained positive recognition in the society. The Blacks also felt a sense of respect from the new name after being in the discrimination class for many years (Bennett).

"Negro" to "Black"

During the 1950s, the name "Negro" was well known to both the Blacks and the Whites as the official name of the Blacks. Organizations had replaced the "Colored" name with "Negro" in their titles. In the midst of the civil rights amendments in the 1950s, the name "Negro" experienced some effect in the process. People proposed for the change of the name to shed off the traits of slavery and criticism that might have come with the new name. The Whites criticized the name "Negro" as they termed it to be powerless and showed a sign of weakness to the Blacks (Martin). In the process, "Black" replaced "Negro" as the Blacks said it was a sign of pride for their race. The name also suggested a trait of fighting for the rights of the blacks who needed power and believed the new name was a favor.

The militants and the radicals in the Blacks had accepted the name before as the Black Muslims, and the Black Panthers used it. People like Stokely Carmichael, who led the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, also supported the idea of changing the name "Negro." Carmichael proposed people to abandon "Negro" for "Black." A survey conducted on the Black men also showed that many described themselves as "Black" as the name described the most successful and radically focused Blacks in the society. "Negro" on the other hand described the people who were more established in the Blacks according to the standards of living. While some organizations preferred the term "Negro," others held demonstrations fighting for its acceptance (Martin, pg 96).

The name "Black" became common amongst the Whites as the Blacks believed it provided a balance to the name White and generally was the best matching name to "White." People complained that "White" deserved a better opposing name and saw that "Black" was the most matching name. Prominent people like Martin Luther King Jr. used the name "Black" in his speech as an adjective mostly referring to the Blacks. As per the King's statement, the name "Black" appeared as an opposite to the "White" (Martin, pg 96). Many people proposed the name "Black" because they deeply felt that it had some power and strength connected to it when describing the Blacks. This power came into reality as the Blacks adopted the "Black Power" slogan which once appeared in the past two Blacks names, "Colored" and "Negro."

Despite the much acceptance by both groups, "Black" also received some criticism as some people argued that the name was derogative. Also, several surveys conducted to students, both White and Black differed significantly. Many students suggested that the name "Black" was more negative compared to the White name. The students' opinions emerged from the concept that black color was more discouraging than white color.

This notion attracted Williams who stated that people should change their minds and associate whites with bad traits and blacks with goodness. However, Williams said that this concept would not succeed in a society which brands black with badness and white with goodness (Smith, 496). This symbolism spread over the media and the organizations in the 1970s. The Blacks took the challenge and introduced different slogans like "Black is beautiful" and "Black pride" to tint the negativity associated with the name "Black." This action worked significantly to the Black Colleges as some years later after its introduction, the name "Black" attracted some positivity and became somehow meaningful to all races.

Although the name "Black" became positive to many people, mostly being the College students, some "Whites" did not uphold their view (Martin, pg 83). The White students continued associating the Blacks with negativity terming themselves as the more favored in the society. Just like the name "Negro" had shed off some bad traits about the Blacks, "Black" also did the same and tinted its negativities. With time, the name "Black" became more useful to many people and in the two races. With a survey conducted in the early 1980s, the "Black" appeared to be more useful than the previous terms used to describe the Blacks. The young people more preferred the name "Black" at the time according to several surveys conducted by different organizations (Martin, pg 68). However, after many years of use, the name "Black" lost its strength amongst the people although people had associated it with violence, division, and extremism. After more considerations, "Black" became weaker as a substitute of "Negro" as it only helped maintain self-esteem to the group.

"Black" to "African American"

During the early stages of the 1980s, the "Black" was the common name referred to the Blacks. The name was common to the Blacks and Whites and also to the Blacks organizations. However, the "Black" changed later after several considerations to "African American." This move came after the Black Leaders held a meeting in Chicago where Ramona H. Edelin, who headed the National Urban Coalition, proposed for a better name than "Black" and stated that "African American" was a good deal (Berlin, np). To affirm the movement, they launched several campaigns to push for the "African American" as it was new to many people. The group's spokesperson administered that the original names were baseless and meaningless just like the name "Black." The spokesperson endorsed the new name saying that it was a show of pride to the immigrants as they associate themselves with their point of origin.

The primary purpose of this change was to deliver some cultural identification to the Blacks. The "African American" name linked the Blacks with their ancestral land giving them a heritage. The name was accepted by Jackson and other advocates who said that the Blacks culture would be a backup for their improvements. A person like Edelin noted that the association of Blacks with their culture would significantly affect the Blacks position in the White-dominated state. Jackson also said that the name would make the Blacks known globally and start a motion about the Blacks raising their identity.

Furthermore, the move placed the Blacks on the same line as the Whites who saw themselves as the most important as their counterparts. The same name identified the Blacks as an ethnic group rather than a race as the name "Black" was kind of a run (Berlin, np). Also, the new name was a high potential for the Blacks to change because they were traditionally viewed as a race and not an ethnic group.

Generally, the idea to replace the name "Black" with "African American" narrowed down to providing positive results from the former name which attracted several negativities (Berlin). The former names like "Negro" and...