Is it racist to say "black person"?

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SG854

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You never argued with someone who had a different opinion on you whether "the sum of all colors" and "the sum of no colors" are to be considered a color or not technically a color? :)
Some even consider black not a color. And White is all colors mixed. Hold out a prism in the sun.

depends a lot on context and wether or not black person is the only thing you say. like, say you have had ample chance to learn that black persons name yet you still opt for black person whenever you talk about them.

its also subjective as to whom you adress, some might feel you're reducing them to nothing but skin color, as you'd otherwise probably never refer to some dude as the white person either.
Theres White Boy. And Gringo (used for North Americans) in Spanish. Cracker. Honkey. And White people got no rhythm like Black people.
 
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dpad_5678

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And what of those problems we currently have? Will they disappear if we don't acknowledge them?
That's not even CLOSE to what I said, lul! I'm not a filthy conservative. All I said was that we don't NEED to mention race in everyday conversations to our friends, etc. It doesn't have a purpose and the only outcome, if any, will be negative.
 

osaka35

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That's not even CLOSE to what I said, lul! I'm not a filthy conservative. All I said was that we don't NEED to mention race in everyday conversations to our friends, etc. It doesn't have a purpose and the only outcome, if any, will be negative.
You just added "everday conversations to our friends, etc" :P you originally just said "talk about it". as in, at all. Glad to hear that wasn't your intent, though.
 

_Chaz_

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QuPJRo5.png

Well, I guess that's enough GBAtemp for a while.
 
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Dr.Hacknik

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It wouldn't be racist. Because they're not actually black. Have you seen a color pallet before?

Joking aside, this world has gone to shit because everyone most people get offended by something or some word automatically, and have a senseless argument prepared in about 1.2secs.

But that's, like your, opinion... man.
 
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FAST6191

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Found a discussion about the dominant group nonsense I was on about earlier


Why can a word be racist in the first place? You're racist if you think that other races are inferior or you ascribe stereotypical traits of a race to every individual of that race. Thats too much information to be expressed by a single word.
Technically you could define a single word to mean that, such are the facilities of most languages.

Anyway it is more that it is generally held certain words and phrases come so very loaded with historical context/baggage that their use in polite conversation in present times is tricky. Relevant as of this conversation would be the word n****... Chris Rock sketch on the matter because why not. Some others have also seen what might be feature creep of a sort, or might be tricky but not as tricky, for further words. Coon, cone, blackie, darkie and coloureds being among those in such a category depending upon where you are in the world (some of those are a bit more UK centric).
Today we may or may not be seeing further additions to word lists. I am going with no for the question of the OP but if you are presently suffering the US school system, and all the fun and games we see going on there, I can see the OP having questions.
 

Clydefrosch

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Some even consider black not a color. And White is all colors mixed. Hold out a prism in the sun.


Theres White Boy. And Gringo (used for North Americans) in Spanish. Cracker.
Honkey. And White people got no rhythm like Black people.

because technically, if you talk about colors as light with different wavelength and such, black isn't a color, its the absence of light, while white is all base colors overlapping.
clearly, the term skincolor is not perfect, just as the warming of the globe isn't really what global warming is about.

and yes, there are racist terms for every race, that wasn't my point.

what i'm saying is, most people only go to superficial stuff like skincolor or eye shape when talking about people of other races, but would never do that when its about someone from their own.
if you can talk about greg from accounting without mentioning he's white, you should be able to do the same with Jamal and Xin from public relations.
 

Cha0tic

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I’m not trying to offend anyone but it depends on the black person . Some won’t care, some if you mention there skin caller are ready to drop down there throat. It’s better to always say dark skinned to try to avoid anything imo

There nothing wrong with some people are in a nicer way to put ridiculous.
 

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I know it probably isn't, but for some reason if i'm talking to someone, they or even me might say "dark-skinned" or something instead of just saying "black"... Is it racist to say "black person", or is it racist to try to avoid saying "black person"?

No, but if you're identifying someone as black where there is no need, particularly in a way that fits a negative stereotype, then some may think you're racist.

For example...

Not racist: "My friend Mark will meet you at the airport, he's a black guy with long hair and a mustache"

Maybe racist: "I got mugged last night by a big black guy but the police caught him shortly after"

In the second example, including that it was a "black guy" that mugged you doesn't add any relevant information whereas the first one does (assuming you're in a place where black people are a minority)
 
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Judas18

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People want to be offended nowadays so that they can have some weird monopoly over being oppressed. Black is not an offensive term.
 
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dAVID_

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Very soon, describing someone by having dark skin will also be racist!

Here in mexico, you can just describe someone by saying that black guy or "el moreno" (which is another way of saying it) and most likely people will see that as something normal, because it is.
 
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