CENSUS APOLOGIZES FOR USE OF WORD NEGRO

Census Apologizes for 'Negro' Line
By Paul Bedard
Posted March 29, 2010
By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers

So just how should black Americans identify themselves on the new 2010 census? Black? African-American? Maybe Negro?

When it came time to decide, the agency punted in the racial classifications and included all three, stirring some anger in the black community over the dated "Negro" reference.

On Friday's C-SPAN Washington Journal, the issue caught up with Census Bureau Director Robert Groves. He was challenged by a caller, prompting an unusual apology and a prediction that the word will be erased in the next census in 2020.

"I am black. I did not appreciate the black, the African-American, and Negro," said the caller. "It really hurt my feelings ... that, to me, is racist."

Groves was ready with his apology. "First of all, let me apologize to you on behalf of all my colleagues." He then explained. "The intent of every word on the race and ethnicity questions is to be as inclusive as possible so that all of us could see a word here that rings a bell for us … it was not to be offensive, and again, I apologize on that. My speculation is that in 2020 that word will disappear and there are gonna be other words that are gonna change."

See the C-SPAN clip here.