Welcome to the 21st century, Census Bureau to drop use of the word 'negro' on forms

The Census Bureau has said it will stop using the word "Negro" on census forms. Coined during the Jim Crow days as a word to describe blacks, the Bureau has said it will drop the word from being used on its forms.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Question 9 on the official Census form asks the person completing it to list their racial identity. The second box allows a person to check if they identify their race as Black, African American, or Negro. The term Negro is regarded as pejorative.

The word has been on the forms for over a century, and very few black Americans still use the term. The Census Bureau says less than 50,000 people wrote in the word during the 2000 census when they were asked how they wished to be identified.

By 2010, the preference of the word dropped to just 36,000.

The term was first sued in the 1900 census, replacing the term "colored" at that time. rejection of the term came as early as the 1950's and 60's as the civil rights movement finally made progress. Today, most black Americans prefer the terms black, black American, or African American.

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