Lockport, NY police don't understand why some people might find "Negro " offensive.

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Slayven

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http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/.../lockport-police-dark-negro-suspect/13398061/

The police department in Lockport, N.Y., described a shooting suspect as a "Negro" in a police report.

Next to the line labeled "complexion," 19-year-old Shamir Allen is listed as "Negro." It's followed by "DA", which according to Lockport police means dark.

"I think it's ignorant. I think it's a lack of education. I think it's a lack of sensitivity," said Eva Doyle, a columnist and author, who writes about African and African-American culture.

"That word was developed during slavery to subjugate, discriminate, to make people feel bad about themselves," said Erie County legislator Betty Jean Grant.

Lockport Police Chief Larry Eggert said he was not aware that "Negro" could be offensive until he spoke with a WGRZ-TV reporter.

He said some officers use the terms "light" and "dark Negro". He said it's not a policy to label blacks as Negroes in the police database.

According to Lockport police, officers use a specific type of computer software to list the complexion of suspects. The department says it's been using the system since 1994 and that it's rarely updated.

When officers go to the complexion tab, there are about 12 options to choose from, and among them descriptions such as light, medium and dark are listed, in addition to "light Negro" and "dark Negro."

Eggert said "Negro" will be removed from the department's database. Also, the Lockport Police Department will do diversity training in the next couple of weeks to explain to officers why the word "Negro" is not acceptable to use.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCyH21QZNZw



2014 folks.
 
It's dated, but so are police protocol systems despite being moved to "modern" computer systems.

Like in the video. The word itself isn't offensive, but there are certainly plenty who hear it and bridge the gap between the other word.
 
1994 isn't that dated. 1894, then maybe there's a point.

Glad it's being changed and people are being educated to fix their shameful ignorance.
 
This will probably sound ignorant but "negro" is offensive? I honestly didn't think that was. Not that I exactly run into that word...like ever. Doesn't it just mean black in Spanish? It does sound weird if it's under "complexion" though.
 
My parents still use the term Negro when referring to ourselves. But that's from their generation and it was a neutral term then.

Police officer should just change it and go with the flow (of time).
 
Mammoth Jones said:
My parents still use the term Negro when referring to ourselves. But that's from their generation and it was a neutral term then.

Police officer should just change it and go with the flow (of time).
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They still using chokeholds that been banned for 20 years, of course their databases might be behind.
 
Mammoth Jones said:
My parents still use the term Negro when referring to ourselves. But that's from their generation and it was a neutral term then.

Police officer should just change it and go with the flow (of time).
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According to Wikipedia it used to be less offensive than black, and people from previous generations might be uncomfortable with black and prefer negro.
 
Sanjuro said:
It's dated, but so are police protocol systems despite being moved to "modern" computer systems.

Like in the video. The word itself isn't offensive, but there are certainly plenty who hear it and bridge the gap between the other word.
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Nope. Negro is offensive. And the article says officers use it. Can't blame computers for that. And it was offensive in 1994. And they describe hair and eye color as black but make a hell of a leap to use an offensive word from the 60's for complexion. That makes even less sense.

Or are you joking?
 
Wait, his skin is 'Blk' but his complexion is 'Negro, DA'? What the fuck is this bullshit? That makes no sense. I'm sure they called him Tyrone and offered him chicken the entire time he was locked up.

Fuck New York. You ain't shit.
 
MC Safety said:
So what should we rename the negro baseball leagues and United Negro College Fund?
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What does that have to do with anything? Did the police name those over the past two years?

We keep those names for people who pretend to be ignorant; who would rather cover up their racism and pretend it never happened or still doesn't. It's like a friendly reminder that some people ain't shit.
 
"That word was developed during slavery to subjugate, discriminate, to make people feel bad about themselves," said Erie County legislator Betty Jean Grant.


Errm, that's not even true. The word was seen as perfectly fine before the 70s. Hell, even MLK used it in his famous speech.
 
Scrooged said:
"That word was developed during slavery to subjugate, discriminate, to make people feel bad about themselves," said Erie County legislator Betty Jean Grant.


Errm, that's not even true. The word was seen as perfectly fine before the 70s. Hell, even MLK used it in his famous speech.
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You are confusing the word 'tolerated' and 'inability to protest' with the phrase 'perfectly fine'.
 
Negro and colored always strike me as more dated than offensive. In theory, the terms only describe race or complexion. Any negative connotations are projected onto those words by society at large, and that's the real problem.
 
SapientWolf said:
Negro and colored always strike me as more dated than offensive. In theory, the terms only describe race or complexion. Any negative connotations are projected onto those words by society at large, and that's the real problem.
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That and the years they were used to debase people.
 
SapientWolf said:
Negro and colored always strike me as more dated than offensive. In theory, the terms only describe race or complexion. Any negative connotations are projected onto those words by society at large, and that's the real problem.
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Words have no connotations beyond what they mean to the society they were - and are contained within. We collectively decided that these terms are emblematic of a time period that confers hate and condescension, and as such have no real place in pleasant conversation nor general, official use.
 
skinnyrattler said:
You are confusing the word 'tolerated' and 'inability to protest' with the phrase 'perfectly fine'.
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Actually I'm not. The word is literally 'black' in Spanish. It was used purely as a description of a type of people. Blacks in the US didn't find it offensive till the 60s and 70s.
 
Trey said:
Words have no connotations beyond what they mean to the society they were - and are contained within. We collectively decided that these terms are emblematic of a time period that confers hate and condescension, and as such have no real place in pleasant conversation nor general, official use.
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If the NYPD's handling of race is full of hate and condescension (spoiler: It is) then it doesn't matter a single iota what word they use. No reason to act like that's all in the past now.

edit: I guess Lockport might be different than NYC. Who knows?
 
Scrooged said:
Actually I'm not. The word is literally 'black' in Spanish. It was used purely as a description of a type of people. Blacks in the US didn't find it offensive till the 60s and 70s.
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Hmmm look at the time before the 50s and 60s, you won't see blacks saying much of anything. Jim Crow and lynching and what not.
 
Scrooged said:
Actually I'm not. The word is literally 'black' in Spanish. It was used purely as a description of a type of people. Blacks in the US didn't find it offensive till the 60s and 70s.
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Words can have different connontations based on location.
 
Scrooged said:
Actually I'm not. The word is literally 'black' in Spanish. It was used purely as a description of a type of people. Blacks in the US didn't find it offensive till the 60s and 70s.
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Yeah it's crazy how uppity black people got once they gained the right to vote
 
Scrooged said:
Actually I'm not. The word is literally 'black' in Spanish. It was used purely as a description of a type of people. Blacks in the US didn't find it offensive till the 60s and 70s.
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Indeed.

Black folk didn't find it offensive until the 60s and 70s, because there was simply nothing to be offended about. Before that everyone was living in peace and harmony; a utopia.
 
I think im gonna go ahead and agree with the people here who must surely be black saying that this isnt offensive to their race, they, along with Morgan Freeman are the speakers of black and anyone that disagree with them are wrong.
 
Slayven said:
Hmmm look at the time before the 50s and 60s, you won't see blacks saying much of anything. Jim Crow and lynching and what not.
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Kraftwerk said:
Indeed.

Black folk didn't find it offensive until the 60s and 70s, because there was simply nothing to be offended about. Before that everyone was living in peace and harmony; a utopia.
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I mean, it's simply a fact that it wasn't considered an offensive word back then. That doesn't mean they couldn't be offended by other words. It may be difficult to separate yourself from the modern connotations. Lets just say that when the United Negro College Fund was established, the founder (who was black) was not seen as being offensive.
 
Can we at least agree that using that term to describe black people in 2014 is in poor taste? I don't care what it means in Spanish.
 
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