Dictionary Report:
Negro
OED report In 1940, Langston Hughes wrote: "The word [negro] to colored people of high and low degree is like a red rag to a bull. Used rightly or wrongly, ironically or seriously, of necessity for the sake of realism, or impishly for the sake of comedy, it doesn 't matter. The word [negro], you see, sums up for us who are colored all the bitter years of insult and struggle in America." When asked about the etymology of the word Negro most people would answer, “oh, it came from slavery,” or “that’s the word they used to keep black people down.” Some people just associate the word Negro with only slavery, not realizing where it came from or how it started.
The word Negro means “A member