Should I be offended by someone saying “El Negro”?

Question

I walked by a group of coworkers who were talking, I couldn’t understand anything that was being said besides “El Negro”.

I just kept walking.

I didn’t get angry because I didn’t fully understand the conversation. They may not have been trying to be rude at all, that could just be their languages version of African American

i think it’s weird to point out the fact that I’m black, but it is a fact.. I just wonder why i needed to be described

N192K001 · Accepted Answer

Not necessarily. Of course, the term can be an insult,  depending on the speaker's pronunciation, tone of voice, body-language, demeanor, etc.  But  without that (and especially when the dialogue is in another non-English language), what sounds similar to an English insult may not be it. Back in the Philippines (where we were invaded by the  conquistadores  and ruled by Madrid for 300+ years) our History textbooks mention the  Negritos  (「Aboriginal people」; lit.「little black people」) as 1 of our 3 main ancestral groups. And that's not an insult. Likewise, our maps & Geography textbooks mention the provinces of  Negros Oriental  (「Eastern Negros」) &  Negros Occidental  (「Western Negros」) making-up  Negros  Island. And that's not an insult to the island, provinces, or the people. So, the Spanish term can be fine. For so long as the English term wasn't what was used, the previously-mentioned factors don't raise red-flags, and the content of what was said in Spanish are safe, there should be no problem.

DaveJord · Accepted Answer

Well it all depends on context... literally translated El Negro means "The Black" in Spanish.

Negra and Negro is the Spanish words for the color black depending on masculine or feminine form of the verb. So the could talking about anything from a car to the color of a cloud in the sky. So anyone speaking Spanish is using it to say black. So like I said it all depends on context.

TrueConfection · Accepted Answer

Negro is black. They could have been talking about the printer being out of black ink. Maybe they like black roof shingles? Maybe someone has black mold in their bathroom? Maybe they like your black shoes? There are a lot of possibilities.

Aurora1010 · Accepted Answer

That's literally so common in Spanish speaking countries. And it's not just blacks that we describe, we can also say el guero meaning the white guy or el ojiverde meaning the green eyed guy etc.

OlderAndWiser · Answer

Would you feel the same if they described someone as "the redhead?"

andreasderjuengere · Answer

What makes you so sure that they talked about YOU? :D
Offense can only be taken when it is MEANT to be an offense. In any other case, a word is just one word among others.
Of course the media had made us 'sensitive' about certain verbal habits - but to now become a ''Pavlow's Dog'' would be counter productive :)

jshm2 · Answer

You're confused.  "Negro" is how you say "Black" in most European languages.

Drumlin2001 · Answer

Without knowing what they were talking about it's difficult to say. Negro is black in Spanish. They could have been talking about clothes or shoes or snooker or making a derogatory comment about you. You just don't know.

FunkyMonkee · Answer

Well, "El negro" means, "the black" so, they might've been deciding which of the colours they wanted to use for something and they responded with, "the black".

Wade12345 · Answer

"Negro" just means the color "black" in Spanish. Dont worry, at least they didn't call yo ua "Nigerian".

Anonymous · Answer

Don't worry about. This is one of my favorite wines.

Staximus · Answer

I used to work with a bunch of crazy Mexicans, el negro is probably the least offensive thing they could call you when referring to a black person. El negro is like saying "the black guy".

joeldalton · Answer

Negro is the Spanish word for 'black', don't know why you'd take offense.

EnglishEuropean · Answer

It might be good or it might be bad. Maybe they were speculating about the size of your dick. Did they say "El Negro Tremendoso?"

LilyByte · Answer

Negro means the color black in Spanish so prob referring to somethings color and not race

Anonymous · Answer

If some Black or Latina woman called me "Fucking White Boy" I would probably get hard.

Anonymous · Answer

Award for special snowflake goes to you.

Anonymous · Answer

It just means black when I hear negro from Spanish speaking women it’s usually followed by papi

007kingifrit · Answer

if you ever have to ask... the answer is always no

Hispanic-Cool-Guy · Answer

No. It just means the black guy.

Should I be offended by someone saying “El Negro”?

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Should I be offended by someone saying “El Negro”?

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