Randall Kennedy

I use African-American, Black, Afro-American, but I also use the word Negro.

Now, there are some people who get really mad at me because of, you know, when I use the word Negro.

And so, for instance, there's students who've gotten really quite exercised, and they'll say, you know, I'll be giving a lecture, and, you know, a hand will go up, I'll call on somebody, and they'll say, listen, are you using the word Negro...

And it's purely because of the historical time period that you're using.

So, you know, is that why you're using it?

Or are you using it in your own voice?

And often I'll say, well, I'm using it in my own voice.

And they'll say, well, I'm offended.

We think that this is, you know, that's old timey.

It's derogatory.

When this first came up, I said, let's pause for a moment.

And I'll take that under advisement.

And let me look into this.

And I ended up writing an essay about it, an essay about the history of the terms that black people have used to describe themselves.

And it's a long list.

Black, colored, Afro-American, African-American, Negro, et cetera.

So I go through all that and I said, now, let me just tell you, I know for certain when I started using the word Negro often in writing.

I can date it.

1983, the summer of 1983 is when I started using the word Negro in my professional life as a lawyer.

And I did it for a very specific reason.