First on CNN: Army says word 'Negro' OK to use

[happyslug]

8. This is a book of terms to be used when needed.

How would you want the Army to describe someone when name, rank and number is unknown? i.e. "A White person I meet in a bar, hit me with a wench and stole my wallet" instead of "A person I meet in a bar, hit me with a wench and stole my wallet? You have narrowed down the list of suspects, maybe not a lot but the list has been narrowed. It is in such situations is when such terms are to be to be used. Someone wanted to add "Negro" to the list of acceptable terms for some reason.

In the US, the term "Negro" was traditionally used on African Americans with dark black skin. African Americans with lighter skins (which implied some white blood in them) were referred to as "Colored" till the 1940s (The NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is an example of a term invented in that time period).

"Black" was the term preferred starting in the 1940s and till recently, when African American started to become the preferred term (to reflect the even older terms Italian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, German-Americas. please note prior to the 1950s the term 'Italian",
"Mexican" "German" were the preferred term for such groups even if they family had been in the US for centuries).

My question is why now? Negro is an old term, used on a Mountain in Western Pennsylvania. Negro Mountain is believed to be named after the death of an African American on that Mountain in the 1730s. Why bring it up today? African Americans have been trying they best to kill off the remains of the concept that the more white blood an African American had in them, the better they were. The African American Community has been trying to kill off that concept since at least the Civil War (And escalated after 1940).

Now, Negro is a technical correct term (along with Caucasians and Mongoloid of the three "Traditional" race divisions, White, Yellow and black, I use the term "Traditional" for in the years since WWII such a division has fallen out of favor).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_(human_classification)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_ethnicity_in_the_United_States

Given the closeness of Negro to a well know work for African Americans that contains two instead of one g, why list is now? If it had been in the book for decades, no problem it is historically correct, but having NOT been in the book till now, why now?

One reason could be a review of records shows the name has been used for decades even through NOT in the book. If true then the addition is just the book finally catching up to reality. This is speculation on my part, and someone should look into it and find out why to make sure it is NOT something racist. i.e someone used the term to describe Obama and someone check out the manual and found Negro was not in it, and then it was decided to add it for it has been used for years by some people writing reports.