Hearing this from Elaine, an year-old Chicago woman, struck a chord. A few years ago, she decided to read nearly every book she could get her hands on that explained the journey of black people in America, from the Underground Railroad to the Great Migration to the memoir of a black first lady in the White House.
She did this, she said, because it was the only way to make sense of the great racial divide in America and do her part to bring people together. She compared it to something a lifelong friend who survived the Holocaust once told her. Last year, she decided to host a gathering of white women to talk about race. Elaine was far ahead of me in researching the complexities of race.
I added several of these books, and more, to my reading list. There is no shame in having fallen behind in a changing world.
The disgrace is in choosing to remain in the past. Listen to Newsbeat live at and weekdays - or listen back here.
Clarke sorry for remark about black players. The controversial history of blackface. Image source, Getty Images. So why is the term considered so offensive? That's a phrase that can also be controversial. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. View original tweet on Twitter. Related Topics. Racism Life Race and ethnicity.
Published 10 November However, it may still be used today among some older generations who believe saying black sounds impolite. It is also still used in South Africa. It implies that one race is the norm and other races have been simply coloured in. The words that have been used to describe and define black people in both Europe and former white settler societies like America, Australia and South Africa are historically rooted in systems of injustice and inequality — slavery, colonialism, apartheid.
They are not words which have been chosen by black people but are instead terms that have been imposed on them.
Show Racism the Red Card, the education charity, previously told the BBC that black people have chosen to use the term black. Log In.
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