For the Record, Yes, the Word "Negro" Is Offensive in 2014

They asked Facebook for an answer. You can imagine what happened next.

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Yesterday, police in a small upstate New York town consulted social media for insight into whether the word "negro" is appropriate in 2014. 

Gawker reports that the Lockport Police Department actually asked the question "Is the word 'negro' an offensive word or just an outdated word?" on its Facebook page. The post has since been deleted, but it elicited numerous responses which showed a severe lack of progressive thought. Lockport police swung into damage  control, but the damage had already been done: 

1.

To further destroy your faith in humanity, the reason the original post was written is reportedly because 19-year-old shooting suspect Shamir Allen was branded a "dark negro" in the department's database. Lockport Chief of Police Larry Eggert told WGRZ that, although he doesn't use the word "negro," he "didn't think it was an offensive term." 

It starts at the top.

[via Gawker and WGRZ]

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