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Comment by borbulon | Hacker News Reader

> Have you always been so sensitive about being a Negro?

I know this interview is from 1962, but are you fucking kidding me?

I have no idea what people are finding shocking about this sentence, unless it's literally that people now think "negro" is some sort of swear word rather than an anachronistic term for black people (that wasn't at all anachronistic in 1962.) Davis is almost entirely talking about issues that spring from him being black in America, and he's being asked whether he's always been so sensitive about it.

Aside from the fact that this is a black man speaking to another black man, the question wouldn't even be inappropriate for a white interviewer.

edit: Also, "colored" didn't refer to "people of color," it was just another name for black people. I've noticed that mistake lately from some shockingly ignorant wokesters trying to claim Jim Crow for their own.

It’s the word “sensitive” actually. In 2023 it would be really weird to tell someone that they are “sensitive” about being the race that they are.

Usually when you say someone is sensitive about something, you’re implying the thing they’re sensitive about is a defect. Additionally, you’re suggesting that they are insecure about that defect, which is its own kind of accusation.

Right, that's why the question sounded odd to me. "Have you always been sensitive about X" sounds very similar (to me) as "Have you always been a whiny little bitch about X". Apparently it was perceived different back then.

Once upon a time being sensitive was perceived as a good thing. As opposed insensitive.

"Have you always managed to avoid being insensitive about X?"

The question definitely seems odd by today’s standards but it’s worth noting that the interviewer is Alex Haley, who was himself Black.

From the way Miles responded to the question, he wasn't in the least fazed by it. Why should you be? (BTW the term 'Negro' had an entirely different connotation and sound at that time than it does today, as mentioned elsewhere in this thread. Also, it may help to consider who the interviewer was).

Negro wasn't an offensive word even in the 90s from what I remember.

It would have sounded overly formal and a bit outdated but it wasn't a slur. I assume this just comes from Spanish so no more offensive than saying black in English. African-American was still somewhat new and certainly not as a widely used as today. Even in the mid 2000s people used the incredibly offensive term mulatto without a second thought as opposed to mixed race.

It would be like if latinx replaces latino completely in 20 years, latino becomes a slur and people in 2040 judging us now as racist for using the word latino. It is ridiculous and ignorance of the reality that language evolves in time.

It is also hard to put Miles in perspective. Kind of Blue was the second best selling album of all time at the end of the 1950s after Elvis Christmas album. Rebellious new heroin music as opposed to the high art we view jazz today.

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