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Usenet Posted 23 years ago
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Mencken condemned as racist

The politically correct nomenclature for American people of Negroid African descent has been continually shifting over the years. It was one of the topics Alistair Cooke covered in this week's Letter from America. Ref:

I found it interesting that HL Mencken suffered much abuse from the (then 'Negro') community when he may have coined the term 'African American'.
To quote Cooke:
'...I couldn't help recalling the funny, awful day in the middle 1940s when my old friend and mentor, the most famous talent in American journalism, Mr HL Mencken, one day wrote in a chapter of his memoirs about his hometown Baltimore about fond recollections of the local "African Americans" - a usage that caused an uproar in the Negro community of more cities than Baltimore.
'In fact the most prestigious of all coloured national organisations - the NAACP - the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People - brought to the floor, at one of its conventions, a resolution damning and blasting Mencken as a "bigot", "fascist" and, I believe, the new villain: "racist".'

Mike Connally Reading, England
  

Top answer

[nq:1]The politically correct nomenclature for American people of Negroid African descent has been continually shifting over the years. It was ... '[/nq] I would think the thing that rankles, and always will, is that a term is seen as necessary.

  • [nq:1]The politically correct nomenclature for American people of Negroid African descent has been continually shifting over the years.
  • It was ...
  • '[/nq] I would think the thing that rankles, and always will, is that a term is seen as necessary.
  • john
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5 Answers
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[nq:1]The politically correct nomenclature for American people of Negroid African descent has been continually shifting over the years. It was ... of its conventions, a resolution damning and blasting Mencken as a "bigot", "fascist" and, I believe, the new villain: "racist".'[/nq]
I would think the thing that rankles, and always will, is that a term is seen as necessary.

john
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[nq:1]The politically correct nomenclature for American people of Negroid African descent has been continually shifting over the years. It was ... damning and blasting Mencken as a "bigot", "fascist" and, I believe, the new villain: "racist".' Mike Connally Reading, England[/nq]
From The American Heritage Book of English Usage at
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[nq:1]'In fact the most prestigious of all coloured national organisations - the NAACP - the National Association for the Advancement ... of its conventions, a resolution damning and blasting Mencken as a "bigot", "fascist" and, I believe, the new villain: "racist".'[/nq]
Mencken was unquestionably a racist. He believed that the worst race in America consisted of the poor southern whites. He a
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[nq:2]'In fact the most prestigious of all coloured national organisations ... a "bigot", "fascist" and, I believe, the new villain: "racist".'[/nq]
[nq:1]Mencken was unquestionably a racist. He believed that the worst race in America consisted of the poor southern whites. He ... number of legislators to call for his lynching. If there have to be racists, I vote for Mr Mencken's kind.[/nq]
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[nq:1]Mencken was unquestionably a racist. He believed that the worst race in America consisted of the poor southern whites. He ... kind. -That is an excellent example of what Australians mean by the term "rat bag" or a "rat bag theory".[/nq]
Richard Bollard
Canberra, Australia

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