@helmut_meukelAre you offended by the use of Negro only in the Title, or its use in general? Negro means Black (capitalized per style guides when referring to race). I can understand being annoyed by the context to which it is used for this particular story.
The US Federal Government still uses N for Negro, and sometimes explicitly Negro as a racial categorization. Perhaps this has something to do with international standards. Military ID Cards must meet international standards, and N for Negro is used to identify Black (etc.) skinned individuals.
In my story about WWII, starting in 1939, where Negro is the term commonly used. I don't use it much. However, my MC is from rural Utah, and when he takes his first train ride he encounters racial bias directed at Black (Negro) railroad employees. The character thinks about the few Black ranch hands he has known, and then acts in an unbiased manner.
Later, in Georgia and South Carolina he encounters racial prejudice against Blacks (Negros) and Catholics in particular. Later in England there are some incidents too.
My story, while fiction, is closely based upon historical events. I am also including less savory aspects of our history, as well as the noble crusade to liberate Europe from the Nazis. I believe these are important context to the story.
My story is not just about War, and even less about combat; although scenes of combat are some of the most important. I am portraying the USA of 1939-41 before the attack upon Pearl Harbor. Travelling across the continent by train was quicker than in 2024 by AmTrac! Smoking in public, even restaurants, was common (less common in SLC). Racial issues, and other social issues including religious discrimination. National origin, German, Jewish, Italian, etc., etc., etc. were common.
Paying $3.25 for a hearty chicken dinner seems very cheap, yet it was almost 10% of a months wages for many Blue Collar workers, such as a Ranch Hand.
For more than 150 years the terms Negro, Colored, Black, and African-American have alternated as the preferred and then detested term. What a writer uses now is likely to be considered "problematic" in a decade or two. Thus I am using Negro and Colored as the two most common terms when the story is set.
The NAACP (Colored) and ANCF (American Negro College Fund) are among contemporary (and current) organizations to have maintained those descriptive terms.
I am presuming, Helmut, that you are objecting to the context, rather than the mere use of the word. However, I have had some proofreaders who have mentioned the issue, yet lack a good alternative.
