Is describing someone as 'black' rascist?

[hillbilly]

Just that really.

no

no, unless you are describing their ethnicity unnecessarily - when it's not important or doesn't apply, making a big thing out of it.

Depends entirely on context, relevance and intention, surely?

No, it isn't. Nor would it be racist to describe Caucasians as white people.

Thanks. Edam, the description was completely necessary and not in a negative context at all.

I don't know who is black or white on here but opinions from black people would be invaluable too. Thanks.

No! If someone is black they are black.
If someone described me as white I would not be offended in any way, I dont see why being described as black is any different.

No.

Calling them the N word would have been though

no it's on birth certs black afro carab, black british or black african or black american the same as you get white british or white irish.

No.

If you're talking about "blacks" as a group that might be offensive. Saying "The black lady" when describing someone isn't.

Or "black people" is fine.

Unless you're making some ridiculous generalisation, or something.

But how about this- a footballer calls someone a "bastard" on the field-

A footballer calls an Afro Caribbean player a "black bastard".

Is the "black" here merely an adjective or racist insult

And if the latter, why?

A bastard is a bastard whatever the colour. Colour of skin is irrelevant. That's why it is racist to call a footballer a black bastard. His colour makes him no more a bastard than any other one iyswim

I think saying "The black lady" is pretty racist, but black in many contexts no.

I guess it depends on context. It could definitely be offensive if used in the wrong way, like anything. Intent is probably the most important thing although of course there are certain terms which will always cause offence.

In what context is saying "the black lady" racist?

If there were 5 'ladies' in a group and you wanted to tell your friend that the one who happened to have black skin was your friend, why would it be racist to describe her as the black lady?

In the same way if the situation was reversed, you would say the white lady if she was the only one in a group of black people.

It's not racist. My children are at a very multicultural school and they are very often described as 'the white boy/girl'. White and black in these situations are used as adjectives.

It'd be more racist to avoid using the word black in that situation, almost as if you were embarrassed by it.

I agree with the people who say it should really be relevant to the conversation, ie "I spoke to a black lady today" is odd because her colour is irrelevant. But if someone asks who you're talking about and you say "the young black woman" I think that's fine.

This situation happened to me today. I mentioned to someone that I'd met her colleague but couldn't remember her name. He suggested several names but they didn't ring a bell. it was on the tip of my tongue to say it was a black woman but I didn't because I was worried about being judged as racist although she would have known exactly who I was talking about if I'd said it.

Vashta- cross posted

If you're trying to describe someone, obviously not. But if you are relating a story and only mentioning skin colour when it's not yours, then it's racist - not the crime of the century or being equated to Nazis or anything, but definitely 'othering'.

Treating someone as 'other' on grounds of skin colour is racist.

Yes I can see what you mean. It's relevant in some situations it's relevant but not others.

For example my my best friend from school was black, and my grandparents described her as Messy's black friend. This was not to distinguish her from my other friends, but to make a point that she was black.
I would say that this was not acceptable.

However, I think a lot of people are guilty of this sometimes without realising it. I will often describe my work colleagues to DP and he gets confused with their names sometimes. So I will say the Irish one, or the Filipino one, or the black one. But I wouldn't by default say oh a new person started today who was white British, because I would expect DP to realise that, almost as if being white British is the default option.
Is that racist?

I have been in the situation when someone was trying to describe a mutual acquaintance she had bumped into- she was tying herself up in knots trying not to say black- eg.. 'you know, the one with the glasses, she's got dark hair...'

I think as a description of what someone looks like, it's fine- just as you would describe someone as blonde, red haired, Asian, white etc.

For me, intent is the only thing that matters. If Nick Griffin were to always keep up to date with the latest politically correct lingo, that wouldn't make him not a racist, and if, for example, someone who was married to a black person with black kids used some outdated term to describe dark skin tone that wouldn't magically make them a racist either!

Personally I think it's really rare to need to mention it though, if I need to point someone out, for example at work, I would say "the man in the red jumper" or whatever, not "the black guy". My racist father always irrelevantly drops into conversation someone's skin tone or nationality if they're not white British, and it makes it obvious that he's trying to imply something.