Opinions will continue to differ about the N-word — does pronunciation that ends in a soft “a” versus a hard “r” make a difference? And so on. But the notion of extending its generally strict proscription to “Negro” seems more calisthenic than progressive.

Among other things, its usage persists in hallowed names such as the United Negro College Fund and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. The precursor organization to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (note the outdated “Colored” even there) was the National Negro Committee. Are we going to decide that only Black people, or Black institutions, can say “Negro”? Whenever non-Black people read from or refer to the wide-ranging, crucial and noble historiography of Black America, within which people — Black, white and otherwise — used the word constantly, will they have to euphemize because of some blanket prohibition? “Negro” was, for example, a default expression in the writings and speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. Must we place it out of bounds any time a non-Black person recites or refers to King’s words?