7 Disempowering Terms That Need to Be Stricken From Black Identity and Culture

By Taylor Gordon | Published on April 30, 2015

Uppity Negro

This is another word that has a history rooted in racism and is used today to leave Black people feeling disempowered. When the term came to popularity in the 1880s, it was rarely uttered without the N-word following suit. That’s because, according to a report by PBS, the term was used to describe “political activists, labor organizers or black men and women who violated white expectations of black deference.” As Huffington Post editor Zoe Triska rephrases this, “uppity” is nothing more than a term used to suggest that Black people don’t “know their place in society.”

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