academic struggles

[drydem]

So, in my dissertation, I have a short section on Zora Neale Hurston and I'm having a lot of trouble with using the word negro. While it is a term that Hurston uses and is historically appropriate to what she was seeking, it still is kind of twinge worthy for me as a word, given the way in which it represents a phase of American history marked by official disenfranchisement of African American voters and the perpetration of horrible acts of intimidation and violence upon them. As is, I use the term but have a footnote about why. What do people think about this as an approach?

Comments

[spooksix.livejournal.com]

I like what swan_tower has to say, using the different language when describing things from different points of view. I have to say, as much as my own students use the other N word in my class and in the hall-ways at school, I'm becoming uncomfortably desensitized to it.

You might also consider your audience and who will reading what you're writing.

Legally, of course, a footnote is good to help cover yourself, and if it makes you feel better, go for it.