#terms

[writingwithcolor]

Non-offensive Historical terms for Black people in historical fiction

@pleasespellchimerical asked:

So writing historical fiction, with a white POV character. I'm not sure how to address race in the narration. I do have a Black main character, and I feel like it'd feel out of place to have the narrator refer to her as 'Black', that being a more modern term. Not sure how to do this without dipping into common historical terms that are considered racist today. Thoughts on how to handle this delicately, not pull readers out of the narrative? (fwiw, the POV character has a lot of respect for the Black character. The narration should show this)

There are non-offensive terms you can use, even in historical fiction. We can absolutely refer to Black people without slurs, and if slurs is all one can come up with, it’s time to go back to the drawing board. I cannot say which terms are best for your piece without knowing the time period, but hopefully the list below helps.

Historical terms to use for Black people (non-offensive)

African American documented as early as 1782 (documented in an ad in the Pennsylvania Journal). Note the identity isn’t accurate for non-American Black people.

African could refer to African people or “from 1722 as ‘of or pertaining to black Americans.’”

The place of origin could also be used. For example, “a Nigerian woman”

Africo-American documented as early as 1788.

People of Color documented as early as 1796 (with specific contexts, usually mixed people)

Afro American documented as early as 1817, 1831 (depending on source)

Black American documented as early as 1831 

Black was used in Old English to refer to dark-skinned people. Black was not capitalized until recent years, so “She was a young black woman.” would make sense to say, though “She was a young Black woman.” is the better standard today, although not universally adopted. I personally prefer it capitalized. 

Moor was used as early as the late 1400s for North African people, but had a somewhat flexible use where anyone visibly Black / Of African descent or the Afro Diaspora might be referred to or assumed as a Moor. Note, it has other meanings too, such as referring to Muslim people, but that doesn’t mean the person using it is going by the dictionary definition. Not really the way to go today, but okay in a historical setting (in my opinion).

Biracial (1860s), mixed race (1872), multiracial (1903) and multicultural (1940s) are also terms to refer to people of two or more races.

Occupation + description. Throughout history, many people have been referred to as their occupation. For example, the Carpenter, The Baker, the Blacksmith. Here’s an example of how you might go about using occupation and traits to identify a Black character in history. Here’s an example I came up with on the fly.

“You should go by Jerry’s. He’s the best blacksmith this town’s ever seen. Ya know, the real tall, dark-skinned, curly haired fellow. Family’s come here from Liberia.”

Offensive and less-sensitive terms for Black people 

Blacks was used in plural more, but this is generally offensive today (Even writing it gives me **Thee ick*)

Colored was mostly used post-civil war until the mid 20th century, when it became unacceptable. This is not to be conflated with the South African Coloured ethnic group.

Negro/Negroes were also used as early as the 1550s. Capitalization became common in the early 20th century. I'm sure you know it is offensive today, though, admittedly, was not generally seen as such until around the 1960s, when Black replaced it. It does have its contexts, such as the trope “The Magical Negro” but going around using the term or calling someone that today is a lot different. 

Mulatto referred to mixed people, generally Black and white, and is offensive today. 

The N-word, in all its forms, is explicitly a slur, and there is absolutely no need to use it, especially in a casual manner, in your story. We’ve written about handling the N-word and alluding to it “if need be” but there are other ways to show racism and tension without dropping the word willy-nilly.

Deciding what to use, a modern perspective

I’m in favor of authors relying on the less offensive, more acceptable terms. Particularly, authors outside of the race. Seldom use the offensive terms except from actual direct quotes.

You do not have to use those offensive terms or could at least avoid using them in excess. I know quite famous stories do, but that doesn’t mean we have to so eagerly go that route today. Honestly, from teachers to school, and fellow non-Black students, it’s the modern day glee that people seem to get when they “get a chance to say it” that makes it worse and also makes me not want to give people the chance. 

It goes back to historical accuracy only counting the most for an “authentic experience” when it means being able to use offensive terms or exclude BIPOC from stories. We’ve got to ask ourselves why we want to plaster certain words everywhere for the sake of accuracy when there are other just as accurate, acceptable words to use that hurt less people. 

Disclaimer: Opinions may vary on these matters. But just because someone from the group cosigns something by stating they’re not offended by it, doesn’t mean a whole lot of others are okay with it and their perspectives are now invalid! Also, of course, how one handles the use of these words as a Black person has a different connotation and freedom on how they use them.

~Mod Colette

The colonial context

Since no country was mentioned, I’m going to add a bit about the vocabulary surrounding Black people during slavery, especially in the Caribbean. Although, Colette adds, if your Black characters are slaves, this begs the question why we always gotta be slaves.

At the time, there were words used to describe people based on the percentage of Black blood they had. Those are words you may find during your searches but I advise you not to use them. As you will realize if you dive a bit into this system, it looks like a classifying table. At the time, people were trying to lighten their descent and those words were used for some as a sort of rank. Louisiana being French for a time, those expressions were also seen there until the end of the 19th century.

The fractions I use were the number of Black ancestors someone had to have to be called accordingly.

Short-list here :

½ : mûlatre or mulatto

¼ or ⅛ : quarteron or métis (depending on the island, I’m thinking about Saint-Domingue, Martinique and Guadeloupe)

1/16 : mamelouk

¾ : griffe or capre

⅞ : sacatra

In Saint-Domingue, it could go down to 1/64, where people were considered sang-mêlé (mixed blood for literal translation, but “HP and the Half-Blood Prince” is translated “HP et le Prince de Sang-Mêlé” in French, so I guess this is another translation possibility).

-Lydie

Use the 3rd person narrative to your advantage

If you are intent on illustrating historical changes in terminology consider something as simple as showing the contrast between using “black” for first person character narration, but “Black” for 3rd person narrator omniscient.

-Marika

Add a disclaimer

I liked how this was addressed in the new American Girl books it’s set in Harlem in the 1920’s and there’s a paragraph at the beginning that says “this book uses the common language of the time period and it’s not appropriate to use now”

-SK

More reading:

NYT: Use of ‘African-American’ Dates to Nation’s Early Days

The Etymology dictionary - great resource for historical fiction

Wikipedia: Person of Color

#Black #terms #words #historical fiction #Black history #Creator Responsibility #racial slurs #slurs #asks

[alterhuman-resources]

ⓘ

↰ go back to the main master post

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• What's "alterhuman"?

◯⃤Alterhuman is an umbrella term including any identity that derives from the standard human experience. Yes! this includes human identities!

◯⃤Not all alterhuman people identify as non human, some alterhuman people are human.

◯⃤The alterhuman symbol is the alt key : ⎇

◯⃤The original coining can be found here

☆━━━━━━☆━━━━━━☆━━━━━━☆

☾⋆⁺₊✧ " Alterhuman is a term that refers to someone who does not fit the traditional standard of what is considered human, and/or does not identify as human. " ☾⋆⁺₊✧

[by lgbtqia.wiki, 28/12/23, sourced from alt-h.net]

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• Identities & other terms

A few identities under the alterhuman umbrella are, but are not limited to :

Constellic || Daemians & Daemons || Dragons || Endels || Furries || Fictionfolk || Nonhumans || Otherkin || Otherhearted || Otherlink || Otherflick || Phytanthrope || Synpath || Therians

Links to each term will be added progressively

Note that :

The term alterhuman is opt-in, many people can identify with one or more of these identities but chose to not associate themselves with the term alterhuman or any other umbrella term their chosen label can be found under]

These identities, even if some are etymologically similar to others, refer to groups and communities sourced/anchored/found in this(these) reality(universes).

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Some great alterhuman related blogs to check out : @frameacloud @who-is-page @liongoatsnake

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& Plurality is also often considered to be under the Alterhuman umbrella, although not all systems might identify as alterhuman solely because of their plurality, or identify as alterhuman at all. But due to the complexity of plurality, terms, analyses, and other resources concerning that community and identities, any further information will be sorted, stored and can be found in our partner blog : @plurality-resources &

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⚠ if reblogging please remember to refer to the original post, as very often these might be updated with new information

posted the 28/12/23

update log : [29/12/23; fixing terms; added link; added blogs; fixing wording; added plurality info] [30/12/23; added terms] [06/01/24; applied noting system; added bottom indented reblogging note; displaced links]

#to be updated #original posts #terms #alterhuman #otherkin #otherlink #otherhearted #therian #phytanthrope #alterhuman-resources #constellic #endel #fictionfolk #nonhuman #otherflicker #otherflick #synpath

[genderqueerdykes]

is transsexual a slur? a trans person from my school told me that it was but i'm trans myself and i've never heard of it being one. i know it's considered "outdated language" (i know people still call themselves that but you know what i mean) but not a slur

it is not a slur, no!

it *can* be used as one like any queer term and possibly was for a brief time in the past, but "transsexual" was the first documented word for what we now know to be the trans community. the word transgender arose later on as a more inclusive or "accurate" term, and encompass those who felt like a different gender, but did not want to change their sex

i believe the term transsexual should be brought back into circulation, because i see many folks online worry that because they identify as a different gender but do not want to take hormones or get surgeries, they feel like they can't "really" be trans, but i think it would be healthy for our community to begin allowing people to choose what term they like best, and not just settle for what is most inclusive for "all"

some trans people are transgender and transsexual, some are just transgender, some are just transsexual. it's not a slur, and you are not saying a bad word by calling someone that- just make sure to see if that person uses that term. that's why i just use the term "trans person" instead of "transgender person" because you just don't know unless they tell you for sure

hope that helps! take care! stay safe!

#asks #answers #transsexual #terms

[sysboxes]

[Text: This user does not feel comfortable being referred to as plural.]

Like/Reblog if you save or use!

#userbox #did #system #did system #osdd1 #osdd1 system #anti endo #endos dni #boundaries #boundary #preferred terminology #terminology #terms #mod morpho 🦋

[antiendosystemterms]

drowser

A drowser is a type of headmate who has the distinct ability to lull their system into sleep. They may also use their ability to induce sleepiness in their system's brain during periods of insomnia, or when rest is direly needed and not easy to attain otherwise.

The ability may be possible due to the drowser's own tendency to become sleepy, which they then pass onto other fronters or the entire front, or it may be a result of their willingness to fall asleep that they focus on to overcome another headmate's fear of sleeping.

((this term is reclaimed from "pluralpedia". The creator of this term is pro endo. The flag is made by us.))

#anti endo #actually did #did #did system #System #Alter #Terms #System terms #Alter terms #Role #Alter role #Endos DNI #Endos fuck off #Plural

[cat-cosplay]

Next Comic/Anime con I need to go dressed as an Orca, and spend my time sinking everyone's Ships.

#ships #orca #jokes #shipping #fandom #terms #anime con #comic con #costumes #cosplay

[superbutterscotch]

Homosexual Tension

Thiswasmadeasajokebutithinktheywouldmakeacutecouplefr

#fanart #furry #art #furry art #over the hedge #rj x Verne #terms #gay #love

[sophieinwonderland]

I'm working on a list of unusual alternative terms for Sysmember/Headmate, so I wanted to share it: Branch, Component, Element, Fork, Fragment, Ingredient, Morsel, Node, Oddment, Particle, Remnant, Root, Segment, Shard, Unit, Vector.

Ooh! These are great! 😁

Hey, what about sliver?

(I'm also tempted to throw in "slice" just because I think it would be funny... and also maybe because I'm craving pie... 😜)

#plural #plurality #pluralgang #endogenic #multiplicity #systems #system #pro endo #plural system #pro endogenic #sysblr #system stuff #plural stuff #terms #plural terms #actually plural #actually a system

[jasper-pagan-witch]

All witchcraft is magic, but not all magic is witchcraft. Don't go telling non-witches that their practices (whether religious or otherwise) are "technically witchcraft", ESPECIALLY if you mean it as a "gotcha". The only person who looks bad in that situation is you.

#jasper post #reminder #beginner #common courtesy #basic human decency #terms #language

[zuskiscoiningflagz]

hAII! I'm just here to promote some sites (carrds, etc.) with explanations of alterhumans terms! They are good sites with (probably) easy-to-understand explanations! (so you don't have to search sm for the websites!)(possibly in alphabetical order)(some terms are not that well known)(tell me if you want other term here!)

ALTERHUMAN // NONHUMAN ↓ ( rlate / others.. )

Alterhuman Types Carrd

Alterhuman ( More Therian and Shifts

Aldernic Site

Alteraffectis Post

Altervexo Carrd

Amistelic ) Amistera Post

Anchorbeing Post

Animaive Post

Archetrope Post

Concerare Post

Casshuman ) Cassbeing Post

Cirrie ) Cir Post

Constelic Site

CopingLink Site

Dimenell Post

Eiment Post

Emportulum Post

Endel Carrd

Eulovia Post

Factkin Site

Fenikae ) Fenixal ) Fenixic Carrd

Fictionflixic Post

Fictionflicker Post

Fictionkin Site

Fictionodium Post

Gravistelic Post

Hearthic Post

Humanmore ) Overhuman

Icosahuman ) Multialtertype

Identimore Post

Infirope Post

Kardiatype Post

Kerbero Post

Kin Link Post

Likeness Post

Linosus Post

Musisonar ) Echosonar ) Vibrisonar ) Sonar Post

Nubil Post

Oggerare Post

Otherdition Post

Otherfix ) Fixtype Post

Otherflicker Post

Otherhearted Site

Otherodium Post

Otherspirit Post

Prehistan Carrd

Quixoris ) Quixote Post

Quoihuman Post

Root Post

Teohuman Post

Vior Post

I'll update this if i find moree!

#alterhuman term #brasil #idk what to tag this as #brazil #i hate school #idk man #idk what tags to use #idk what to do #help #idk lmao #aaaaaa #carrd stuff #carrd resources #alteraffectis #nonhuman #terms #eiment #otherhearted #otherkin #otherkinity #constel #constelic #animaive #altervexo #coping #factkin #archetrope #Dimenell

[queerlyvictorian]

Other terms/spellings/definitions from the transcripts (with help from the wiki!), because Brennan worldbuilds so casually and quickly when knows he has years to flesh out a setting lol

The Protectorate of Galthmei - the warlocks (I think?), where Eioghorain is from — mages who can wear monstrous forms “if they so choose”

The Dominion of Rhuv — the sorcerers (I’m pretty sure, based on side comments), where Captain Emliss was from, have a known tradition of opening up their bodies to be possessed by spirits

The Kehmsarazan Empire - the Big Bois, the Empire, where Suvi and her family are from

Kehmsaraza - the landmass or region from which the Empire hails and rules

Akham - an island that in the present-day is under imperial rule

The Irulian Desert - the desert that wizards made, the location of the Citadel on Kehmsaraza

The Saraz Imprerium - i.e. “the crown,” ruling family of the Empire — have a flag distinct from the Citadel

The Wizards of the Crown - Otherwise known as “Guild Mages,” the flunked-out wizards who work for the crown

The Scepter’s Chorus - A branch of the Wizards of the Crown who serve the ruling family directly as magical engineers (supposed to work on “large, practical projects of interest to the Crown that aren’t military in nature” … LOL)

The Azure Battalion - frontline forces of the Empire who are not wizards; “fighters with the Magic Initiate feat”

#in all fairness exu: calamity was also worldbuilt really fast #it’s just his style #i’m so ready for the day when all of us know this stuff instinctually #but i’m trying to help us along #even before it gets emphasized a million more times through play #the wizard the witch and the wild one #worlds beyond number #worlds beyond number spoilers #worldbuilding #terms #spelling #definition #oh my #queerlyvictorian posts

[nonbinaryresource]

Elder's descriptions of their genders from Kate Bornstein's My Gender Workbook, found here.

Don't let exclusionists, tone policers, gate keepers, queer-is-a-slur, TERFs, and other fascists control the terms you use, tell you that you're using too many words, convince you that you only need one simplistic and perfect word to sum up the messy human experience, or that your identity is a dirty slur that needs abandoned.

Be as ugly, messy, weird, queer, fucked up, and human as you are. That is your right in existing.

~Mod Pluto

#trans #nonbinary #gender #genderqueer #genderweird #genderfucked #transgender #transsexual #words #terms #existence #kate bornstein #my gender workbook #my new genderworkbook #identity #queer #humans #mod pluto

[fwags]

#bi lesbian #bisexual lesbianism #pan lesbian #pan lesbianism #mspec lesbian #multisexual #biromantic lesbian #lesbian positivity #contrapunk #contradictory labels #terms #harmonial #label #liom safe #mogai friendly #queer posts #panromantic lesbian #homoromantic #homosexual #abrosexual #multi #m spec

[sysboxes]

[Text: Some parts in this system use the word transsexual while others prefer transgender. Please respect that.]

Like/Reblog if you save or use!

#userbox #did #system #did system #osdd1 #osdd1 system #transgender #transsexual #transexual #terminology #preferred terminology #terms #preferred terms #anti endo #endos dni #mod morpho 🦋

[fazbears-horror-attraction]

No Spoons for ID right now.

i made myself an Arissomei template due to low spoons. Here's the flags seperate.

Free to use, no credit needed!

@arissodic-archive

#arissomei #I'll try to do ID in a bit #mod phantom mangle #mogai #terms #liom #Template #flag template

[eddiebabygirldiaz]

okay you know what, let's have some fun

#these are all terms i have seem in books #and jfc they are something #no hate if anyone likes any of these but i cant do anything but cackle over them #polls #smut #terms #ryan wants to know