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• Nera

  OMG!!!! WHAT AN ABSURDITY!!!! What’s all about in this CRAZY WACKO POST???? 0_0

  Is negro offensive?! Negro means black, colour and person, in Portuguese and Spanish SO WHAT? What’s the end of line for this american madness? It has absolutely NOTHING offensive on that! Should we STOP using the word negro now because WHITE americans find it offensive? Because I cannot belive a wise and educated black american person would even bother… Such posts make me think how stupid people in magazines can be.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_76F7SAA3N35X4IBY5BGVQML2YM James

  I speak Portuguese and Spanish and the word “negro” has no overtones at all and is in common use.  Stop acting like American and English are the mark by which to measure all else and are the center of the world.

• KhartoumHero

  What? Why is the word negro considered “horribly offensive”? It means black. It is a word that was used to refer to black people. Is it offensive to call them blacks? What makes the word offensive, the word or what it refers to? If you think black people are offensive then you need to figure out why, because it sounds like YOU have a problem.

  What next, the word African will be offensive?

• Charles Ulysses Feney

   I wouldn’t worry unless they come out with a version in “New York Jew”!

• http://MsUnderestimated.com MsUnderestimated

  I agree with the other commenters here. Styleite, your outrage is stupid. “Negro” is, as previously state, a translation for the color black. Think “nehgro,” not “nEEgro.” Geez, people… grow the f*** up!

  Julia, if you are really this dumb, you shouldn’t be contributing to a blog about fashion. Good grief.

• KhartoumHero

  This reminds me of that episode of The Office when Michael Scott asks Oscar if there is a less offensive word than “Mexican.” I really think the writer and whoever that doofus that tweeted this nonsense need to do a little self-analysis and figure out what makes this offensive to them, the word, or their own hidden racism.

• http://conurls.com/ Chris Jones

  You gotta be kidding

• http://mediamatters.org/ Leedog

  Republicans just crashed the Amazon website trying to get pairs of these boots… that’s their favorite color!!

• KhartoumHero

  I think people like you have the problem, not Republicans. It’s like you get all giddy whenever anything to do with blacks comes up. Republicans don’t make a big deal about it. Maybe something in your sexual circuitry is miswired, because you go literally orgasmic over anything you can associate with race, then you get this awful guilt and blame others for having bad thoughts.

• http://MsUnderestimated.com MsUnderestimated

  Are you saying Republicans only like boots that are black in color? Seriously, Leedog… this isn’t even CLOSE to political. Grow up.

• Anonymous

  This is for ALL of the people -liberal and racist- who search HARD for race in ANYTHING anywhere. MOVE ON PEOPLE, there is nothing to see here.. LOL

• 12voltman1

  You would love to see the word return to our culture, wouldn’t you now?

• 12voltman1

  If I called you a fag in England. I would be saying you were a cigarette. Different cutures have different meanings. What the matter havn’t you rode the tube?

• http://mediamatters.org/ Leedog

  I would like to see Coclico come out with a white boot with the color name “White Hillbilly Trailer Trash” and see the people who find “Kentucky Negro” acceptable change their tune!!

• blackmamba24

  if ur not black, you shouldnt have anything 2 say PERIOD……..

• http://MsUnderestimated.com MsUnderestimated

  What do you mean by “our culture?”

• http://MsUnderestimated.com MsUnderestimated

  “Rode the tube?” WTF are you talking about? You are seriously defective.

  And as far as “different cultures,” in almost every language, there is some version of “negro” that translates to black as a color; not a race. Since fashion is global, “negro” is not meant to be construed as pertaining to race.

  I once worked for a shoe designer, and we had our shoes, boots and purses manufactured in China, Brazil, Mexico, and many other countries, and most other countries’ manufacturers use some form of “negro/negra,” etc. as a TRANSLATION of “black.”

  BTW, your reference to the British slang for cigarette as “fag” is not even CLOSE to any equivalency to this article.

  Lastly, by your standards, America and other English-speaking countries should ban “Negro Modelo” beer because it might be offensive to blacks.

  Good lord, man…can you please advance past an 8th grade level of intellect?

• http://www.facebook.com/people/Gregory-Smith/100001741334953 Gregory Smith

  Fine, let’s call it Kentucky African-American, LOL
  http://libertarians4freedom.blogspot.com/

• http://MsUnderestimated.com MsUnderestimated

  Hey, you moron… as I mentioned above, I’ve worked for a shoe designer in the past. Guess what some Spanish, Mexican or Brazilian shoes were called that were white? Nope… not “trailer trash,” but either “blanca” or “blanco,” depending on the gender of the noun (name of the shoe).

  In the case referenced in this article, if the boots were white they would be called “Coclico’s Miller Style Boot, color Blanco.” You ‘tards really need to grow up. The fact that Styleite even MADE this a story is laughable.

• http://MsUnderestimated.com MsUnderestimated

  Why? This article is just felony stupid on its face.

• Thankyou

  “Kentucky” is an English word, and an American state. If you are interested in context AT ALL….consider what that modifier does.

• http://MsUnderestimated.com MsUnderestimated

  AMEN, Nera! What is these peoples’ problem? I have worked in the fashion industry before, and these Anglo-centric idiots commenting here have no clue what it is like to work in a global industry…namely fashion. Negro is not referring to a person’s race in this case, but some of these idiots are too dumb to know any different. It’s a very sad situation…not for you or I, but for those who don’t even know how dumb they sound complaining about this non-issue.

• http://MsUnderestimated.com MsUnderestimated

  No, darlin… we don’t give in to these fools.

• http://MsUnderestimated.com MsUnderestimated

  A note of caution to you fools here who see some sort of egregious racial overtone in this boot description:

  The color is pronounced “Kentucky NAYgro,” not “Kentucky NEEgro.”

  My GOD, you people are so dense.

• http://MsUnderestimated.com MsUnderestimated

  What are you talking about? Have you ever worked in the fashion industry, much less the footwear industry? I have…shoe style names are typically done so in a pattern that matches the style’s last, heel, toe, material, season, and color.  Very few people here know what they’re talking about.

• http://twitter.com/blkbird77 blkbird77

  Creation Of The Negro
  Compiled by AyindeExtracts from: The name “negro” its origin and evil use: Richard B. Moore
  RaceandHistory.com
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0933121350/theorderofthesel/026-6198135-1270014

• Jerry Baustian

  As a historian, I typically use “Negro” when referring to black persons before around 1970. Also, I don’t have a problem discussing contributions to the United Negro College Fund, or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (though I object to the NAACP’s political positions).

• http://twitter.com/blkbird77 blkbird77

  - The word negro, in Greek, is derived from the root word necro, meaning dead.

  - Asians come from Asia and have pride in the Asian race’ Europeans come from Europe and have pride in Europe accomplishments. So, how do you configure Negroes … negroland …what? huh?

• http://mediamatters.org/ Leedog

  Is the above ad in Spanish?? No, it’s in English!!

  If the ad was in Spanish, no one would care, but it’s not and the point you’re trying to make is irrelevant!!

  Furthermore, the only thing that’s laughable is you telling people to “grow up” while resorting to childish name-calling!!

• http://mediamatters.org/ Leedog

  It’s obvious that “MsUnderestimated” works for Coclico Shoes and was the one who created the ad based on her never-ending defense of the company’s choice of terms used!!

• 12voltman1

  The Tube is the subway in England. A truck is called a lorry.etc. That’s WFT I’m talking about. See you are so ignorant you don’t even know what your talking about. Words do have different meanings in different cultures.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PKEQSTA4WOBYU5Z7QNSBUR2LXI MASSMURDERMEDIA

  negro is just the tip of the iceberg, there is much to be offended by in this ad:

  “leather”…  something had to die in order for these to be made…

  “manmade sole”…  what made the rest of this boot, a robotic machine?…  someone’s job was lost…

  “16in shaft”…  i know sex sells, but is phallic imagery really necessary in this case?…

  all so some airheaded stepford wife can save 20%, only to throw them in her closet with the other 200+ pairs of footwear never to be worn again…  these people make me sick…  

• TriFoldTwat

  Now I know where your scintillating intellect comes from. You have a history working with shoes and clothes — worldwide! You earn your highness and mightiness, however off-putting it remains to most likely everyone everywhere you tread.

  I’m sure your experience working in such a far-reaching global industry as fashion equips you with a unique wisdom and worldliness. Forget the fact that this company designs their product in New York City and qualifies the Spanish/Portugese “Negro” with the curiously un-Spanish/Portugese “Kentucky,” a state whose institutionalized racism spans the vast majority of its history. Explain to me the linguistic mishmosh of “Kentucky” and “Negro.” Many people very savvy in many global industries, who are not otherwise idiots, would find that combination of words a bit unsettling. Kentucky Negro sounds like a racial slur. Negro itself when used within a far different linguistic framing would of course seem perfectly appropriate, as in Gato Negro, or Puta Negra. (Well, now again, that one just doesn’t sound right.) If Kentucky were not qualifier, it just might actually sound slightly Spanish or Portugese. Again, “negro” by itself is neutral.

  Years ago when Chevrolet tried to market the Chevy Nova in South America yielding laughable failure, we see demonstrated the need to modify verbiage depending on the locale into which the “global product” is made then marketed.

• MsUndiesdescimated

  You’re a dumb California Cracker.

• Bateso

  Negro: spanish for black. “Mis zapatos son negro”, the old gringo exclaimed. STFU, mediate.

• reality check

  Have YOU ever worked in marketing? Clearly not. Clerking at Payless doesnt make you an expert. Just shut up.

• http://www.facebook.com/people/Arthur-Clark/100000610136790 Arthur Clark

  Dumbass it was never a term of endearment, it was used to demean us.

• http://www.facebook.com/people/Arthur-Clark/100000610136790 Arthur Clark

  you mad because he just schooled your lame ass. BTW i’m black . His assessment is accurate to say the least

• http://www.facebook.com/steve.j.goering Steve Goering

  What’s truly obscene is the price.

• DoNotMindMe

  The word Negro existed long before American slavery’s derogatory use of it. It means ‘the color black’ in many different languages and that’s what it obviously means when it comes to the shoe.

  People that call THIS racism are ignoring REAL racism in the world. 

• Dyemyeyes

  It’s not demeaning. Don’t get sensitive. It’s a label based on skin tone. Just like when someone is called ‘white’. ‘Black’ is no different. But that’s beside the point. Negro is NOT the “offensive” term often used for African-Americans. That term also starts with N but that is were the similarities end because that word has to do more with ignorance than skin color.

  There is no harm in the shoe being called Kentucky Negro. This article is pointless.

• moshejakob

  And do you refer to Jews before 1945 as Kikes or Hebes?  Just curious.

• moshejakob

  Why call your mother airheaded?  Hardly nice.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PKEQSTA4WOBYU5Z7QNSBUR2LXI MASSMURDERMEDIA

  impressive response…  you really zinged me with that pertinent contribution to the discussion…  you must be a senior fellow at the harvard debate society…  

• KhartoumHero

  It was used to demean you? Ok then, what word did they use to NOT demean you? Oh that’s right, there wasn’t another one. It was a word that had a one-to-one correspondence with a person, place, or thing. In other words, a noun.

  Somewhere along the way, someone just decided it was offensive because it reminded of them of old times. Then “colored” was used. Why did that become offensive? Then it was black. Well, “black” means the same thing as negro. That’s still used today. Then there was Afro-American, then that was dropped. Now it’s African-American, which is beginning to fall into disfavor.

  I have to wonder, why do these words that begin as neutral somehow end up being offensive? Again, I have to think that it has something to do with a problem the people using them have with not the WORD itself, but what the word REFERS to. The word keeps changing, yet somehow it keeps becoming an offensive word.

• KhartoumHero

  Oh yeah! Except negro was just a word that referred to black people and didn’t have the same negatives as “hillbilly trailer trash.”

  Oh, of course, unless you think that merely being black is some kind of negative.

  I think that’s it. People like you make the word bad because you immediately associate bad things with black people.

• KhartoumHero

  No, it’s my f*ing language too.

• KhartoumHero

  Negro wasn’t a term of derision, you ignorant moron. Even Martin Luther King used it to refer to himself in his I Have a Dream speech.

  The word was used all the way until the 1970s when Malcolm X decided it was offensive.

• KhartoumHero

  You obviously know very little. Go to Pakistan. They don’t call themselves “Asian.” That word is rarely used to refer to people outside the US because there is so much diversity. Asia extends from Japan to Turkey, and includes most of Russia.

  Even in Africa, they don’t view themselves as a single group. There are Berbers, Arabs, Tuaregs, and blacks of different tribal identities.

• KhartoumHero

  Funny!

• KhartoumHero

  Why would the pairing of “Kentucky” make it any more offensive than, say “New York” or any other state? Or do you peddle in the same offensive broad-brush stereotypes you accuse others of? As I’ve said again and again, this seems to be an issue of projection by those who have problems with race.

  Oh, and let me give you some facts to refute your offensive assertion about Kentucky. Kentucky was a border state. It had slavery, but so what? Even New Hampshire had slavery. In fact, NH was the last state where slavery existed. Kentucky did not join the Confederacy.

  So why use Kentucky? Because the style of the boot is used in HORSEBACK riding. You see, because people who don’t think in sweeping, broad-stroke stereotypes like you can see that. Kentucky is known for HORSES, not racism.

  Since your hangup seems to be about race, and seeing your own inner racist in everyone else, I doubt you would thought Kentucky Black to be less offensive. Because what offends you is the referent, not the word that refers to it.

• KhartoumHero

  The modifier indicates that it is the style used in horseback riding. That’s what Kentucky is known for, here in the US and internationally. Or do you harbor some sinister stereotype yourself? I keep going back to this. This has more to do with your own problems than anything.

• KhartoumHero

  Heh heh. “Riding the tube” has a distinctly different meaning here, guy. Especially when you use the word “fag” somewhere along with it, but somehow I think you knew that.

• Jerry Baustian

  “Negro” has never been an ethnic slur. It is simply a word that means “black” in several languages. It is now out of favor, but only because it has been replaced by “black” or, in some cases, “African-American”.

• 12voltman1

  Ya Think?

• http://twitter.com/Darr247 Darr Darr

  What, exactly, is wrong with the word “negro” ???

  Also, check out Merriam-Webster’s website for the second definition (Noun) of the word japan.
  Are you telling me it’s offensive to nipponese somehow when we refer to that type of lacquer?

• Anonymous

  Well put. It’s so frustrating to see people making such a fuss out of nothing – like this. I think you’re on the money with your allusions to the fact that people get riled up because they have an ingrained distaste for blackness. It’s not the word that’s a problem!

• Anonymous

  So you’re saying that the term Negro is equal to “Hillbilly Trailer Trash” ??? Let’s try that again : Kentucky Negro is similar to Utah Caucasian… offended?

• Anonymous

  I’m black and I think taking offense to this is ridiculous. KhartoumHero is making extremely valid points. 

  PLEASE stop being so sensitive. You’ll be amazing at how much more pleasant life will be.

• Brent

  How did Greek get into this discussion?
  According to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/negro
  Origin of NEGRO
  Spanish or Portuguese, from negro black, from Latin nigr-, nigerFirst Known Use: 1555

• http://www.facebook.com/people/Rick-Johnson/100000190455903 Rick Johnson

  Thew left is the one who wants all business done in English and Spanish. Now they complain when they get what they wanted.

• TriFoldTw*t

  I’m not offended by “Kentucky” but its use negates the asssertion that “Negro” was used in the context of the Spanish language. It’s such an oddity to combine English and Spanish in this way, so “Kentucky” as qualifier seems out of place, in the same way “New Hampshire Negro” would. It’s “Negro” I have discomfort with; not when it’s clearly Spanish or Portugest; because as an American English word it’s an outdated, outmoded, “backward” if-you-will referral to African Americans or Black people. I prefer not to run into words that remind me of this ill, dark past of which, yes, many states in our Union are guilty.

  Combining English and the word “Negro” just places this within the context of American history about which African Americans would rather have gone differently. And although your and the company’s explanation are both understandable, so is a great many people’s impatience with hearing this word used in a way that is reminiscent of much of the darkest parts of our history.

  Kentucky Black also sounds fine to me, if you call me it in a nice tone of voice.

• Anonymous

  If they were white…..would “West Virginia Caucasian” be racist?
  This is just more PC bullshit

• KhartoumHero

  As it turns out, Kentucky is the type of leather used. I assumed it was the style that made it so.

  But this is what bothers me. It’s this idea that we must atone and forever beat ourselves up about things that happened in the past. They happened, and they can only be judged within the context of that place and time, not ours. I refuse to censor my language like that in perpetual shameful atonement of sins that for one are not mine, and another, are only considered sins in my time, place, and economic circumstances.

  The word slave itself recalls another shameful time, when Islamic slave traders would raid southern Europe for the highly prized Slavic people. It is from the Slavs that we get the word slave. Should we never use the word slave, since it recalls a time when an entire people were degraded?

  So to the people who are upset with this word, all I can do is imagine they are trying to mount some moral high horse. It’s what we in our time do. That is our sin that will be looked back on in shame. We seek to elevate ourselves over each other by finding some petty transgression in others, even when it is completely innocent, morphing into some mortal sin, and then condemning it like some fire and brimstone preacher.

  I’m sick of it. I am so sick of the posturing. I’m sick of the point-scoring. I’m deathly sick of the stupidity of it all.

  But as to the word being “outdated,” it was in common use up until the early 1970s. It’s not like something out of Macbeth. And backward? There is no such thing, because there is no such thing as forward. Every point in time is unique. Time has no arrow.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_76F7SAA3N35X4IBY5BGVQML2YM James

  There is no Spanish version of “Kentucky,” – simple.

• tellthetruth

  WTF!  This country was built by slaves; Kentucky Negro is in reference to slavery.  Any black person born in the USA knows that!  Until this country deals with the subject of slavery and what it means to black in America, offensive terms insulting an entire race people will always be used.