Negroes, the census, and the offended

It appears like certain people have their panties in a wad because the census is asking people their race, and one of the choices is "Black/African American/Negro."

"The fact that it's 2010 and they're still putting 'negro,' I am a little offended," said Secaucus resident Dawud Ingram.

Question #9 on the this year's census asks about your race. One of the boxes you can choose is "black," "African American," or "negro," all placed next to the same box. Ingram said it's not a word he uses to identify neither himself nor anybody else.

"African Americans haven't been going by the term 'negro' for decades now. It's really confusing," he said.

I bet the United Negro College Fund would be surprised to hear that. Of course, we could follow the example of rappers, and change the question to reflect today's vernacular. What they call each other would get me labeled a racist, however, and would certainly result in howls of indignation.

I think the real issue here is that no matter how the issue is dealt with, even if race is ignored, someone, somewhere will find a reason to be offended. As I have noted in the past, "those who look for a reason to be offended will have no trouble finding one."

Now if you will excuse me, I think I will grab my reading glasses and try to find the clause in the Constitution that protects your right to not be offended.