# black people



## xebonyx

"هل هناك اي كلمة مناسبةلترجمة غير "حبشى
. و تستخدم العالم العربية متكررة هذة الكلمة؟"negro"التي يعني


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## Tariq_Ibn_zyad

the word "زنجي"(zinjii) would be fine


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## Tajabone

Habchi or Habachi can be translated as "Ethiopian" like Bilal El Habachi, chosen by the Prophet to be his muezzin.


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## xebonyx

انني أشير الى عنصرية, تاريخ الكلمة. الكلمات التي ليست يقبلها وتقدميه.كعبد ,لوطي, كذا و كذا. اذا اجعل اي خطأ الرجاء يصوبني.


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## elroy

xebonyx said:


> انني أشير الى العنصرية, تاريخ الكلمة. الكلمات التي ليست يقبلها وتقدميه غير مقبولة؟ .مثل عبد ,لوطي, كذا و كذا وإلي آخره. اذا اجعل ارتكبت اي خطأ الرجاء يصوبني صلحوني


للأسف لم أفهم السؤال. هل لك أن تشرحي ما تعنين بطريقة أوضح؟​


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## kifaru

Are there more modern terms than these? It seems very archaic to use "zenji" (one from Zanzibar) or "habashi" (an Ethiopian) to refer to a "negro". It is as strange as to do this as it is refer to a European as "faranji" (a Frank) or a "rumi" (a roman).


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## xebonyx

قصدت ما قال كيفارو. مثلا, في امريكا و لن قالو مر "زنجي " او "فاج" عندما يحدث وصف شخص ما ما لم بينهم أصدقاء الذين عرفو به


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## elroy

In Palestinian Arabic, we use only عبد to refer to Negroes/black people.  The term in itself is neutral.  As far as I know, we do not have a particularly derogatory term.

I don't know if that answers the question.


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## Tajabone

In North Africa (Algeria at least and I'm pretty sure for the rest of the countries in the area), there's an "ordinary racism" concerning African people.

 There's one dialectal word for "Blacks" which is *ڤحلوش* = Ga7loush. It is considered as "neutral" since the majority is not yet aware of its (common) racism ...


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## ayed

In Saudi, we say:
*--عبد*
*--خال* which means "mole" ,a _maternal uncle' mole , a black spot usually grown on one's face ._
*--كور* _kour_
_--_ *أبو سمره "*of browness"
--*قين*


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## xebonyx

elroy said:


> In Palestinian Arabic, we use only عبد to refer to Negroes/black people.  The term in itself is neutral.  As far as I know, we do not have a particularly derogatory term.
> 
> I don't know if that answers the question.



It halfway answers my question...
You can't say الأسود to more appropriately refer to Black people? I would assume that would be more the neutral term, since عبد means "slave." That was the question I was asking, since the words are a little antiquated and have harsh connotations(ie. zinji). 
I would prefer to not call any of my queer(gay,lesbian) Arab friends here Luu6yeen... I'm just wondering, if I were to consider myself an "activist" using non-oppressive, offensive, or outdated language which had a foundation of subjugation in it's etymological form, which words would work that don't fit in this category, if any exist? 

Maybe I'm thinking that in America there are "politcally correct" references for certain communities, not necessarily just used in isolation.

For example, I've talked to people who have headed queer organizations for Arabs, and to other Arab activists who use "مثليون جنسية" (same sex) for labelling those who proudly self-identify as queer. Likewise, I guess I'm curious about terms progressives or likeminded people use for themselves who proudly proclaim their identities(Black, Gay/Lesbian,Rebels/Dissidents/Freedom Fighters(those against an oppressive regime or current gov. structure) etc.


Sorry if this seemed confusing! 
شكرا مقدما لكم اذا كانت لديكم اية معلومات بِالنِّسْبَةِ إِلَيها


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## Tajabone

That's a very fascinating question/theme, Xebonyx.

 Let's say that civil rights for (sexual, ethnic, religious) minorities are not yet given in the Arab world (this is a documented statement).

 Liberals in the Arab-speaking world use calques, most of the time, to explain their viewpoints. It's a tough (semantic) job to change attitudes and mindsets about so-called "moral" issues.

 In Algerian Arabic dialect, you have for instance the word "Nuagra" (dialectal plural for "Negro") and except few follows I know, nobody seems to be disturbed by its use. I let you imagine the fate of "queers" ...


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## ayed

In Saudi, officially :
--Lesbian women(*السحاقيات*)
--Lesbianism(*السحاق*)

--Milksoap(*الجنس الثالث*)and it is not necessarily exercises sex with another .

-- Gay(*لوطي)*euphemised as "of Lote's people".(*من قوم لوط*)
I hope this could help you


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## kifaru

ayed said:


> --Milksoap(*الجنس الثالث*)and it is not necessarily exercises sex with another .


Milksoap? What does soap have to do with homosexuals?


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## xebonyx

That's the same thing i was thinking,Kifaru- what's the inclination of using the word "milksoap" to refer to someone who's queer? 
But even more so, how does that translate into "milksoap"? One would think  there'd be a recognizable root in the word. The translation I've deciphered in my head is "Third Sex"(?).

As in transsexual or intersex??


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## kifaru

elroy said:


> In Palestinian Arabic, we use only عبد to refer to Negroes/black people. The term in itself is neutral. As far as I know, we do not have a particularly derogatory term.
> 
> I don't know if that answers the question.


 
How do Afro-Palestinians refer to themselves? I saw a program about Afro-Palestinians some time back which featured two of your countrymen Elroy. Sanaa Abu Bkheet and Ali Mohammed Jiddah were two who were featured. Mr Jiddah refered to the perjorative term " كشي" (kushee) being used by Israelis to refer to people of obvious African descent. 

Since I am an American I do not want to make a faux pas when referring to my hosts as I plan to travel to Sudan soon. I'd hate to give the wrong impression. I am sure that I only hear Sudanese use the term Habashi to refer to Ethiopians.


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## Nikola

According to this kushi is a Hebrew word.

How do they refer to Antar from pre-islamic Arabia?


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## Tajabone

Hi Nikola, greetings folks 

Throwing a glance at 'Antar's poetic corpus can give you lexical information about the way he defended his "identity" against the sarcasms he faced during his time.

Here is a precious link to Arabic poetry (the page is on 'Antar) : http://www.adab.com/modules.php?name=Sh3er&doWhat=lsq&shid=283&start=0

Among the words mentioned by 'Antar, *عبد* and *أسود* are the most used with their derivatives (*سوداء*, etc.)

The coincidence also lays in his mother's name : *زبيبة*. 
I guess he mentioned himself (or was mentioned) as Ibn a-Zabiiba (the son of Zabiiba) which could lead as well to a language game: the son of the raisin.

People who are interested can also take a look at the Sudan and Egypt section of adab.com (the link above) where some poets talk about Africa and their "négritude".

Wa e-salam lil-jamii3n !


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## Josh_

I do not understand how the word عبد , used to refer to black people, could _not_ be considered a derogatory and/or racist term.  I know that if my ancestors used to be slaves and someone called me a slave (in any language), especially in a post-manumission era when slavery was not an issue anymore, I would be insulted.  Anyway, here in the Detroit area I will sometimes hear عبد in reference to black people, but I have only heard it with a derogatory tone (unfortunately I have come across some racist Arabs) and it will often be used with the so-called n-word (when switching back and forth between English and Arabic).  Maybe because of hearing the  word عبد in such close proximity to the n-word, I have come to think of the Arabic word as an insult akin to that most opprobrious of English invectives. Needless to say the word عبد used in reference to black people does not jive with me, to say the least.

Anyway, that's my two cents.


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## elroy

Josh_ said:


> I do not understand how the word عبد , used to refer to black people, could _not_ be considered a derogatory and/or racist term.


 I can see how you would think that, but as you know language use isn't always logical.

In modern Palestinian Arabic, عبد is indeed a neutral word used to refer to a black person. The origin is obvious, but the word has acquired a new meaning with neutral connotations.

It's something I can't explain, I guess, but I can assure you that عبد is *nowhere* near as offensive as the N word in English. If a Palestinian used عبد when referring to a black person in a pejorative way, the offensive effect would come from the context, the other words in the sentence, the tone of voice, etc. and not the word عبد itself.

If someone told me عندي صاحب عبد, I would take عبد as a simple description of his friend's skin color. You also commonly hear things like لغة العبيد, used to refer to the stereotypical way that (Palestinians think that ) black people talk. 

I would even bet that most Palestinians, if asked what the origin of the word was, would pause for a few seconds before they made the connection - and some might not even make it. That's how ingrained the "black" meaning is in our minds. Any attempt to criticize the use of عبد to refer to black people in Palestinian Arabic would, in my opinion, be an unfortunate example of irrational political correctness. عبد is as neutral as أبيض, يهودي, or تونسي.


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## elroy

Thanks to the fact that Josh revived this thread, I've noticed a couple of questions addressed to me that I never answered. Sorry about that - it was not intentional. 


xebonyx said:


> You can't say الأسود to more appropriately refer to Black people?


 Yes, you could use it, and people would know what you meant. 





> I'm just wondering, if I were to consider myself an "activist" using non-oppressive, offensive, or outdated language which had a foundation of subjugation in it's etymological form, which words would work that don't fit in this category, if any exist?


 In that case السود or السمر would work for black people, since they both literally mean "black."

لوطيين, though, isn't offensive etymologically speaking. As Ayed said, it's just a reference to Lot. I'll admit that the connotations of the word aren't really neutral, but that has more to do with Arab society and culture than with the word itself. 





kifaru said:


> How do Afro-Palestinians refer to themselves?


 Unfortunately, I do not know any so I can't answer that question.


> Mr Jiddah refered to the perjorative term " كشي" (kushee) being used by Israelis to refer to people of obvious African descent.


 I'm not familiar with that term, so I can't comment on it.


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## SofiaB

Elroy, did you see from post 17 Black Israeli Arabs?
http://www.hadassah.org/news/content/per_hadassah/archive/2003/03_MAY/feature-ba.htm


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## elroy

Thanks, Sofia.  No, I managed to miss that as well.

I'm not surprised to hear that black Arabs do not like the word عبيد because of what it literally means, but that's not the same as saying that the word is derogatory.  If I got to know a black Arab who told me that he preferred another word, I would adjust my word choice to avoid upsetting him, but it wouldn't be fair to just say that عبيد is derogatory, because that's not how it's used.  Members of a group are understandably more sensitive than others to names referring to the group.

To make an analogy, I do not really like the word _anti-Semitism_ because it indirectly implies that only Jews are Semites, but I would not be justified in claiming that anyone who uses the word believes that Arabs are not Semites.


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## Mahaodeh

Maybe in Classical Arabic it would literally mean slave.  However, in colloquial Arabic it now means "of extremely dark skin color".  Well at least in the Levant and Iraq.

I wouldn't use it in Sudan though.  I don't know how the Sudanese feel about it but if you were addressing non-Arab Sudanese, they might get the same misunderstanding you did.

On the other hand, I don't see anything wrong with simply saying "black", after all you are just referring to the skin color.  Saying أسود is much less likely to be mis-understood than عبد.


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## xebonyx

Mahaodeh said:


> I wouldn't use it in Sudan though.  I don't know how the Sudanese feel about it but if you were addressing non-Arab Sudanese, they might get the same misunderstanding you did.


Interesting, Maha. Thats pretty much the way I feel it works everywhere. If I know the word "negro" to refer to a Black person is outdated and can make someone feel uncomfortable from its emission, I won't say it. Same goes for "kafiir" in South Africa-- not everyone will agree it just because of its' roots or impact in religion. One thing people always forget is there will always a class of people (whether its a vocal minority or not, they still reflect an attitude against it) who won't accept certain terms, and who push for the evolution and consciousness of word usage due to how it makes some feel.A good example I've noticed to find what passes for "PC" is news stations, like BBC. Clearly, they go the extra mile to use whatever terms they feel _everyone _will be comfortable with.

As for luu6ii, I've definitely seen petitions against that word, on blogs, in articles, and even at one time Google translator used it for the word "homosexual", but has since changed it to *mithliiyuun jinsiiyya* (same sex).


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## essa3

In the UAE we use the word "أسمر".


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## MarcB

essa3 said:


> In the UAE we use the word "أسمر".


Having travelled to several Arabic countries and talking to black and non-black Arabs,I believe that among the blacks themselves the least offensive word is أسمر. Most of the other words can have an unintentional effect of causing a negative feeling. Nubi is not offensive but only refers to Nubians.


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## Josh_

elroy said:


> I can see how you would think that, but as you know language use isn't always logical.
> 
> In modern Palestinian Arabic, عبد is indeed a neutral word used to refer to a black person. The origin is obvious, but the word has acquired a new meaning with neutral connotations.


 


> It's something I can't explain, I guess, but I can assure you that عبد is *nowhere* near as offensive as the N word in English.


Yes, I do fully realize that عبد is not as offensive as the n-word.  I know that my perception has been influenced because of the situations in which I have heard it, interspersed with English, in such a way that when I hear the word عبد applied to a black person I think of the n-word. My earlier post may have been a little emotional, but I do take into consideration the cultural differences between America and the Arab world, my own cultural biases, and how using the word in Palestine, or any other area, can be, and is, different from the usage in America.  I also accept the idea that the word has undergone amelioration, as it were, and is not considered offensive, at least within the group that it is used, which brings me to my next point.  The word is considered neutral within a group of people when referring to another group of people outside their group.  But that group to which the word refers considers the word somewhat offensive, and, I assume, do not use it among themselves and do not particularly like the other group's usage of the term.  I hope that made sense, I'm having trouble finding the right words.  That should be an indication that the word may not be as appropriate as thought.  



> Any attempt to criticize the use of عبد to refer to black people in Palestinian Arabic would, in my opinion, be an unfortunate example of irrational political correctness. عبد is as neutral as أبيض, يهودي, or تونسي.


I'm definitely not here to change word usage.  Rather, I just felt the need to express my take on the word.  I don't know if it is so much a matter of political correctness as it is a matter of respect, at least where I am coming from.  I'm definitely not a politically correct person, but out of respect for someone I try to avoid applying a name to them that they themselves deem inappropriate in some way.


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## SofiaB

Josh, I do not think you are being overly sensitive.
Please read this article about black Israeli Arabs. you may have missed this from a previous post.
http://www.hadassah.org/news/content/per_hadassah/archive/2003/03_MAY/feature-ba.htm


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## elroy

Josh, I understand your position.  I hope you understand mine.

In Post #20, I tried to explain how the word is generally used by non-black Palestinians - as a neutral designation of black people.

In Post #23, I acknowledged that it would be wise to avoid using the word - despite the fact that it is not a derogatory term - with or around blacks who may be understandably sensitive to it.

I think the difference is significant.


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## Josh_

I do understand your position.  My main purpose with my previous post was just to clarify that I know that عبد is not as near as offensive as the n-word.

Thank you Sofia.  I read the article.


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## Mahaodeh

MarcB said:


> Having travelled to several Arabic countries and talking to black and non-black Arabs,I believe that among the blacks themselves the least offensive word is أسمر. Most of the other words can have an unintentional effect of causing a negative feeling. Nubi is not offensive but only refers to Nubians.


 
أسمر doesn't really mean black, it means a darker person but not black; I think it's called olive in the US (or so I've been told).


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## WadiH

People here need to understand that words such as عبيد, زنوج, سود, and سودان are not dependent simply on skin color. Other physical features as well as tribal or national origin play a role. For example, in many Arabic-speaking societies, you can have different groups that are referred to by different names even though a Westerner would see them all as "black". In the Sudan, for example, some people (Arabs) refer to some other groups as عبيد (slaves), even though to non-Sudanese even Sudanese Arabs have "black" skin. In the Middle Ages, سودان and زنج referred to different groups of African peoples. Slaves were usually drawn from the ranks of the زنج.

In Saudi Arabia, the word عبيد is used to refer to some black people, but it's not considered politically correct. You wouldn't use it in polite company and you would certainly never hear it in the media. Rather, it's used in more informal settings as a slur. Freedmen and their descendents who still live with members of the royal family as servants and companions are also still referred to pejoratively as عبيد, because I suppose people feel that they are still practically living as royal slaves (please note that "slaves" in the Middle East were employed for a very different purpose from slaves in the Americas, so your imagination should not run wild here). Moreover, many groups are referred to as عبيد even though they're not black at all, but are simply descendents of white slaves, or tribal clients, etc. In fact, I've probably heard more Saudis refer to "white" people (by their standards) as عبيد than to black people.

Also, not all "blacks" in Saudi Arabia are referred to as عبيد because not all of them are of slave origin. Many are immigrants from West Africa, and are usually referred to collectively by the term _takarna_ (sing. _tkrooni_), which I think derives from the name of a West African tribe. Those who come from the African Horn region are commonly referred to as 7bush حبوش (from the Arabic cognate to _Abyssinia_).

If a Saudi were to refer to another Saudi's "black" skin color in the latter person's presence, my guess is that they would use the word أسمر. Though أسمر can also simply mean dark, rather than black.

زنج is an old term that originally referred to _some_ African peoples. It is still used in MSA to describe blacks in foreign societies, such as in the United States, but curiously, is not PC in spoken Arabic and would not be used in front of a black person. A more common term in both MSA and spoken Arabic would be أسود (plural سود). The related term سودان of course is no longer used to mean "blacks" but is rather reserved for the modern country of Sudan.

Finally, a modern PC term for black Africans in general (i.e. those who reside in Africa, not those of African origin) is simply أفارقة.


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## suma

Wadi Hanifa, from my experience living in ME and interacting with lots of Arab peoples, your explanation is the most thorough and best describes the proper usage of the various words.


Wadi Hanifa said:


> Finally, a modern PC term for black Africans in general (i.e. those who reside in Africa, not those of African origin) is simply أفارقة.


Please note that in older works of writing the word أفارقة most typically refers to what we call today North Africans, i.e. the Arabs and Berbers of Lybia, Tunisia, Morocco.


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## elroy

suma said:


> Wadi Hanifa, from my experience living in ME and interacting with lots of Arab peoples, your explanation is the most thorough and best describes the proper usage of the various words.


 I wouldn't be so quick to use words like "proper."  Things in Israel and the Palestinian Territories are quite different from what Wadi Hanifa has described.  

As I've already explained, Palestinians generally use عبيد to refer to all blacks, and the term is not used to refer to non-blacks.  I have never heard any other term, except for the literal سود or سمر, used to refer to blacks.

I suppose it's sometimes easy to forget that the "Arab world" isn't exactly homogeneous, and that one's experiences in one or a few countries are not enough to make generalizations.  That's why we discuss these things in the forum, to learn about linguistic differences across countries and cultures.


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## suma

However Elroy you admit to not personally being acquainted with any Afro-Palestinians yourself. So perhaps what *you* regard as accepted speech is regarded by some even within Israel & Palestine as offensive or impolite.


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## elroy

I have already addressed this point.  I have acknowledged that some black Palestinians may find عبيد offensive and that it would be wise to avoid using it in their company.

Simply labeling عبيد "improper," however, is unrepresentative of reality.  In most contexts, عبيد is neutral, and it's important, for example, for a foreigner to know that when a non-black Palestinian uses the word, he is not intending to demean or insult black people.

Please read my earlier posts more closely, as I feel I'm just repeating myself.


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## suma

Yes perhaps I should not have said proper.


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## WadiH

suma said:


> Please note that in older works of writing the word أفارقة most typically refers to what we call today North Africans, i.e. the Arabs and Berbers of Lybia, Tunisia, Morocco.


Yes.  Originally, إفريقيّة meant Tunisia, and أفارقة meant Tunisians.  Nowadays, of course, this has changed.


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## water

hello,

In darja (algerian arabic), we say kahloosh which would literally mean black. However, I never really thought whether it would be offensive or not . Even in english, saying "black" in certain contexts could be deemed offfensive.

I also just wanted to note that a lot of names start with 'abd regardless of the person's skin colour. ex. Abdallah, etc.


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## Josh_

Yes, but that is in reference to being a slave/servant of God; an entirely different matter from being made into human chattel and forced into a life of involuntary servitude.


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## xebonyx

I wanted to resurrect this because I thought those who might be interested should check out this article: news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8556358.stm . I found it relevant to the thread because it shows that there is some consciousness about the word's connotations, despite that it's commonly used.


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## Muwahid

I'm curious how long the word عبد has been used to refer to people of African decent. Anyone living in the west, knowing of the European slave trade being primarily from Africa would make negative connections of course, but the slave trades in the middle east, weren't these rather mixed a lot even being Arabs from tribal wars!

So I'm wondering why were blacks labeled عبد and why? Was it common practice, like the Europeans to take blacks which would be strange  considering a lot of Africa was a part of the Islamic Empire from the early years making them allies. Puzzling.


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## suma

^ Arab/Arab slave trading took place during ancient pre-Islamic times.
Granted there was much more slavery of whites and other non-black African peoples in the Arab world, but I still believe that the majority of slaves held by Arabs were black African peoples much like as in the West.


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## L.2

In Hijazi تكروني is a black person, تكر is a city located in South Africa I don't know where exactly. Many black immigrants came from this city then hijazis made generalisation and use it to refer to any black person I don't think this usage can be understood outside hijaz. We also created some forms like تكرنه متكرن تكرن تكارنه 
تكرنه means nervousness, jitteriness, moodiness
متكرن someone angry, nervous, moody and jittery
تكرن is v. past and تكارنه is plural
I don't know how this word turned from its original meaning to mean black to mean angery, nervous maybe because some تكارنه were not speaking Arabic, were nervous while living in Saudi Arabia or were easily angered, I don't know.


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## kifaru

Actually Takruri's come from West Africa. Takruri is also used to denote Sudanese and Eritreans of West African extraction. The descendants of the Takrur are still extant in the area of the original empire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takrur


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## Awlaadberry

elroy said:


> I have already addressed this point.  I have acknowledged that some black Palestinians may find عبيد offensive and that it would be wise to avoid using it in their company.
> 
> Simply labeling عبيد "improper," however, is unrepresentative of reality.  In most contexts, عبيد is neutral, and it's important, for example, for a foreigner to know that when a non-black Palestinian uses the word, he is not intending to demean or insult black people.
> 
> Please read my earlier posts more closely, as I feel I'm just repeating myself.


Maybe you believe that the word عبيد is neutral and is not derogatory because of your mistaken belief that the dark-skinned Arabs (سمر و سود) are of slave origins and are not true Arabs. Maybe it's because you don't realize that the original Arabs were dark - the same complexion as those you are calling عبيد. You also don't seem to realize THE FACT that in the past, what you call "white" today was synonymous with slaves عبيد - not what you call black.


L.2 said:


> In Hijazi تكروني is a black person, تكر is a city located in South Africa I don't know where exactly. Many black immigrants came from this city then hijazis made generalisation and use it to refer to any black person I don't think this usage can be understood outside hijaz. We also created some forms like تكرنه متكرن تكرن تكارنه
> تكرنه means nervousness, jitteriness, moodiness
> متكرن someone angry, nervous, moody and jittery
> تكرن is v. past and تكارنه is plural
> I don't know how this word turned from its original meaning to mean black to mean angery, nervous maybe because some تكارنه were not speaking Arabic, were nervous while living in Saudi Arabia or were easily angered, I don't know.


In Hijaz, do you call any Saudi who is black-skinned a Takruri? What about Jufain Al Bishi? Do you call him a Takruri? Where are the original black-skinned people of the Hijaz? Have they disappeared? if so, how? If not, what are they called now? Also, what about Sheikh Al-Kalbani? Do you consider him a Takruri?


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## Abu Rashid

When I first heard the term عبد used for dark skinned people I thought it was quite derogatory, as I did already know the meaning of the term. But I think it's worthwhile noting that all of humanity can be referred to as عبد as well, especially in an Islamic context this term is used. There are several hadith qudsi in which people are referred to as عبدي (my slave/servant/worshipper, ie. a human being).

Also in English we have the word "slave" which we actually derived from the slavic race, since they were the most enslaved people. It's the reverse process of the Arabic term, but still making that connection for a certain race and slavery.


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## Awlaadberry

Abu Rashid said:


> But I think it's worthwhile noting that all of humanity can be referred to as عبد as well, especially in an Islamic context this term is used. There are several hadith qudsi in which people are referred to as عبدي (my slave/servant/worshipper, ie. a human being).


All of humanity can be referred to as "slaves of Allah". When these people say slave, they don't mean "slave of Allah". So let's not mix things here.


elroy said:


> In Palestinian Arabic, we use only عبد to refer to Negroes/black people. The term in itself is neutral. As far as I know, we do not have a particularly derogatory term.
> 
> I don't know if that answers the question.


The appropriate term to refer to what people call black today would be the term asmar أسمر or sumur سمر in the plural.


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## إسكندراني

This is a very old thread (sorry to revive it) but one word for 'extremely black' skin is آدم (Adam)


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## aasheq

Until recently, all of our Arab countries were ruled by dictators, and many of them still are. In a dictatorship everyone is a slave and no one is a free citizen, but this does not stop people from referring to their darker-skinned neighbours as “slaves”. Even the Palestinians, who do not even have a country of their own, call Black people “slaves”. I think we can do better than that.


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## إسكندراني

I have never heard an Egyptian call a black person a slave. I guess we would call them إسود or something like that - just black. Maybe سوداني or نوبي if we think that's where they're from.
I don't think that for people who use the word عبد to mean black the etymology is clear in their head. Many other words in Arabic carry multiple meanings (عين is the most famous).


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