Is the word negrito offensive?

Question

I bought a box of dark purple tulip bulbs last month. I wouldn’t have bought it if I noticed but the name on the box said tulip negrita. My wife planted them but I feel funny about it

Answer 1

I grew up in Cuba and negrito was an affectionate word, of course we have no racial issues. Or maybe because we are all brown lol 

Answer 2

Not to me but someone may be offended I would guess it may be in the context it is used.

Answer 3

When a person looks for offence they will find it. 

The term means black - as in the colour black. This is not a slur, it’s probably the Latin name.

This has nothing to do with race.

Try asking for the black tee shirt in Spanish for example or ask for black coffee.

For the record I’m a white guy with a bald head but I’m not a bigot, but I look like I could be. My parents and grandparents etc had very varied lives in Asia, Germany, Africa, Canada etc where they lived with and liked the locals very much etc. Dad was in a band with 4 Malaysian guys.

Answer 4

The NAME of the tulip has nothing to do with a race.  Just enjoy them, when they bloom, and move on.

Answer 5

It depends on how one sees it. The bulbs must be so dark purple that they can pass as black. Black is synonymous with *****. Some people would opt out of purchasing them because of the label. If they really want tulips that look black they would probably purchase them anyway. Only offensive to some people. 

Answer 6

That's a Spanish term for "dark".  The bulbs will produce dark purple flowers, so the label was not incorrect nor was it intended to be offensive.  The actual meaning of the word is "little (female tense) dark flowers".  The reason you "feel funny" about it is because easily offended people will attack anything/anyone they believe to be offending them, whether it's true or not, and they will verbally and sometimes physically attack the source without provacation. 

Answer 7

It would have only been offensive if the flower color was labeled jungle-bunny. Otherwise just a spanish word for black or dark.

Answer 8

It is offensive.  Cavani, the Manchester United football player got suspended for it when he used it in a tweet recently.

Answer 9

Only to overly sensitive politically correct "everything is racist" people.  Knee grow (to avoid censorship by the aforementioned people) is the Spanish word for black (and -ito means little, or small).

Answer 10

There's nothing inherently offensive about it.  Taxonomists (those who study names - particularly plant and animal names) have used Latin for centuries.  According to their conventions, plants are referred to by their family or common name first, and then a species name afterwards, which is usually in Latin or is Latinized.  In this case, "negrita" is a diminutive of the female form of the Latin word for black or dark.  (Its masculine, feminine, and neuter forms are niger, nigra, nigrum, respectively.)  That suggests that it was given the name because it has a small, dark-colored flower (dark compared to other tulips, that is).  Among tulip fans, it's actually pretty famous.  It's said to be one of the most faithful tulips, blooming for many, many years.

Of course, offense is in the eye of the beholder, so no doubt you could find someone who found the Latin word offensive.