The renaming of a Berlin boulevard to Anton-Wilhelm-Amo-Strasse, after Germany's first Africa-born scholar, has finally happened despite a last-ditch legal attempt to stop it.
If you’re thinking of the Moors, that’s Mauren in German. Mohr means a specific, old-fashioned stereotype. It’s not rude or offensive, but it is a stereotype.
“Mohr” is pretty anachronistic but in itself not discriminatory or a slur. Up until somewhat recently (say, at least up until the 2000s) it was not uncommon to find it in product names or mascots (“Mohrenköpfe”, the “Sarotti Mohr”). I would say it is much tamer than the german word “Neger” (which in itself is also not a slur, but … less desireable).
Do you have the same reaction everytime a Spanish person uses the word for the color black?
You can argue “Mohrenkopf” is a racist term, but oftentimes Mohr was used as a sign of quality. Another example for using Mohr to signal quality are drug stores with names such as “Mohrenapotheke”. From Early Middleages probably up to and including the Industrialization Muslim scholars where at the forefront of medical progress. This influence often times reached Europe via the Iberian peninsula which was dominated by Muslims up to the 15th century. The term Mohr describes people of color from Iberia down to the Maghreb region and further. So if I was to buy medicine prepared according to a “Mohr” scholar, I was expecting great results.
You are a absolut genious. You say that it was just “recently” used as a slur and before then a “normal” description. Well have you thought about the fact that when it was used, our society looked at böack people as inferrior, wilds or animals? Hell there were different indigenouss people in fucking zoos up to the 1940-50. Really weird that one would think that the totally neutral word to desscribe black people by others who think they are animals is maybe not that neutral. You propably are one of those people who think there is no language or context in language.
Yeah, nice stawman… think what you want, fight your little culture war if you will… i just wanted to bring some sane context to the discussion about the word and i will leave it this way. I will not further partake in a fruitless conversation.
Moor is racist in German? I thought it was merely a group of people.
If you’re thinking of the Moors, that’s Mauren in German. Mohr means a specific, old-fashioned stereotype. It’s not rude or offensive, but it is a stereotype.
The group of people in called moors in English, would be Mauren in German.
Only if you have no real problems in life…
“Mohr” is pretty anachronistic but in itself not discriminatory or a slur. Up until somewhat recently (say, at least up until the 2000s) it was not uncommon to find it in product names or mascots (“Mohrenköpfe”, the “Sarotti Mohr”). I would say it is much tamer than the german word “Neger” (which in itself is also not a slur, but … less desireable).
Or have real social problems that would require actual money or effort to solve, and are looking for an alternative.
In the Anglosphere, at least, word policing tends to be that. Same vibe as a company hiring a token female executive in order to be feminist.
Do you have the same reaction everytime a Spanish person uses the word for the color black?
You can argue “Mohrenkopf” is a racist term, but oftentimes Mohr was used as a sign of quality. Another example for using Mohr to signal quality are drug stores with names such as “Mohrenapotheke”. From Early Middleages probably up to and including the Industrialization Muslim scholars where at the forefront of medical progress. This influence often times reached Europe via the Iberian peninsula which was dominated by Muslims up to the 15th century. The term Mohr describes people of color from Iberia down to the Maghreb region and further. So if I was to buy medicine prepared according to a “Mohr” scholar, I was expecting great results.
Wtf don’t drop the n-word like this. The productname was racist. So was the way the word was commonly used.
Removed by mod
Lol maybe read the wikipedia article about it if you didnt know what the kontext of the word was and how it was used?
Removed by mod
You are a absolut genious. You say that it was just “recently” used as a slur and before then a “normal” description. Well have you thought about the fact that when it was used, our society looked at böack people as inferrior, wilds or animals? Hell there were different indigenouss people in fucking zoos up to the 1940-50. Really weird that one would think that the totally neutral word to desscribe black people by others who think they are animals is maybe not that neutral. You propably are one of those people who think there is no language or context in language.
Yeah, nice stawman… think what you want, fight your little culture war if you will… i just wanted to bring some sane context to the discussion about the word and i will leave it this way. I will not further partake in a fruitless conversation.
I’d say it’s not an outright slur but at best very anachronistic.