Negroid

Negroid describes the racial classification of humans indigenous to Africa, where they predominate throughout virtually all regions of the continent. The term applies to one of a varying number of races defined by various racial theories. The word itself is derived from Negro, which in turn originally derives from the {{ll|Spanish}}/{{ll|Portuguese}} word, meaning black in color.

Related Topics:
Africa - Race - Racial theories - Negro

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'Negroid' also has been used to describe a combination of human physical features that include a broad or flattened nose, kinky or frizzy hair, and dark skin pigmentation. There are other Negroid peoples, however, such as some Nilotic, Cushitic and Australoid peoples, who have straight hair and narrower features who are also considered 'Negroid'. The facio-cranial characteristics of the classic Negroid phenotype include rounded eye sockets, a rounded nasal cavity and maxillary and/or alveolar prognathism.

Related Topics:
Nilotic - Cushitic - Australoid - Maxillary - Prognathism

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The term 'Negroid' lately has met with criticism because of its association with certain racist social and anthropological opinions, and because it is derived from 'Negro', a term many consider pejorative or passé because of its association with the trans-Atlantic slave trade and white subjugation. Alternatively, Africoid is being used more frequently in some quarters, most notably among blacks themselves. The term is considered devoid of the negative associations of 'Negroid' and, like the two other terms commonly used to describe racial groupings, connects the population it describes to a geographic point of origin. 'Mongoloid' and 'Caucasoid' still are used, generally without challenge, to describe a set of features associated with Asian and primarily European peoples, respectively. Another word sometimes used instead of 'Negroid' is 'Congoid'.

Related Topics:
Racist - Anthropological - Trans-Atlantic slave trade - White - Mongoloid - Caucasoid - Asian - European

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