A New York City resident is outraged after she completed a prospective juror form that asked if she identified as “black, African-American or Negro.”
Raeana Roberson, 25, took a picture of the form and uploaded it to Facebook to share her fury with the caption: “REALLY? ‘Negro’ … that I am not. Hello 2014? … jury duty..”
Roberson also crossed out the word “Negro” on the form and wrote “offensive! it’s 2014!”
According to the Huffington Post, Roberson submitted the form to a court employee, who was reportedly a black woman- – but the worker did not react to her written response.
In fact, she said that of the 300 prospective jurors she was the only one who appeared to be bothered by the form.
News reports surfaced last year that announced that the U.S. Census Bureau would drop the term ‘Negro’ from its forms after using the term on its documents for more than 100 years.
However, New York has yet to fall in line with the decision. A spokesperson for the state’s office of court administration says they plan on changing the term but does not have a specific time in mind of when that will take place.
Follow Lilly Workneh on Twitter @Lilly_Works