Are the terms “Negrito” and “Pygmies” acceptable and justified?
NEGRITO: yes The word is said to come from Spanish “Little Negro” and has been used for the past more than 300 years to denote the generally short-statured, peppercorn-haired, dark-skinned people found in small surviving pockets all over tropical Asia and perhaps beyond. For the Negritos themselves the term has no meaning since they know themselves only by their local tribal names and are not (yet) aware that they may belong to a people called “Negrito”. The term “Negrito” is regarded by some as a misnomer. The word could indeed suggest a recent African connection which does not exist. However, it is of long historical standing and there is no feasible alternative. “Black Asians” has been proposed but this would include the Negritos along with the Melanesians, Veddoid and some other Asian people, as well as giving undue importance to the minor genetic trait of skin colour and ignoring more profound cultural, genetic and other differences between these groups. We think that until the Ne
