The United States army has apologized for approving the use of the term "Negro" as an acceptable reference to black service members and would no longer allow the use of the word.
According to Daily News, the term was changed two days after it was found listed as an acceptable classification for "a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa" in section 6-2 of the Army's AR 600-20 regulations.
The policy has now been revised and limits the acceptable terms to "black or African American".
Army spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Alayne Conway said in a statement that they apologized to anyone they had offended.
Around 21 percent of active duty members of the Army are black, according to Defense Power Research.