As the primary term for persons of Black African ancestry during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century, negro is both less immediately offensive than various other slurs and more connected with racist pseudoscientific work, which may be perceived as more racist and offensive than the slur itself. W. E. B. Du Bois in particular advocated strenuously for the use of capitalized Negro in preference to colored/coloured, which became less common by the 1920s, but in the United States the word negro now is considered acceptable only in polite historical contexts or in specific proper names such as the United Negro College Fund. Black and black (which replaced negro as part of the Black Power and black pride movements from 1966 onward) or the more recent African-American (from the 1980s) are the preferred alternatives, with neither being categorically preferred in all contexts. As a self-designation, negro was still preferred on average as late as 1968, while black became clearly more common by 1974. Usage in publications followed.[3] See also discussion on this topic at Wikipedia.