There was a time when that was a respectful term for people with African heritage.

After a while, it had been used as an epithet too many times and it became disrespectful and a new term came into fashion. Once upon a time, "colored" was a respectful term, until it became a buzzword of segregation.

This linguistic history — how we have to keep adopting new language because the current terms inevitably becomes associated with bigotry — is a testament to a cultural wound that never been able to fully heal.