6121
I used to call black people くろじん, either because I mistakenly read 黒人{こくじん} as
such or because I heard it somewhere (or both), until I was told by another
Japanese learner that こくじん is more politically correct.

Looking into it, I can't find the word in the dictionary.

I actually used くろじん for a while and was never corrected on it. I learned こくじん
by asking what it meant, after someone said it.

Is this all my mistake, or is it actually a word? If so, is it derogatory?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-13T06:33:04.810
6120
2014-08-16T17:29:47.163
2012-08-06T22:31:25.823
54
question
words offensive-words
Is くろじん a word?
It is not a word. Perhaps people understood what you were saying and had not
bothered to correct you. When on-reading is mistakenly read as kun-reading, it
is often easy to tell what you mean even if it is not correct.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-13T07:01:12.873
6121
2012-07-13T07:01:12.873
6120
answer
Oddly enough I was referred to as くろじゃ by elementary school students and one
old man when I went to Japan for a ten day exchange. I figured out こくじん was
the correct term before those incidents, and I became confused after hearing
natives say another way.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-16T17:29:47.163
18249
2014-08-16T17:29:47.163
7041
6120
answer