Some blacks insist: 'I'm not African-American' (percent, own, Americans, great)
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What are you talking about? Do you know how many different ethnicites there are in africa? People in Africa don't even look at each other as being the same. Why can't you people get that through your head. Please educate yourselfs before you start throwing around that term. People from ethiopia are nothing like people from Ghana. One of the worst genicides ever, were commited by people of the same country(Rawanda) but they were from different tribes, the Hutus and the Tutsis. They hated each other, they didn't consider themselves one big happpy african race. The arabs who live in Lybia and Egypt are they african? Yes, they live on the african continent. But are they black? No. What about a Indian person who was born and raised in Uganda and moves to the United States. Are they African American? Is he the same ethnic background as me?
You misunderstood me. I'm not talking about Afro-Europeans, nor do I have people currently residing in Africa in mind. I specifically talking about people of African lineage(particulary sub saharan) in America, though when we speak of ''African Americans'', commonly the term is addressed to Black Americans who been in the USA for 10+generations. Thus, what I meant by it having an ethnic connotation.
I so agree. The black friends that we have in our circle of friends, would rather be called American before all other. And they have told us they get so annoyed at those that have to be refered to as Africian American.
They do not like the label, and fact is they were born in this Country as i was, making them as they tell us American. They do not mind being called black american, but as they tell us all the time in discussions, they are american as apple pie, and vanilla ice cream.
I call BS on this. What kind of conversations are yall having where Black & American are even interchangeable? What kind of conversations are yall having where someone needs to make a choice between being Black or American?
There's a place in conversation for AA or Black, and it's not interchangeable w/ generic American.
How do you talk about the Civil Rights Movement or Segregation or discrepancies in sentencing or affirmative action or anything w/ racial components w/o including race?
Either you're making this up or you have some lame Black friends that go out of their way ignore anything that could have a racial component.
Can someone please explain to me why a person should care how another person chooses to label themselves? I don’t get the mentalities where people want to be arbiters of how groups or individuals seek to define themselves or the collective. Is it not all about respect? It’s like when Cassius Clay changed his name to Mohammed Ali and many people refused to call him that. Generally such is born from an ideology or personality of intolerance and or some people, especially black, have a negative view of Africa and do not want to be associated with it. This is true of a lot of older black Americans who were indoctrinated in their era to see Africa as a place of uncivilized savages. Hence, the term African American to them is negative because they don’t see Africa as a positive. Most people want to be associated with positive things and many blacks see it having the opposite effect by attaching African to American. I think a lot of black people are ashamed of Africa and hence do not want to be associated with it. Hel1....to tell you the truth we should be more ashamed to say American than African, given the 300 plus years of oppression against black people.
When I have visited Africa they did not see me as not being an African until I started talking like an Obruni or Mzungu. I love Africa and its people and hence I am proud to be called an African American. I love America too.....for what it is now.....but not for what it was....but it could not be what it is if not for what it was......which creates dissonance.
If you want to refer to me as black…..fine……it will not change how I see myself or my genetic design. Who I am is not a "learned behavior or culture"......but a genetic design...which was Imported from Africa.
THIS again? I'm Black and I swear, it seems like society keeps confusing a lot of Black people. We have TONS of threads in this sub-forum about this topic and it is so lame. I think that a lot of the Black people that are uncomfortable about this term are insecure about being Black. There are a lot of Black people out there that seem to want to do whatever they can to forget that they are Black. They say the cliche and cheesy line of: "I'm not African, I'm American." They crack me up with that stuff because they know DAMN WELL that the term African-American doesn't mean that people think you are African. It is OBVIOUSLY a way to link your nationality with your ethnicity and your heritage and I don't see why that is such a problem. However, of course, you have your Black people that don't even want to acknowledge or remember that they do indeed have a history and lineage that goes back to Africa.
I agree with you that there are many people who do not want to acknowledge their African ancestry but wanted to point out that many black people acknowledge that they have more than one ancestry, not just from Africa and they primarily feel American and it has nothing to do with denying one's African-ness to call oneself just an American.
I have studied a lot about Africa, I am a black woman, I wear my natural nappy hair (I wish it were nappier), and I just have an affinity for Africa and hope to go and take my children someday.
But to me, I am an American first and foremost. I don't see anything wrong with that. I also do not care how other people label themselves and I think it is ridiculous for some white Americans to give a crap what us blacks want to call ourselves.
I have African ancestry. I have European ancestry (English primarily). I have a minute amount of Native American ancestry on my maternal line (that I did not believe was true until I saw the documents to prove it since many black people say they have "Indians in they family" when they really only have white people). My family has been in America on both sides since the early 1700s. I am an American and I am black. I love everything about being black as well.
Just wanted to put that out there, that not every black person who doesn't label themselves as African-American sees Africa or being descendant from Africans as a negative thing. I see it as a positive and love everything about me that derives from Africa, even the Black Vernaculor (aka Ebonics) which has roots in African dialects. I love that it is one of only a few connections that we as black Americans or African-Americans have left of our African cultural traditions and am not ashamed of it or any other parts of my African roots.
I agree with you that there are many people who do not want to acknowledge their African ancestry but wanted to point out that many black people acknowledge that they have more than one ancestry, not just from Africa and they primarily feel American and it has nothing to do with denying one's African-ness to call oneself just an American.
I have studied a lot about Africa, I am a black woman, I wear my natural nappy hair (I wish it were nappier), and I just have an affinity for Africa and hope to go and take my children someday.
But to me, I am an American first and foremost. I don't see anything wrong with that. I also do not care how other people label themselves and I think it is ridiculous for some white Americans to give a crap what us blacks want to call ourselves.
I have African ancestry. I have European ancestry (English primarily). I have a minute amount of Native American ancestry on my maternal line (that I did not believe was true until I saw the documents to prove it since many black people say they have "Indians in they family" when they really only have white people). My family has been in America on both sides since the early 1700s. I am an American and I am black. I love everything about being black as well.
Just wanted to put that out there, that not every black person who doesn't label themselves as African-American sees Africa or being descendant from Africans as a negative thing. I see it as a positive and love everything about me that derives from Africa, even the Black Vernaculor (aka Ebonics) which has roots in African dialects. I love that it is one of only a few connections that we as black Americans or African-Americans have left of our African cultural traditions and am not ashamed of it or any other parts of my African roots.
I agree, that's all I was trying to say. What's wrong with just being Black? I'm a Black American. I'm proud of that. If I go to Africa, they're not going to see me as African, they're going to see me as a American a "yankee boy". My mom use to date a nigerian guy. Even though we were both black, culturally we were from two different worlds. Some black people act like they are afraid of the word black, like they're too good for it. We keep trying to come up with new names. I'm sticking with Black.
I do have a question. Why don't black people take this issue up as a cause and speak about it, educate, tell people what the proper terminology should be and why - take to the streets, become militant! Come on, people! I am dead serious!
I do have a question. Why don't black people take this issue up as a cause and speak about it, educate, tell people what the proper terminology should be and why - take to the streets, become militant! Come on, people! I am dead serious!
B/c it's not a serious issue. It's a personal preference. Neither label is literal or accurate, but that's not why those labels & others were created. They were symbolic efforts to unite a marginalized group into a proud group w/ a shared cause and shared history.
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