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All of the other groups have been recipients of Affirmative Action at some point and time in this country. I mean...the IRISH? How is it that they overwhelmingly staffed a whole bunch of civil servant jobs in many cities (especially cops) in the early to middle part of the last century?
And not all of us African Americans care about the "backlash." I never did. Get mad...i really don't care about how non-blacks feel about it.
You are so right and glad you are educating some folks about that. For some reason people want to think that Affirmative Action is just for or was just for Black people.
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.
Of course. Some of these types kill me with this nonsense. Everyone else can be some hyphenated term, but black folks shouldn't do it because of a potential "backlash" as if everything would be lovey-dovey if we stopped using African American.
The term never meant that we thought we were Africans as you say...it simply denotes our heritage. But just because our heritage was stolen, we're supposed to just forget that so as not to upset certain people.
And that's just many non-blacks....i won't even get into the Uncle Tom types.
So if I was discribing you to a friend I should say " I talk to this African-American fellow online about politics" and you would be cool with that,but if I were to say "I talk to this black dude online about politics" you would think I was a racist?
That's total horse****...Were you born in Africa?
If you were born here you are an American and you are black,I'm an American who is listed as Caucasian/White on legal documents...not Scots-Irish-American...I do NOT get the big deal.
You can't be any prouder of your heritage than anyone else is of theirs in America and frankly it all seems made up and trite.
Wow ... ::sigh:: ... I can't believe people can be so oblivious and blind to how many of us Black Americans/African-Americans feel about our ancestry. ::sigh::
Did this person just say that we can't be more proud of our heritage than our American nationality? First of all, how can you call being an American a heritage? And compare that to the African heritage? Someone's genealogy and blood are way different than their nationality.
"Made up and trite?" So, black people's pride in their ancestry is "made up?"
Of course. Some of these types kill me with this nonsense. Everyone else can be some hyphenated term, but black folks shouldn't do it because of a potential "backlash" as if everything would be lovey-dovey if we stopped using African American.
The term never meant that we thought we were Africans as you say...it simply denotes our heritage. But just because our heritage was stolen, we're supposed to just forget that so as not to upset certain people.
And that's just many non-blacks....i won't even get into the Uncle Tom types.
I agree. You're right about how people seem to think that if we stop remembering that our ancestors come from Africa that we will forget Africa. Sorry, not going to happen. I'm African-American, Black-American and I am proud to have ancestry from Africa. I truly do not understand Black people that don't understand that some way or another that they have blood of Africans in them whether they want to accept it or not.
You got all these people running around with their "Kiss Me I'm Irish" shirts and on a daily basis, I hear my white friends or associates comment on how they are Irish (I hear this very often), but they were born here. I have Japanese friends or people that I know who were born here, but they refer to themselves as Japanese or Japanese-American. Yet, when we want to call ourselves African-American, it's some big debate. Hahaha.
You got all these people running around with their "Kiss Me I'm Irish" shirts and on a daily basis, I hear my white friends or associates comment on how they are Irish (I hear this very often), but they were born here. I have Japanese friends or people that I know who were born here, but they refer to themselves as Japanese or Japanese-American. Yet, when we want to call ourselves African-American, it's some big debate. Hahaha.
Not with me there isn't. When the topic comes up around me, i simply cut it off. I don't even participate in it because there is nothing to discuss. I'm an African American. Folks don't have to like it. Makes me no difference one way or another. But it's not up for discussion (except on internet forums).
If some blacks don't want to use the term, that's their business. But it has nothing to do with me. I never said that all blacks have to use it in the first place. It's up to the individual. But don't begrudge me using it.
Well -- why should blacks have to have a hyphen or imply they've got ties to another continent if they don't?
Not many with European ancestry go around referring to themselves as European-Americans. Why would they?
You do know the history of the majority African-Americans/Black-Americans right? Although the ancestors of African-Americans came here on their on will and have documents to show where they are from, many Black Americans don't have easy-access to know where exactly on the Western Coast of Africa that their ancestor who first came over is from. Even a lot of European-Americans don't know exactly where their family is from. So, for African-Americans that don't know exactly which country to refer to, I think they have more than enough right to say African-American.
I do want to comment on the myth though that Black people usually don't know which country their family came from. The truth is that a lot of Black people DO have an idea of the country that their ancestors are from.
Not with me there isn't. When the topic comes up around me, i simply cut it off. I don't even participate in it because there is nothing to discuss. I'm an African American. Folks don't have to like it. Makes me no difference one way or another. But it's not up for discussion (except on internet forums).
If some blacks don't want to use the term, that's their business. But it has nothing to do with me. I never said that all blacks have to use it in the first place. It's up to the individual. But don't begrudge me using it.
I agree. I'm the same way, I don't think all Black people should have to use that term, but I don't particularly like when Black people appear to be ashamed of their ancestry. I don't think that with every Black person that chooses against that term, but you can tell when a Black person is trying hard to distance themselves from being of African ancestry. But, yeah, I agree, I don't care what others use, but don't hate on my ancestry.
You're Black though right? So, how do you have "NO" links to Africa?
I was born in America. My parents are from Trinidad, a island in the Caribbean. Like I said, me personally I have NO ties to Africa. Even if i did identified myself as African-American, where exactly in Africa would that be? I have no idea and neither do most black Americans. I know a girl who was born here, who's immediate family is from Ethiopia. Culturally her family is very much in tune with their ethiopian heritage. She is a African-American.
Location: Democratic Peoples Republic of Redneckistan
11,078 posts, read 15,095,649 times
Reputation: 3937
Quote:
Originally Posted by desertdetroiter
Now why in the hell would you make such an idiotic and stupid ass leap?
I said nothing of the kind. I've said on a bunch of similarly related threads that black is just fine.
Get the chip off of your shoulder dude. I don't give a damn what you call other black people.
I do not have the chip on MY shoulder because you can call me a white guy
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