What Is An African-American?

reply to post by cw034


African-American is not a race? oh, ok. so what is the race of a black person? a "" black"" person? i don't think people want to be called " black person" and i don't think they want to be called anything else.. i think that African-American is a race, its a race of Africans who came hear, as slaves FROM Africa, then later on down the road, became free, and also became Americans, passed it on to newer generations, and so on.. so therefor they are African-American...? yes. how hard can this possibly be to understand?



[edit on 13-10-2007 by 1111111111111]

So, if you were a light skinned american, and you emigrated to africa, would you be an "American-African"?
The thing that really torques me is that in all the labels we give ourselves and others, the "American" part always comes last.
Should come first, IMHO.

reply to post by gotrox


This is what happens when politically correct, self-serving liberal lawyers get their hands on an issue.

First they try to fix society by legislation. Then when that fails they try to fix society by judicial rulings. But in order to accomplish anything, they need to write thousands of pages of laws, write more laws to clarify the existing laws, and then bill thousands and thousands of hours in legal fees for court cases vetting out how to interpret the laws.

When you see any politician proposing a law that is intended to fix some sort of moral injustice, you can be sure that the end result will be millions in legal fees for his lawyer buddies -AND the problems will probably become WORSE.

Originally posted by 1111111111111
reply to post by cw034

 

African-American is not a race? oh, ok. so what is the race of a black person? a "" black"" person? i don't think people want to be called " black person" and i don't think they want to be called anything else.. i think that African-American is a race, its a race of Africans who came hear, as slaves FROM Africa, then later on down the road, became free, and also became Americans, passed it on to newer generations, and so on.. so therefor they are African-American...? yes. how hard can this possibly be to understand?

African American does not describe a race of people as you have WHITE African Americans...what is so hard to understand about that concept. Thats like saying I'm Italian American...it does NOT define my race...I could be black or white, you have no way of knowing from that label. And I'm tired of hearing people say they are African American when they did not desend from slaves, but rather somewhere else in Europe...THERE IS NO SUCH RACE AS AFRICAN AMERICAN



[edit on 13-10-2007 by 1111111111111]

reply to post by 1111111111111


No, African-American is not a race, it's merely the term used to call U.S. citizens with (various shades of) dark skin color which is highly inaccurate, because the most of them are mixed.

For example.. Should these people in the following link be called African-American?? They most definitely have African ancestors who where brought to the American continent as slaves. But yet, some of them (like Mariah Carey) don't even look black.

www.mixedfolks.com...

www.mixedfolks.com...

www.mixedfolks.com...

www.mixedfolks.com...

In fact, I'm inclined to believe that some of the people of the KKK and some of the frontstormers have african ancestors who wher brought to the American continent as slaves. They just don't know it.

[edit on 14-10-2007 by TheBandit795]

Originally posted by 1111111111111
reply to post by cw034

 

African-American is not a race? oh, ok. so what is the race of a black person? a "" black"" person? i don't think people want to be called " black person" and i don't think they want to be called anything else.. i think that African-American is a race, its a race of Africans who came hear, as slaves FROM Africa, then later on down the road, became free, and also became Americans, passed it on to newer generations, and so on.. so therefor they are African-American...? yes. how hard can this possibly be to understand?

[edit on 13-10-2007 by 1111111111111]

That makes no sense. It is a made up term. And its ridiculous.

So, should I be called "Scottish American" and where is my little box to check? My ancestors came here directly from Scotland. I want my special label, dang it!! How come I cant apply for a "scottish american" scholarship anywhere? How come I check a box "white", but some people like you think that a black person should not check a box marked "black".

The hypocracy drives me nuts.

What are people of darker skin called in Canada, England and other countries? Are they "African-English" or "Canadian-African".

What do you call the black person who seems to have come from some other country either then Africa? Hmmmmm.

Oh oh....and what would you call a white person from America who moves to Africa and becomes a citizen there?

This is all so ridiculous.



[edit on 14-10-2007 by greeneyedleo]

Labels, that's all they are. I am called a Coloured, but in South Africa that has a different meaning. I have black and Israeli ancestors (Israeli-African anyone? Hey, I might even be a descendent of Jesus ). Due to my middle-Eastern ancestry some people even call me a charra (as in Indian from Asia). I certainly won't look out of place in the Bangladeshi, Pakistan, Indian, Kenyan, West-Indian or Sri-Lankan cricket teams .

We still have forms which ask for race/ethnicity but I leave that blank (or put Human if I feel particularly peeved) because I hate affirmative action and refuse to recieve preference cos I'm not white. 15 years ago I struggled to get a job cos I'm not "European", now I struggled to get a job cos I don't "speak Xhosa" .

Lastly, I hate the term "reverse racism". Racism is racism, it doesn't matter what colour the offender is.

Does anyone else just LOVE Chris Rock's take on black Americans? He uses the N word excessively but black AND white people find him funny.

[edit on 16-10-2007 by Lannock]

[edit on 16-10-2007 by Lannock]

IF anybody cares to know the TRUTH.

There is no such thing as an AFRICAN AMERICAN.

It was all made up and fabricated.

So called AFRICAN AMERICANS do not originate from AFRICA.

THAT'S JUST AS FACTUAL AS SANTA CLAUS COMES FROM THE NORTH POLE.

This has also been made up and fabricated.

ALL YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN DUPED AND STILL ARE.

The term African-American is used to describe those who had no choice, either originally or through descent, but be brought to the United States of America. Those Africans brought to USA as slaves were forcibly dislocated from their home land and culture and thus their descendents were born American but not by their forebearers' choice. To suggest that an Argentinian who has moved to the USA is an Argentinian-American is not incorrect per se, but removes the pleasantly apologetic effect of the term African-American. Africans who have moved to the USA after the abolition of slavery are not African-Americans for this same reason.

The poster who suggested the word n* derives from Niger (or Nigeria) is wrong; the term has its roots, as others have pointed out, in the Spanish/Portugese word for black, negro (further influenced by Dutch and French).

The right of self-determination means that if a person from Pakistan believes that p** is a derogatory term and not a descriptive one, then others should cease to use it else we forfeit this same right. In Britain, this term has become a racial slur due in large part to its use by racists (including those who masquerade their racism as nationalism) and thus it is socially correct not to employ this word when talking of nationality.

*The auto-censorship employed on this forum replace the word I typed with the text, 'the n-word', which is, in my opinion, an insult to the intelligence of all people. I'm sure that anyone using this word on this board in a non-appropriate or racist manner would be quickly warned or banned, thus rendering the auto-censorship redundant anyway.

**I've censored this myself for continuity.

[edit on 16-10-2007 by Woland]

Woland,

That description doesn't make sense, else I would be called an African-Caribbean. And as I have said numerous times in this thread. The majority of these people are probably not purely descendants of African slaves. They are just plain old U.S. citizens to me, and Africans who have emigrated to the U.S. have more claim on the word "African" than anyone else.

Originally posted by TheBandit795
That description doesn't make sense, else I would be called an African-Caribbean. And as I have said numerous times in this thread. The majority of these people are probably not purely descendants of African slaves. They are just plain old U.S. citizens to me, and Africans who have emigrated to the U.S. have more claim on the word "African" than anyone else.

I thought that original question was about the legal definition of African-American. I attempted, perhaps poorly, to explain that the addition of African to the nationality of American is apologetic and concessionary in that these people (slaves and their descendents) did not choose to be American when brought to the country. Africans moving to the USA after the abolition of slavery are not African-Americans because a conscious choice was made to emigrate there.

In Britain the term Afro-Caribbean is widely used to describe those that have moved (not those born in the UK) from the Caribbean to Britain, but have descended from African slaves who were forcibly moved to the Caribbean.

I would agree that those Americans and Africans who call themselves African-Americans are legally either Africans or Americans and that those that do are using an approximation of what they feel they are, culturally and through heritage, rather than invoking a true legal status.

In response to your last point; the idea that those that have emigrated to the USA are African-Americans would seem to imply the status, 'one of us, but not from us' as I presume that you mean those that have become US citizens. Surely, legally, when someone becomes a US citizen they become American?