RE: "African American"?

RE: "African American"? (Full Version)

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Aileen1968 -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 6:55:03 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: ShoreBound149 "Other" chicks give great head. Once ya go "Other" ya don't want another. Hey....I'm not listed as "other"

Jeffff -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 6:55:04 AM)
Oh... good one!

kittinSol -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 6:59:13 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: BLoved I've no objection to the generic term as it applies to all light-skinned people of European descent. Not to me, it doesn't. ~ Other

MrRodgers -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 7:09:03 AM)
I don't like the whole idea of hyphenation. When we are talking about being an American citizen, one is American period. Maybe one is of African descent or Irish descent...or whatever. When immigrants apply for and do obtain their American citizenship, to my knowledge most judges tell the newly admitted..."You are no longer a hyphenated American...you are simply American."

BLoved -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 7:35:37 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: MrRodgers I don't like the whole idea of hyphenation. When we are talking about being an American citizen, one is American period. Maybe one is of African descent or Irish descent...or whatever. When immigrants apply for and do obtain their American citizenship, to my knowledge most judges tell the newly admitted..."You are no longer a hyphenated American...you are simply American." Canada is a multi-cultural society that takes pride in its diversity. We don't expect people to divest themselves of their cultural heritage. We encourage them to celebrate it.

juliaoceania -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 7:38:37 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: cadenas quote: ORIGINAL: juliaoceania quote: ORIGINAL: BLoved ~FR~ I mean, are we to believe there is something insulting about just being "African", that we have to add "American" to make it acceptable? We are one of the of the few places that does this... and it is not as if we are ashamed of our roots that we do it, it is actually a statement of pride in them... I'd agree with you if "Black" was also available as a choice. But offering "African American" exclusively isn't a statement of pride, it's a statement of coercion. So what that Desmond Tutu is a South African national hero - we require him to call himself AMERICAN? So what that Naomi Campbell is a British citizen - she still is required to call herself AMERICAN? And what about those American black people who decide that they want to identify as just Americans? I don't go around calling myself Polish American or Czech American all the time (in fact, I find it insulting when people do it - I chose to become an American for a reason). If a black American citizen wants to refer to himself as African American - more power to him. But mandating it even for non-Americans is really quite offensive for all parties involved. Where is this occurring... what forms? You know, most forms that categorize people based on ethnicity these days have an "other" category. I would suggest that people who had a problem with the categories answer there or not at all

cloudboy -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 8:18:29 AM)
Its not a logical term, but its become customary in public speech.

MistressRoux -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 8:40:16 AM)
when would it be fitting? when referring to people of shared ancestry in America. otherwise, the appropriate term would be black when referring to people who are black. Rama Yade - Black French of African (Senegalese) descent and birth Rae Dawn Chong - Black and E. Asian Canadian of African-Canadian and Chinese descent Tyra Banks - Black American of African-American descent Iman - 1st generation Black American (naturalized citizen) of African (Somali) descent and birth Pele - Black Brazilian/Afro-Latino Christina Milian - 2nd generation Black American of Afro-Latin (Cuban) descent Naomi Campbell - Black Brit of mostly Afro-Carib descent Zahara Jolie-Pitt - Black American of African (Ethiopian) descent and birth To call Yade or Chong or Pele American is just flat out incorrect. If you are grouping people together by skin, as most people are when they use "African American," the correct term would be "black."

Missokyst -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 8:46:42 AM)
I am hispanic. That is, my ancestry is northern american native, spanish, and french. I am a mix but being of a tanned complexion, most people would assume I am Mexican. My people do have roots in Mexico since they were nomadic and travelled between Mexico and Los Angeles long before Ca was a territory of the United States. And I will say that the people on the other side of the border.. DO say they are American. You are not quite correct in that the USA has claimed title to the continent, people I know from North and South America sometimes say American.. it is more likely that people from the USA would dismiss it, not the other countries. quote: ORIGINAL: LadyAngelika quote: ORIGINAL: Missokyst Technically, if one was Canadian of African descent they would then also be African American, since Canada is part of the America's just as Brazil might be, though they are on the southern part of this continent. Actually, it isn't quite so. Technically, yes, all the countries in North, South and Central America are part of the Americas and we are all technically Americans. However, because US citizens have appropriated the American title so strongly, it has been taken away from the others. I'm not saying this in a snarky or bitter way, just very matter of factly. If one says they are American, guaranteed the overwhelming majority will consider them being from the United States of America. - LA

PapaBlue -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 9:11:55 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: kiwisub12 Coming from the rather small and insignifigant country of New Zealand, I was very confused by all these Americans that would blithely proclaim themselves "Irish" or "Swiss" or "African". For a while I thought they were all immigrants and had been in the country for a long time. I finally asked one why she did that, and she told me that it was a pride in ancestry thing. As an American, I wonder about this too. I'm aware of my ancestors' countries of origin. But I can't tell that it makes any real difference from any other middle class, white American (which is, by the way, what I consider to be my ethnicity). We speak the same language. We were the same kinds of clothes. We pretty much all expect the same sorts of things from life, allowing for personal differences and tastes. If a fellow white American gets to wrapped up in being "Scottish" or "German" some other identity, I just mark it up to wanting to belong to something unusual or with having a particular interest in a history that has little modern relevance. I feel differently about blacks, latinos, and other ethnic groups though. I think they have (as much as I can speak for other people) a different experience of what it is to live in this country. They frequently speak a variant of English that I barely understand or they speak another language entirely. They seem to frequently dress and/or eat differently. Their group identity isn't just self determined, it's something that everyone on the street recognizes (whatever value they ascribe to it). So, whether Black or African-American, I get the desire to have an accurate means of describing one's ethnic identity. Just my two cents. I don't have anything to add to the more specific discussion of ethnic identity on CollarMe.

BLoved -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 11:13:25 AM)
nm

Jeffff -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 11:14:11 AM)
Oh Bob, you will always be My nigga! Word Jeff

juliaoceania -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 11:17:12 AM)
quote: Spoken like a white person. How many people of other historic and cultural backgrounds have you spoken with in order to gauge how people respond to such questionnaires? I have spoken to many, it is my job. In my view there is no such thing as a biological reality of race, it is all in our heads, but that doesn't mean it isn't "real" either... In my travels it is white men that hate filling in those boxes more than any other type of person because they have this mistaken idea that they will be discriminated against as a result of any answer they provide... otherwise it wouldn't really matter, now, would it? Most people I have spoken with have no problem either checking a box, filling in a blank, or leaving the entire thing empty.

heartcream -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 11:25:32 AM)
Brothers and sisters, I am here to tell you that I charge the white man. I charge the white man with being the greatest murderer on earth. I charge the white man with being the greatest kidnapper on earth. There is no place in this world that this man can go and say he created peace and harmony. Everywhere he's gone he's created havoc. Everywhere he's gone he's created destruction. So I charge him. I charge him with being the greates kidnapper on this earth! I charge him with being the greatest murderer on this earth! I charge him with being the greatest robber and enslaver on this earth! I charge the white man with being the greatest swine-eater on this earth. The greatest drunkard on this earth! He can't deny the charges! You can't deny the charges! We're the living proof of those charges! You and I are the proof. You're not an American, you are the victim of America. You didn't have a choice coming over here. He didn't say, "Black man, black woman, come on over and help me build America". He said, "Nigger, get down in the bottom of that boat and I'm taking you over there to help me build America". Being born here does not make you an American. I am not an American, you are not an American. You are one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of America. You and I, we've never see nany democracy. We didn't see any... democracy on the-the cotton fields of Georgia, wasn't no democracy down there. We didn't see any democracy. We didn't see any democracy on the streets of Harlem or on the streets of Brooklyn or on the streets of Detroit or Chicago. Ain't no democracy down there. No, we've never seem democracy! All we've seen is hypocrisy! We don't see any American Dream. We've experienced only the American Nightmare! This is from the 1992 Spike Lee movie Malcolm X. I dont know if he ever really said this but he certainly had this point of view. I think in this instance putting African in African American was a matter of pointing out the fact that these people were stolen and therefore African and not American.

BLoved -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 11:26:50 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: juliaoceania I regret the comment because of its incendiary nature, and have removed it from the original. However, I do find myself less patient with members of a majority group who tell minorities they can choose "other or nothing at all". People are people, whether they are a majority or minority. They all have the same needs. As a white man from Canada I don't have to self-identify as a hyphenated American. I can choose "Caucasian". Were I a black man from Canada, I would have to self-identify as a hyphenated American, even though I am not nor ever have been an American. It is either that, or "Other", and just what groups does "Other" cover. Why should any Canadian be required to self-identify as an American?

Smutmonger -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 11:31:34 AM)
I prefer to be classed with "asshole americans". We are the largest ethnic group in the country after all. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTVpxxzb2Dc&feature=related Everything else is just more annoyingly overdone pc crap.

BLoved -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 11:37:32 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: heartcream This is from the 1992 Spike Lee movie Malcolm X. I dont know if he ever really said this but he certainly had this point of view. I think in this instance putting African in African American was a matter of pointing out the fact that these people were stolen and therefore African and not American. Regarding the quote, that's what I call a brutal truth. I feel the need to point out, we're not all like that. It is very true that such things have happened, and that a lot of our ancestors helped make it happen, or didn't stop it. But it is also true that a lot of white people always believed it wrong, found others who agreed and convinced even more ... Such brutality did not stop because the black people stopped us. It stopped because the white people who knew it was wrong stopped the white people who thought it right. We are not a lost people, at least, not all of us.

juliaoceania -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 11:39:40 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: BLoved quote: ORIGINAL: juliaoceania I regret the comment because of its incendiary nature, and have removed it from the original. However, I do find myself less patient with members of a majority group who tell minorities they can choose "other or nothing at all". People are people, whether they are a majority or minority. They all have the same needs. As a white man from Canada I don't have to self-identify as a hyphenated American. I can choose "Caucasian". Were I a black man from Canada, I would have to self-identify as a hyphenated American, even though I am not nor ever have been an American. It is either that, or "Other", and just what groups does "Other" cover. Why should any Canadian be required to self-identify as an American? So you do self apply a label - Caucasian....but it is wrong for other people to do the same? I will ask you again, what form are you speaking of? Where is this form? You are talking a hypothetical than I am not going to address this... get freaking specific.. WHAT FORM ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT. And btw, not all people have the same needs... for example, children that speak a Pacific Islander language are not going to have the same needs as all Asian people. Edited to add, they are going to need instruction from people who have knowledge of their language and perhaps customs...

Moonhead -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 12:43:38 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: twistedwillow Just a quick note the Caucasus Mountains are not in Africa but in Europe, they are generally deemed as the line between Europe and Asia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasus twisted My mistake. The point that most caucasians have never set foot in Georgia in their life still stands though, surely?

kiwisub12 -> RE: "African American"? (2/23/2010 2:28:42 PM)
I was born in New Zealand, so technically I am a pacific islander. What most people want to know with forms that ask ethnicity is if I am a polynesian - so why don't they have a little box that asks "polynesian"? And the forms that i have filled out in the last year that wanted ethnisity were customs and immigration, and college aid forms.

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