"BLACK or AFRICAN AMERICAN" mainly a question...

rgrange

As someone who is half black and has a Bachelor's degree in 'African American' Studies, I prefer being called black. I'm not from Africa, my father is not from Africa, his parents are not from Africa, etc.

monram34

I think it's mostly a generational thing....Ya know for the "older folks". I am 34 and I am black

spiregrain

I say why does skin color matter? Why can't we all just be "American"??? I see people, not color. Just sayin....:-)

to some it does matter. but im tired of ppl hving to tip toe around me because they dnt want to b offensive. i mean dnt bark at them or anything...its just weird. and the funny thing is if im in a situation where i do hve to say "the black dude over there" everyone looks at me as if i cursed because everyone is on pin and needles about being "politically correct."
does it really hve to be this complicated. lol

I know what you mean. I have that a little bit too, because I am bisexual, and I get that sometimes. You're not a very fragile teacup balanced on a pin, about to go completely crazy at the slightest thing! But, on the other hand, from the outsiders perspective, I know I am too caught up in my life to accurately keep track of the many changing terms for various groups. So I just say someone's medium skin toned or dark skin toned or whatever.

I think sometimes what you may be seeing is people's confusion over the changing and various terms, too. So people might not always be going "OMG she said BLACK!" but rather thinking "hey, is that what I should say?" As a woman, I'm no expert on what is offensive to men, so if I hear something that surprises me about that from a man, I look up and think about it.

supplemama

I prefer Black, but I don't get bent all out of shape if someone refers to me as African American. It does bother me a bit that people (of many colors) seem to get perturbed when I simply call myself an American. White folks don't go around saying white American or Irish American, German American, etc. unless it is time for their cultural festivities or something. They just say American or white. I just say American or black. It's not a big deal, Americans come in all colors.

jofjltncb6

I prefer Black, but I don't get bent all out of shape if someone refers to me as African American. It does bother me a bit that people (of many colors) seem to get perturbed when I simply call myself an American. White folks don't go around saying white American or Irish American, German American, etc. unless it is time for their cultural festivities or something. They just say American or white. I just say American or black. It's not a big deal, Americans come in all colors.

As someone who is half black and has a Bachelor's degree in 'African American' Studies, I prefer being called black. I'm not from Africa, my father is not from Africa, his parents are not from Africa, etc.

^This and ^this is awesome.

I'll admit, I didn't read all 17 pages (mostly because I assumed it would not be constructive since MFP usually doesn't do well with these potentially volatile topics (or even the seemingly benign)), but reading posts like these give me hope for humanity.

Here2GetFit

As someone who is half black and has a Bachelor's degree in 'African American' Studies, I prefer being called black. I'm not from Africa, my father is not from Africa, his parents are not from Africa, etc.

Your post brings up another interesting topic. I know many people with both a black and white parent, and all of them identify themselves as black. Why?

Halle Berry is a celebrity example. I vividly remember her giving a speech along the lines of how proud she was about being black. Of course the network kept putting up shots of her white mother.

gpstrucker

I prefer Black, but I don't get bent all out of shape if someone refers to me as African American. It does bother me a bit that people (of many colors) seem to get perturbed when I simply call myself an American. White folks don't go around saying white American or Irish American, German American, etc. unless it is time for their cultural festivities or something. They just say American or white. I just say American or black. It's not a big deal, Americans come in all colors.

That is exactly how my friends feel too.

SingeSange

Charlize Theron is an african american.

Good point.
And what about black people from Jamaica.... although I guess people from Jamaica are likely the ancestors of people from Africa.
And if we want to get REALLY technical, the first human remains were found in Africa I believe, so then aren't we all African-American/Canadian?

YogaNikki

I prefer Black, but I don't get bent all out of shape if someone refers to me as African American. It does bother me a bit that people (of many colors) seem to get perturbed when I simply call myself an American. White folks don't go around saying white American or Irish American, German American, etc. unless it is time for their cultural festivities or something. They just say American or white. I just say American or black. It's not a big deal, Americans come in all colors.

As someone who is half black and has a Bachelor's degree in 'African American' Studies, I prefer being called black. I'm not from Africa, my father is not from Africa, his parents are not from Africa, etc.

^This and ^this is awesome.

I'll admit, I didn't read all 17 pages (mostly because I assumed it would not be constructive since MFP usually doesn't do well with these potentially volatile topics (or even the seemingly benign)), but reading posts like these give me hope for humanity.

I was excited and read up to pg 11 bc the commentary, for the most part, was very intelligent and offered light to each side. Of course the d-bags chimed in, so from pg 12-16 you did not miss much. I'm a HUGE pot of mixed, so I, like most everyone else who DID comment intelligently, appreciate people who are just sincere and not assuming

workshy000

Not all English speaking Black people are American.

LatinaButterfly

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I'm Brown!

slkehl

Charlize Theron is an african american.

I'm African American as well. Born and raised in South Africa, became an American citizen five years ago.

Never thought about that!!

slkehl

I feel like I'm being too PC if I use the word "African American" around black friends. They call themselves black, so I figure that's probably what they're comfortable with. And I don't have a problem being called white, so whatevs.

Quasita

I just want to mention, as several people have said "White people don't refer to themselves as..."

Well, I refer to myself as Slavic. My immediate family is only 2 generations away from the generation that came to the Americas from Poland/Lithuania. I'm sure some people would call me ridiculous but... some of us "white people" really do embrace our heritage all the time, not just during cultural festivities.

Personally, the color thing is a sad societal thing, because people make assumptions based on the skin tone. My family wasn't even involved in slave trading, yet I have had more than one person that has a tenuous relation to a past slave get on my case solely because of my skin color. I also don't think those people would particularly like it if a white person referred to their slave ancestry (yes, white slaves did exist)... Or to be forced to acknowledge that many traders were in fact African themselves.

It reminds me... I have a degree in Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender literature with a minor in Psychology. During my studies, I took several different types of classes focusing on various folklore and autobiographical type writings. It blew my mind how often arguments would occur in those classes... Not because I'm naive to Nebraska small town mentalities... but because most were classes for people focusing on the same area of study... And there was a distinct lack of sensitivity. However, taking African American literature was by far the worst. The content was great, but the professor was literally offended by my enthusiastic and active conversation role in class discussions, and emailed me to tell me to keep my mouth shut.

Anyway, just thinking in these late hours... We all have different experiences and understandings, shaped by the world we have personally known, so I think really the lesson I will teach my children is think before you act. If someone uses a word that hurts you, think before getting mad because sometimes there was no ill-intention. If we bolster this type of understanding from the get-go, instead of saying get mad, and fight for the honor, I think children would be happier and we'd eventually not have discussions like this one...

Chubbyhulagirl

Maybe people think that if they are called "African-American" they automatically think they are from Africa. Your really not Black...we should call you brown. White people should not be called white, they should be called tan. And then Asians, Why aren't they called Yellow people? Hmm..they mysteries of the world...

looking around for some Yellow people....

Lol! Right here!
Also, where im from, white people turn pink or red...not tan. Most asians actually tan very well and can be china doll white, yellow or tan and Polynesians and Hawaiians tan super dark and could be called brown or black too.
Anyways, back to the OP, we typically say "black." (Hawaii)

nz_deevaa

My first husband is Nigerian and we lived in New Zealand, someone desperate not to offend him by saying black, described him as African American, I said politely "He's never been to America, he's African-African" ... When I started laughing, my husband said said "I'm Nigerian! But Nigeria is in Africa."

Our friends who had a Nigerian father and their mother was from New Zealand, would call themselves Afro-kiwis. I liked that

DavPul

As someone who is half black and has a Bachelor's degree in 'African American' Studies, I prefer being called black. I'm not from Africa, my father is not from Africa, his parents are not from Africa, etc.

Your post brings up another interesting topic. I know many people with both a black and white parent, and all of them identify themselves as black. Why?

Halle Berry is a celebrity example. I vividly remember her giving a speech along the lines of how proud she was about being black. Of course the network kept putting up shots of her white mother.

That stems from the "one drop" rule. If you had one drop of black blood, you were black. Your great great grandpappy was black, but one of your parents is white while the other could pass for white? Too bad, so sad, now that we know you can't work here, live there, or use that fountain. That was a hard and fast rule and it gets followed to this day, even though there is no need for it.

Personally I'm black. Was born black and will die black. Changing the name on forms I fill out doesn't change me. I know who I am, I know who my parents raised and I will always carry myself appropriately.

Jebbster007

Well.....cut a black guy, his blood is red.....cut a white, yellow, brown, red guy, their blood is red too. So from my perspective, We're all the same color on the inside. Of course from a sexual point of view, all my black female friends would always tell me, "once you try black, yull neva go BACK. Always made me laugh.

edited for spelling.....sheesh, it's late.

LiaBunny

I'm from england and it's really weird we have this thing where we call black people who were born here 'english'.
anyone else heard of this?

Jebbster007

Normally when I'm around all my black friends I prefer that my black friends specifically refer to me as a Honky-*kitten* Cracka.

But that's just me....lol.


OP, I'm sorry....you're asking an honest question and I'm just being a smart-*kitten*. It's late and I'm exhausted. I love everyone, I don't care what color you are. You treat me right, I'll treat you right.