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

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  • _MissTerious_
    _MissTerious_ Posts: 20
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    *sitting back watching thread unravel*....I'm suddenly in the mood for a cheeseburger. And fries. Oh, and a diet coke cuz you know, I gotta watch my girlish figure and all.
  • abcmom03
    abcmom03 Posts: 89 Member
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    My 2nd husband is black (we married after my children and grandchildren were born).....but according to our sweet 7 year old granddaughter "Papa T you aren't really black, you are more BROWN" :laugh:
  • CanadianThunder
    CanadianThunder Posts: 84
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    N word is used by mostly blacks, and some whites. I say the N word. Maybe it's a TX thing. I am not going to lie, it is what it is, oh and when I use the N word, I don't discriminate.


    blacks. i hate when people refer to "black people" "african american people", whatever, as blacks. irritates me so much.

    blacks = no no

    black folk , black people = all good

    exactly. you don't hear people saying "oh look at those whites!" its so annoying when anyone says blacks. /end rant. :bigsmile:

    The original comment your referring to said both "blacks" and "whites." But yeah, I don't call people whites and blacks. They're white people and black people. Lol this just sounds odd.
  • hdsqrl
    hdsqrl Posts: 420 Member
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    OP, I think this is a totally fair question, and it's something I've also wondered. In my own experience, I really just avoid using either descriptor, unless I'm trying to point someone out in a crowd and need some sort of visual cue to go off of. If I'm in a sea of white people and there are only a handful of black people, I'd use "black" as a descriptor, not African American. If I'm in a sea of black people and there are only a handful of white people, I'd use "white" in the same manner. If I need to identify a person in a sea of people all the same color (black or white or some other race), I'll use the color of their shirt or something else unique about them (height, hair color, etc. - whatever is the most obvious thing that sets them apart (visually) from the people around them.)

    When my daughter was about 4, she came in from playing outside with some neighbor kids, and told me about a new girl she'd just met. I looked out the window at the kids playing and asked which was the new girl. My daughter commented "the girl in the pink shirt." Turned out that out of a group of ten or so kids, all were white, except for the new girl who was black, and indeed, wearing a pink shirt. The fact that a 4 yr old would notice a new friend's shirt before the color of her skin really taught me a lesson that's stuck with me ever since.
  • l_beakley
    l_beakley Posts: 48
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    This is something that bugs me as well! To put it simply, if you are FROM Africa & you now line in the USA, you are African American. If you were born in the USA & live in the USA, you are black. Sorry to those that want to disagree but that is the way it is. To put it in perspective, there are white people in Africa. Born there & everything so they are African. Yep, white people can be African American if they are from Africa & living in the USA. It isn't about COLOR people!!! It's about WHERE you are from. I hope that clears it up.
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
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    N word is used by mostly blacks, and some whites. I say the N word. Maybe it's a TX thing. I am not going to lie, it is what it is, oh and when I use the N word, I don't discriminate.
    NOT "a TX thing". I've never used that word.

    You beat me to it Patti... :tongue:
  • pittskaa
    pittskaa Posts: 319 Member
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    N word is used by mostly blacks, and some whites. I say the N word. Maybe it's a TX thing. I am not going to lie, it is what it is, oh and when I use the N word, I don't discriminate.


    blacks. i hate when people refer to "black people" "african american people", whatever, as blacks. irritates me so much.

    blacks = no no

    black folk , black people = all good

    exactly. you don't hear people saying "oh look at those whites!" its so annoying when anyone says blacks. /end rant. :bigsmile:

    The original comment your referring to said both "blacks" and "whites." But yeah, I don't call people whites and blacks. They're white people and black people. Lol this just sounds odd.

    oh yeah. i didnt even notice that. but still ive never really heard anyone say whites. but have heard plenty of people say blacks. idk. haha.
  • EyeLikeTacos
    EyeLikeTacos Posts: 324 Member
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    N word is used by mostly blacks, and some whites. I say the N word. Maybe it's a TX thing. I am not going to lie, it is what it is, oh and when I use the N word, I don't discriminate.


    blacks. i hate when people refer to "black people" "african american people", whatever, as blacks. irritates me so much.

    blacks = no no

    black folk , black people = all good

    exactly. you don't hear people saying "oh look at those whites!" its so annoying when anyone says blacks. /end rant. :bigsmile:

    I say white people...or white folk.

    I don't even say caucasian...seems disrespectful...I can't explain why
  • rhonniema
    rhonniema Posts: 522
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    I'm caramel mocha, damnit.

    ETA: I don't say I'm black, I say I'm West Indian.
  • MzMiller1215
    MzMiller1215 Posts: 633 Member
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    As long as you don't call me the "N" word or "colored", I'm straight.
  • virichi08
    virichi08 Posts: 465 Member
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    *sitting back watching thread unravel*....I'm suddenly in the mood for a cheeseburger. And fries. Oh, and a diet coke cuz you know, I gotta watch my girlish figure and all.

    I think its unravling pretty neatly. and um really, a diet coke, for real!? LMBO (i used to order everything unhealthy and then a diet coke too. =/ didnt work too well for me. lol)
  • Foxypoo61287
    Foxypoo61287 Posts: 638 Member
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    *Hands Heather some popcorn*

    Here ya go.... ;)
  • CanadianThunder
    CanadianThunder Posts: 84
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    N word is used by mostly blacks, and some whites. I say the N word. Maybe it's a TX thing. I am not going to lie, it is what it is, oh and when I use the N word, I don't discriminate.


    blacks. i hate when people refer to "black people" "african american people", whatever, as blacks. irritates me so much.

    blacks = no no

    black folk , black people = all good

    exactly. you don't hear people saying "oh look at those whites!" its so annoying when anyone says blacks. /end rant. :bigsmile:

    I say white people...or white folk.

    I don't even say caucasian...seems disrespectful...I can't explain why

    The word "Caucasian" weirds me out. I think it's the whole "c*ck" sounding part. I prefer to be called white.
  • _MissTerious_
    _MissTerious_ Posts: 20
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    *Hands Heather some popcorn*

    Here ya go.... ;)

    *rasing hand* oooh, me too!
  • sassafrasy
    sassafrasy Posts: 113
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    i'm a mutt.... indian and irish here and I'm sure other heritages as well! it's a touchy subject and I never want to offend anyone. Sometimes its just best to ask what a person prefers. But generally speaking we're all people just trying to make it to one place.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    I know someone is about to upset with this one, but y'all hve the right to be upset and i hve the right to ask.
    SOOOOOOOOOOOOO why is it offensive for some to be called, "African American, Black, Black American, Afro American People of colour" but umm, the N word is used SOOO loosely?

    Because human beings like to categorize ourselves and others as parts of groups. But there are always individual members of said groups who will take offense at any label attached to the group. And those disagreements often lead to bitter reactions.

    African-American came up about the same time as the non-gendered pronoun "s/he" and a bunch of other clumsy and largely inaccurate terms. This was during the Great Political Correctness Explosion that started in the 80s and really took a spark in the 90s.

    But labels like this have been around for a while for a lot of other divisions of humanity. Just look at all of the discussions that happen around here about the terms "overweight", "obese", and "fat" when referring to a person who is carrying more weight than they should. We make up a term to take the sting out of an old term, then the new term slowly develops fangs.
  • virichi08
    virichi08 Posts: 465 Member
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    OP, I think this is a totally fair question, and it's something I've also wondered. In my own experience, I really just avoid using either descriptor, unless I'm trying to point someone out in a crowd and need some sort of visual cue to go off of. If I'm in a sea of white people and there are only a handful of black people, I'd use "black" as a descriptor, not African American. If I'm in a sea of black people and there are only a handful of white people, I'd use "white" in the same manner. If I need to identify a person in a sea of people all the same color (black or white or some other race), I'll use the color of their shirt or something else unique about them (height, hair color, etc. - whatever is the most obvious thing that sets them apart (visually) from the people around them.)

    When my daughter was about 4, she came in from playing outside with some neighbor kids, and told me about a new girl she'd just met. I looked out the window at the kids playing and asked which was the new girl. My daughter commented "the girl in the pink shirt." Turned out that out of a group of ten or so kids, all were white, except for the new girl who was black, and indeed, wearing a pink shirt. The fact that a 4 yr old would notice a new friend's shirt before the color of her skin really taught me a lesson that's stuck with me ever since.

    woW, that truly toched my heart. =)
  • still_crafty
    still_crafty Posts: 692 Member
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    *Hands Heather some popcorn*

    Here ya go.... ;)

    it's about damn time. you can't watch this *kitten* w/o popcorn.
  • TubbsMcGee
    TubbsMcGee Posts: 1,058 Member
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    I always thought "ppl of colour" was more offensive.

    And technically, can you really call a "person of colour" an African-American since Americans don't spell color that way anyway?

    Sorry... just picking on you a bit.

    Funnily enough, even in Canada where we spell it "colour", black people are often referred to as "African Americans" even though they are usually neither African nor American.

    I never understood this, either!

    My dad is half "black" and he's never referred to himself as African-American/Canadian.
  • pinthin87
    pinthin87 Posts: 296 Member
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    Can I just say as well that most Black people in AMERICA have NEVER even been to Africa...I know I sure haven't!

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