The term African American in the US?

Question

The term African-American in the U.S. is used to refer to black people with African ancestry. Since in this case we are incorrectly using the term ‘American’ to refer to United Statesians, what should we call black people in the U.S. that ARE NOT U.S. citizens i/e a black man from Brazil in the U.S.. We can’t use the term African-American because he is not a United Statesian... if you choose to refer to him simply as ‘black’ why is it OK to do so with folks that are not United Statesians and not U. S. Citizens?

Answer 1

Tell me if I am wrong but wouldn't we call a person from Brazil a Brazillian? African American is refering to a person who is an American citizen, but has African roots, or African descent. The word African American should not have color meaning because there are some Africans who are white as day. Because skin color is all culturally determined we usually associate the word African with the color black. Anyways I liked your apporach.

Answer 2

Americans - citizens of the United States, no matter what decent our ancestors were. This country is hung up on color. Enough is enough. White, Black, Beige, Green who gives a sh*t what the color of your skin is. I'm White, but I have a sunburn so am I now a Pink-American. Yeah, this year we'll all be pink-Americans. And I dare anyone to call me a Beige-American. Get your head out of your butts people. What I'd really like to know is what is a United Statesian? Duh!

Answer 3

I don't use the term seriously. I have used it to answer a question but I meant it a bit sarcastically.
I also don't usually call anyone "black" because few people are actually that dark. I used to drive a black car.
I am peachy pink - I have various shades of brown friends - I also have an orange friend (too much time in the tanning bed) and a very black lady that worked with me once. She described me to her assistant as "tie-dyed" - lol. Some of my friends are tannish peach. These are the physical descriptions of color I could use to visually identify these people.
If you aren't labeling me as Irish American / Native American / tiny bit of Scottish American (my ancestors)........ then I'm not calling anyone something so outragious.
If you came here from Africa though - and then became a citizen - you may expect me to call you African American if you're very proper.
If I moved here from Ireland myself - you should call me Irish American then if I politely asked you to. lol - don't worry - I wouldn't ask you to - because becoming a citizen would be a lot of work to regress back to my other country's identification.
I met a girl recently who had moved here from Turkey. If and when she becomes a U.S. citizen, I would call her a Turkish American if she so requested.

Answer 4

The official name of Mexico is...
Los Estados Unidos de Mexico (The United States of Mexico).

The official name of Canada is...
The United Provinces of Canada.

The official name of my country is...
The United States of America.

Consequently, the terms "Mexican," "Canadian," and "American" are the proper distinctions.

I have a friend who was born in Nigeria. She is a U.S. citizen, but she is not an African American. She is a U.S. citizen from Africa. She refers to herself as African.

I have other friends who were born in this country and can trace their lineage back to the days of slavery. The are African American. Some of them use that expression; others call themselves Black.

Every country in the world is color conscious. You're not going to change that. Although I'd like to, I'm not going to change it either. So, live with it.

I drive a silver Sebring convertible. It's no better or worse than my dentist's yellow Corvette, my accountant's blue Buick, my realtor's white Cherokee, or my girlfriend's black Thunderbird.

Get it?

Answer 5

It's a touchy subject. Wouldn't a white South African who became an american citizen also be an African-American?

I've met too many people to just label anyone on the spot. I usually wait until they tell me what they want to be called. Some dark-skinned Puerto-ricans don't want to be lumped in with Black-Americans because it doesn't recognize their unique Puerto-rican culture. In Ohio, there are native-americans of mixed heritiage who want to be recognized for their tribal affiliation and are offended by not recognizing that. There are many asian-looking Central Europeans who are offended when they are mis-labeled.

It's a minefield out there, it's best to let the other person label themselves.

Answer 6

I think there should be a term, like "Hispanic" which covers Mexico, Cuba, Spain, Puerto Rico and such, to be used, when necessary, to describe people of blackness. Caucasian covers people of pinkness/whiteness. Asian covers Japan, China, Fiji, Philippines, Tibet and thereon, Although that one confuses me. And I always stumble over Indians vs indians. We are indigenous people,we Native Americans, but so are many Tribes of Mexican decent. My blue-eyed, fair-skinned son called his black kindergarten teacher's aide "my brown-skinned teacher", with much affection,until he learned to remember her name.

Answer 7

Hello Eli,
I really enjoy your insight on the issue.. Very true to many times we bulk together ppl in this country who should be in a separate group of their own.
I hope one day we can refer to ppl as a different colors then black. because i am caramel. hehehehe
but seriously good job and keep on researching

Answer 8

I use the terms "black" and "white." They are short and everyone knows what they mean.

No offense is intended.

Answer 9

yeah, I use black and white...if anyone gets offended for that...which I think the vast majority of people wouldn't be...they can kiss my ***.

Answer 10

Unless you're an Native American, all of us are-----------Americans.