Is it weird that my music history teacher says "whites and african americans"?

Answer 1

isn't that P.C. to say "african americans"? who the heck knows. some of them are just gonna stay pissed off forever anyway no matter what you call them. and well, whites will always be whites (or caucasians - which most people can't spell, so it's just easier for them to say whites)

Answer 2

Not really. The mainstream of any society tends to define themselves in the most general terms, like most white people in the U.S. will just refer to themselves as "Americans" and not even get that there are actually two continents full of people who are a different kind of Americans.

The term "African-American" is part of the on-going efforts of the black community to find ways to define themselves that instill pride and don't carry old racist connotations. The term itself reflects part of history in the U.S. -- because of slavery, many African-Americans don't know which African nation(s) their ancestors came from and have no way of finding out.

So your teacher's seemingly unbalanced terminology just reflects the usual problem of what to call members of the generic mainstream population when you need to talk about them as a category. Since white "Americans" lack a predominant shared ethnicity, it's especially hard. At least the English will say English instead of Brits some of the time.

As a mental exercise, try to imagine white people calling themselves "European-American." It sounds like a trade agreement or military alliance. Maybe that will help you understand the relative awkwardness of your teacher's language.

Answer 3

If you just call everyone "Americans", they loose their individuality regarding race, heritage, ancestry, etc..

Labels are applied correctly only by using the correct format. African Americans can't get you sued. Latino/Hispanic will never get the "American" attachment due to the fact that the majority in the USA are illegal Americans. American Indians is the most interesting to me, as their reservation and tribal lands are not officially a part of the United States.

Answer 4

Your teacher is probably trying not to offend anyone. It's not weird considering our society does it all the time. Personally I'd rather say "Black Americans" because there are African Americans like Charlize Theron, who are not dark skinned.

Answer 5

*sigh* yes... The term "African American" is either too lose or too tight.

If you believe the anthropologists, mankind began in Africa... so, everyone in America is an African American.

Ok, too loose for you?

So, when I call Mike Piazza "white" What do I call Sammy Sosa? By the way... Sammy is NOT from Africa.

So, is that too tight a definition?

Answer 6

It relies upon on the area yet as a rule no. I mean one has to have the potential to debate the term whit out human beings leaping up and down through fact you mentioned the word. yet utilising it to describe somebody continues to be a great no-no. properly as long as racism nonetheless exists if, not something it is going to remind us of the sins in our previous. with the help of how, racial discrimination isn't in any way lifeless, in case you think of so which you have lived an particularly sheltered existence

Answer 7

It's fine with me, but it makes me wonder why your music teacher doesn't use a politically correct term for white people.

Answer 8

Depends on the context in which the teacher says it.

Answer 9

No, the white and black culture are very different. Black culture gave us the blues, the white culture gave us the Beatles. He's being very pc.

Answer 10

no, lots of ppl do