Why are Blacks called African American?

Question

First of all, an African American is a person who comes over from Africa and then becomes a citizen here in the states. Why don't you White people call yourselves European American? Why do you all want to be referred to as Caucasian?

Uh, Camarogir....whatever your name is....I don't know too many Blacks that are racist so you just might want to keep quiet. I see there are more White racist than anything.

Yeah, tihn yue...whatever...did I stutter???
I said European American. If you think that is so funny, then don't call Blacks 'African Americans' no more!

Wow, I am really liking these answers so far and it shows me that America is improving!

Answer 1

I prefer to be called Black, not African American. No, I'm not from Africa but of course my ancestors are. But given the fact that many African Americans from Africa have treated me like sh*t like any other racist idiot, I'd rather not be called that. I have heard from many of them that we (Blacks) are not pure Africans and that we are a disgrace to their people. The ones I've encountered looks at us and treat us like dogs. I'm cool on them. Don't want to ever be associated with them. Don't get me wrong, not all of them are like that. But the majority I've encountered are.

Answer 2

No, black Americans are descended from African slaves brought by European plantation owners back when North America was still ruled by European colonial powers. Some may consider black too be a racist term since it distinguishies people on the basis on skin color. Also African American is more politically and technically correct and it reflects pride in African heritage in deifance of now obsolete European contempt for non-white cultures. Caucasian refers to the white or fair human race descended orignally from the inhabitants of the Caucasian mountainous region. These people eventually inhabited modern day Europe. It can be used to describe all whites so there's really no need to call American whites European American. Personally I agree with you, if your an American citizen you're an American, period. However the Indian model works well too. You can be a Hindu, Muslim, Christian ,Sikh, Gujarati, Tamil, Assamese etc. and still be Indian. The whole ' one nation and more languages, religions and cultures than we can count' thing has worked for at least a thousand years.

Answer 3

Well there is no continent called Black, Colored, ***** or ******, so we settled for Africa and African American since that's where we were kidnapped from.

Answer 4

Well, some people think that if you call a black guy a black guy, he'd be offended or something, so they call him "African American" to avoid hurting his feelings. Not that anybody is emo enough to CARE wat they're called, but some ppl do it anyway. And I dont get the Caucasian thing...where did that originate from? Personally, I called dark skinned ppl black; pale ppl white; and people w/ the dark brown eyes, slightly tan skin, black hair, and that "chinese look" asian. Why? Force of habit. (And asians get really mad when you call them yellow...unless u say it in Vietnamese.) I dont really know why anybody bothers w/ "African American" and "Caucasian"...just say black or white and be done. 1 syllable! Unless they're emo or you call them the n word or something, they dont care! European Americans...ahahah wat a laugh...ur funny!

Edit: ok, mr cranky ***...WHEN THE HELL DID I SAY THAT I USED THE PHRASE AFRICAN AMERCIAN? BLACK BLACK BLACKIE! God, ur such an ahole...y i bothered to even answer this damn question i dont f*cking know. Oh yea...I felt sry for u and wanted 2 pts! Grr...now I remember y im racist...

Answer 5

It is sometimes hard to keep up with what black people want to be called. First it was *****, then it was Afro-American, then it was Black, now it is African American. I think it is an attempt to find identity. They didn't like the term black because of all the negative connotation associated with the color black, but it is ironic that it was Malcolm X who first instituted the move away from Afro-American and towards black. Then after someone in the black community thought it over they relized that Malcolm the 10th didn't give such good advice after all.

Answer 6

Designating someone as "black" as a race is classifying them as to the color of their skin. "White" is another. You could classify them as to the type of features they have, as in Caucasian. btw, Have you noticed that we say "caucasian", but we usually don't use the "black" term for that at all, as in *******? Saying "african american" is classifying a person as to their racial country of origin, but what if they are black and from Jamaica? What if they are a mix of black and white equally? Personally, I am white, irish, Scottish, English, french, German and Cherokee. I identify with the first three more than anything that makes up me. I could say anything to further label myself and categorize myself. Right now, I hear Irish american, Polish-american, Russian American--and in my mind, all it does is separate americans from each other. You could classify any ONE any WAY you want--African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, sliced and diced and every which way, but finally, all that does in my opinion is separate us from each other and promote racial differences when we should be promoting our togetherness-as in the HUMAN race.

Answer 7

Who's you all? I want to be called Irish/German American. Has anyone given me that choice? I think not!
I guess you could say I have been discriminated against, wouldn't you?

Answer 8

i don't know where it started, but someone thought that african american would be a great "politically correct" way of saying black. i quite honestly don't know what you would like to be called. everyone has their preferences. and we don't all like to be referred to as caucasuan. i personally would just like to be called "white." but i guess it's not really a big deal what you call me. as long as it's not mean.

Answer 9

I call people what they want to be called if I call them anything. Everything is offensive to someone out there.

Some black people want to be called African American.

Answer 10

there special so they get the title .and because the rest of the people in this country cant tell were the fore fathers came from,! this is a question I have wandered about myself , blind leading the blind common sense is not one of Societys strong points at all only a fue of us have it .I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. and it didnt offend you.