How long will a descendent of an African person be called an African -American?

Question

: There are quite many American citizens who appear to be plain white, but just because somewhere in their family history somebody was of African origin these people are still marked as African-American! Henry Kissinger for example was born as a German Jew, but nobody calls him either a German-American or a Jewish-American, but people insist to speak of Condoleza Rice as an African-American! That does not make sense!

Answer 1

Very good question, I don't know why black people are called African Americans. Some black people have never even been to Africa. But it everyone wants to get technical we are all African Americans. when life frist started we all came from Africa. When all the contenients were together it was call something like( **** I forgot the name ) but africa was the center of it all . even in biblicul times, it said we all came from that region. So again we are all African american in a way

Answer 2

The way ethnic groups choose to identify themselves is largely their affair. I am not being rude. For example, if I were to speak in hyphenated terms regarding my ancestral heritage, it would possibly be English-German-Irish-Scottish- Franco- American. Uh, that gets to be a little complicated.

However, I was not denied the knowledge of my ancestral heritage. It seems that the term "African-American" may be an effort to reclaim the knowledge and heritage of a continent of ancestral origin. How long the term exists probably depends upon the consensus of the African-American community itself.

In regards to a person being "plain white" being considered African-American, that may come from the era of slavery, at least a part of it. If there are any other explanations, I am not aware.

Those of us who were either born in this country or are naturalized citizens are legally considered Americans in the complete sense. I am not sure the category of permanent residents or other categories, since our immigration policy seems to be in flux.

I agree United States in which we all have a central identity, yet with freedom of cultural expression-unity with diversity of being and expression. Since most of us are descendents of immigrants, many of the customs and habits of our parent countries followed us and got woven into the fabric of the larger American culture.

Answer 3

First, Blacks are called African-American instead of "some country in Africa"-American because most have no idea from which country in Africa they came. (If it were me, I'd research where most of the slaves came from, pick a country, learn about it, and say I was from there. But that's me.)

Technically, Condolezza Rice IS an African-American since here people came from Africa sometime in the past. I think that calling themselves African-Americas is a step in gaining some equality with those who call themselves Irish-Americans, Polish-Americans, etc., rather than referring to themselves by their color or race.

Answer 4

Black People will be called African- Americans untill Jesse Jackson picks a new title.They weren't given that title Jesse chose it. More power to them.

Answer 5

i would say that to be African-American you should have been born in America, but be of African decent. So it doesn't matter how long, it depends on if you are born in America

Answer 6

I agree with you. Its ridiculous the way people title one another. why can we just refer to one another by just our names and nothing else attached to that.