Do you think that race relations would improve if blacks did not segregate themselves as African Americans?

Question

My family came from England but I would be offended if I was referred to as English American because I am American, Proud to be American and only American!! All Americans are from other countries and should, in my opinion,refer to themselves as Americans. The only exception should be someone who was born in another country and later became an American citizen. If that person was born in Africa for example, then they would be African American.

Answer 1

Race relations should improve whether or not if people thought African Americans are segregrating theirselves or not... I personally being a Black female, do not consider myself African American because I am a US citizen, Im American as well...I agree that all US born citizens should identify as just Americans, but some people do not agree and feel as if they need justification or a title...
Also its mostly not blacks segregrating theirselves as "African Americans" its the government who chooses to use that term...

Answer 2

The system was set into motion long before Blacks
had a say so, much less a vote.
Back in the day, you had to stick together to have
some sort of protection form hate and violence.
If you did not claim Africa, or at least being called
colored or black, you were called Uncle Tom.
In which case you were not accepted by blacks or whites.
There is much history of black people in America, that needs
to be made available to the children of this country through their schools. It would go a long way to prevent racism, if we just knew a lot more about each other.

Answer 3

I believe you have it right. I am a native American (Indian
ancestry), but I call my self just American Citizen. It does
tend to separate us when people want to be half American
and half Asian or African, etc. It doesn't help the Black cause
to keep asking for reparations for their ancestors being slaves
either. It wasn't any of us that had slaves, so they need to get
over it and drop it. There are other issues they need to drop
also if they really want the races to just get along.

Answer 4

I don't know about you, but one of two things would need to happen to improve race relations. Everyone tracks down where they came from and realizes that the background of their family actually does effect them. Or, we all just say screw it, we're American.

Neither of which will work, some are to stupid to track it down, others are to proud to drop it.

African-Americans are about as separate from the country as German-Americans, mind you I know plenty of these. They're proud to be here and proud of where they came from, most people don't see the problem in it when some old white guy where's lederhosen, but watch what happens when someone goes into African traditions.

If people would just stop caring about what other people are and just go with who, we could avoid this issue entirely.

Answer 5

Personally I prefer the term black to AFrican American. Why is it that people of dark skin have to be called African Americans whereas people with white skin are simply American? We are all American... and after a while people who have lived here for multiple generations no longer strongly associate with their mother lands since so many generations before them spent their lives contributing to American society. We are all American

Answer 6

I agree. The more people try to effect the styles, speech and mannerisms of a sub-group within the group they are part of, the less they will be accepted by the rest of the group. In plain English, if you try to act weird, you will be treated like a weirdo.

Rational people accept others without regard to their skin color, or where they came from. Acceptance is reciprocal. If you want to be accepted by the rest of the group, don't go out of your way to distance yourself from them.

People resent exclusivity. When all the ____ (fill in the blank) people start dressing differently than everybody else, or speaking differently, this is perceived as rejection by the rest of the group. Nobody likes to be excluded. If you act this way, you can expect a cool reception from the rest of the group.

Answer 7

Sorry Earl, but you're decidedly in the minority on this one. My German-Irish ancestry is part of my identity, and an important part, despite the fact that I was born in the United States.

Human beings always have and always will group themselves together with other folks who're like them. It comes from long, long ago when our ancestors had to compete fiercely for limited resources, and banded together in family groups (tribes) to enable them to more effectively compete for those resources - water to drink and food to eat and women to marry.

What groups do you belong to? Are you a veteran? If so, you may well belong to a group like the American Legion or VFW. Are you a volunteer firefighter? You probably prefer to hang with your fellows on your squad, in that case. Are you a professional? You probably prefer your fellow professionals to others when you socialize. Do you belong to a particular church? If so, you gather together with your fellow parishioners rather than the folks who belong to a different denomination. And certainly, as a white male, you prefer hanging with other whites. Well, so do black folk prefer to hang out with other blacks. They do have a very good reason to do so, given that so few non-black Americans admit to the fact that racism is still prevalent in this country. Don't think so? Then tell me why New Orleans, which was predominantly black, isn't rebuilt yet!

Answer 8

As long as blacks allow racist leaders such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton do the talking for them, there will always be strains in racial relations. I happen to know a few black people who don't like being called African Americans AND they don't like Jackson or Sharpton, either.

Answer 9

I don't refer to my self as an african american cause thats dumb as hell yea Im black yea my great great great great great great how many ever greats were from their but Im not. I'm an american born and raise so don't call me an african american. I don't know who startd it but whoever did just did it to sergregate us some more.

Answer 10

Many black people do not like being called 'African-American' it's just something Jesse Jackson made up. I like to be called American, black, or by my first name. Plain and simple.