Why do persons of color refer to theirself as Afro-American?

Question

I am of color and take offence at being called this. My ancestors are not from Africa, were slaves, etc.

We were Free born.

Answer 1

Okay, well then don't call you and your family Afro-American then. And I'm sure if you check your genealogy, you'll find some Africans in there. You didn't get your color from the sun alone.

For others, their history was a little different. It's better for Black people to name themselves than to be called Colored or *****.

P.S.
Just a little lesson, most people aren't going to find out your background and whether your ancestors were free or not before they call you whatever they want to call you. If you look Black to them, they're going to call you African American. It could be worse.

Answer 2

Well, I see what you mean, my friend, as far as your free born grandparents' or great grandparents' people (and the majority of black Americans' people) being so far removed from their ancestral homes in Africa (hundreds upon hundreds of years in many cases)..... so, why retain any sort of "hyphenated" American thing anymore? However, also, some black people want to have roots of some sort, beyond just America , to which their ancestors were brought by force , to which they did not come by choice. They also deserve , if you will, to have roots, just like all the ethnic Europeans and Latin Americans and other more recent American immigrants do. Therefore the renewed interest in Africa and African culture amongst many black Americans has taken place, which led to the appellation "Afro-American" being taken by them during the 1960's or 70's I believe. Today some blacks will refer to themselves as African-American, others seem to have dropped the hyphenation. I suppose it's largely a personal thing, and it surely cannot be dictated by anyone.

Answer 3

Did your grandparents just appear? If you are "black" which is more offensive because I've personally never seen a black person, but chances are your ancestors were slaves because the original inhabitants of N. America were Native Americans and if you're not Native American then you will automatically be labeled as a/n ____-American. My question to you is that if not from Africa, then where? "Whites" in America still claim their European ancestry, Asians also.

Answer 4

I think it is Lack of self identity, or people constantly looking for political correctness.

Black people (as we usually think) come from the ******* Race (a scientific Term)

In the past They were called "Negroes" and the slur form(******)
Then they wanted to be called black because of the derogatory term "******"

Then Black seemed to get a negative connotation, so Afro-American surfaced.

It will change again in the future, either a name thought up by themselves, or forced on them by the left wing-nuts striving for a higher form of political correctness.

Maybe it's time to think of everyone as "American"

Look at a herd of horses, do you pick out a better or worse horse because of color. Each individual horse, is just a horse, individually, it might have a different personality, but not all white horses have the same traits, nor black, nor brown, nor spotted, nor Golden.....

When are we going to get beyond this color Nonsence

Answer 5

The people that refer to themselves as Afro American are the ones with Post Slave Disorder. The N-word, Colored, *****, Afro American, and now African American are all labels that were and are placed on people of color to describe what people of color are not. And people of color that refer to themselves as any of the above lack the inspiration to research their family tree to find out the true category of people to which they belong. Years of oppression, demoralizing, and brainwashing caused people of color to loose sight of who they were/are and where they truly come from. There are millions of people of color that, in their hearts, claim to not be from the continent we call Africa. They claim they are from America. And when you ask them why they will tell you because they were born in America. They know their for-mothers and fathers were from Africa, but because they actually weren't born there they don't claim Africa to be their home. With this mentality, where one is born is where they are from is flawed. And here is proof why.
If male and female German astronauts went to the moon and stayed there for 2 years, and during this time they had a child on the moon, what would the headlines read in the newspapers here on earth? The First German Born on the Moon, or The First Moonian Born on the Moon? Of course it would be the first choice. Just like if it were two American astronauts. The headlines would read, The First American Born on the Moon. Contrary to popular belief, you are from where your blood line comes from, and not from where you were born. In actuality, there are no such things as Americans simply because everyone in America comes from sonewhere else. The concept of being American is just in ones belief, but not in fact. All whites in America have European ancestry, people in America with slanted eyes have Asian ancestry, and all people of color in America have African ancestry. If the person is bi-racial they have both DNA and therefor have ancestry from both parents. Tri- racial and even quad- racial people have multiple DNA from their parents.

Answer 6

Afro- is the type of hairstyle that a lot of African Americans used around the 60's-70's, around the time of the black power movements... so they thought it would be cool to put Afro- American instead of African American.

If you're asking why people call you African American when you're not, is because you (most likely) appear African American and people don't know you're not.(people stereotype everything) The most you can do is tell people your race and heritage... Or wear a big sign on yourself that says, "I'm not African American!!!"

Answer 7

I call myself African American. I additionally communicate over with myself as Haitian-American. i do no longer announce the two one in face-to-face conversations. If i'm on an internet site or providing myself on line to social orgs for the 1st time, I point out it. interior the 70s Afro-American became between the familiar words. no longer so used from now on.

Answer 8

Im white and had alot of black friends when I lived in Ohio.I wonder why they refer themselves as Afro American.I asked several of them including a teacher that is black.I found it interesting that no one not even the teacher could answer why they refer to themselves as Afro American.I think it was a trend that caught on fast.One said it and then it kept going on until America accepted the Afro American as a label.Myself I think it is crazy.

Answer 9

I am a Black-American and proud of that. I don't agree with the term Afro-American for the same reasons, but it is acceptable then other names people of color are called.

Answer 10

People do not call themselves Afro American....they either sayBlack or African American - and FYI most people of color can trace their lineage back to forebears from the continent of Africa [which btw includes many many countries]