what is an african american?

Question

if someone is from egypt, are they african american? or how about a white guy from south africa?

and why it seems only white people in america only refer themselves as americans, and it seems most everyone else adds something to it, like "native" american, Hispanic, "asian" american, etc....

and if the term african american refers to skin color, than what about black indians from india? many of them are a lot darker than blacks in america, or how about aboriginies? they are from australia.

Answer 1

The term African American was pioneered by Jesse Jackson as part of his agenda to create tension between races in the United States. Like many of those that claim to be trying to build bridges between the races, he has made millions off keping the racial tension alive and well.

The term African American has nothing to do with skin color and has everything to do with the color of money.

Answer 2

African American has become the politically correct term for the former politically correct term, "black." At one time, black people wanted acceptance by straightening their hair and bleaching their skin to look like Mediterranean people and they did not want to be called black. The word, "colored" was the accepted word to use and before that it was "*****." During those days, black people wanted acceptance and thought that the only way they could get it is by looking like a dark, white person. So they did not want to be called "black"or "African American."
Today, black people demand acceptance for who they are and will not try to look "white."
Egypt is also an Arab country, so that they could be called an Arab-American too. I do not know about South Africans. This sort of thing can become so confusing after a while. For example, a black person from Puerto Rico, is he a Latino, Hispanic, black, or African American?
White people in American think that they rule the world and that nobody has any rights other themselves. They consider themselves the new master race. Thereforeth, people from Canada and Brazil have no right to call themselves Americans, because the rest of North America or South America is not really America, only the Great Satan has the right to be called American.

Answer 3

"Not prejudice but-The reason white man refers to the African Americans is becuase white man was in America first and then the Africans came here,origanally slaves,then the people like Martin L K Jr.stoped slavery and then the "Blacks"pretty soon were Americans and they are now known as African Americans because they were not here first." - Celine M
How ignorant of you. U seem to forget who lived in North America for thousands of years before a Caucasian set foot on the continent. Why arent "Native Americans" called Americans while whites are called "European Americans" or something like that.
The fact of the matter is that all through out history the dominant ethnic group in the society has always used labelled minority groups to differentiate them.
For example, the ancient Romans labelled all other people (the Germanic, Celtic tribes) as Barbarians. The ancient Eqyptians called the darker skinned tribes from the Sahara "The Berbers".
In Nigeria, West Africa, caucasians of European descent are called "yankees" no matter if they come from the U.S or not.

Answer 4

It's important to first understand that:
Nationality = where you live now
Heritage = where your family is historically from

Technically:
African American literally means someones whose heritage is African, and whose nationality is American. Technically, I am African American, because my family is from Egypt, even though I'm the whitest of white girls out there :)


White Americans tend to only refer to themselves as "Americans" because that is their nationality, and many of them don't know their heritage. Sure, I've heard many people say "I'm Italian American," but the majority of white folks really just don't know, and you can't really say "I'm a EuroMut-American" for the rest of their life.

Over time, African-American has also developed into a PC term for describing black people. I'd almost call this slang really, because as aforementioned, not all African-Americans are black, and not all black people are African-Americans. Ask any black creole person what they identify themselves as, and the will say creole! Certainly not African American. How about Jamaicans?

Things tend to get a little sticky on this topic because so many people just don't know what they are anymore because we've become a big melding pot. There's nothing wrong with that, but this is how "PC" terms make their way into society. Hope this helps!!

Answer 5

Not prejudice but-The reason white man refers to the African Americans is becuase white man was in America first and then the Africans came here,origanally slaves,then the people like Martin L K Jr.stoped slavery and then the "Blacks"pretty soon were Americans and they are now known as African Americans because they were not here first.

Answer 6

I had a white proffesor who was from South Africa. He considered himself an African American. He'd tell the Black students that he was more African than they were, having been born in Africa and lived there most of his life. The NAACP and the Black Student Council demanded that he be fired as a racist, but he had tenure so they couldn't do anything about it.

It was the worst pre-school in Seattle.

Answer 7

It is a term that likely began by whites for discrimination and later became a rallying term for various non-whites. As that, it is likewise a racist term, on their part, but the only politically acceptable term allowed for whites to address the racist self-groupings of nonwhites. Why not call all U.S. citizens Americans? Simple, that would make it more difficult for minorities to strive for a "my race only" political agenda, to get something special for themselves. I grew up poor, too. --Suck it up & fly right, not racist, people. The U.S.A. needs Americans.
Oh, by the way, MLK didn't stop slavery. The hated white people did. You see, only 14% of whites owned slaves -- mostly the RICH people, even in the South. Hey, share-croppers in the South were really bad off, too: read. Today, don't the mega-rich businessmen still rule over the poor working class? So, those evil white devils freed the slaves. They also helped the enslaved white children, too, who were taken advantage of by big business.
It's about people & decency, not color, no matter what brainwashing you've been given.

Answer 8

An African American is someone born in Africa and raised in America, a person with African relatives that lives in America, or a person that the generation before them is African and that person lives in America. There might be other reasons.

Answer 9

African American is a black person born in america. Then there are africans who are born in africa. The term African american was prefered , rather than being called colored.

Answer 10

A true African American is someone who has located here from Africa and now lives here in the U.S.. Could even be a caucasian. A native american is someone who's grandfather lived here, your dad was born here, and then you are born here. That makes you a native american.
A local resident; especially : a person who has always lived in a place as distinguished from a visitor or a temporary resident
one born or reared in a particular place.