Does anyone else hate the terms black and white to describe race?

Question

Most people are not exactly these colors so why use such narrow terms.

Answer 1

U know i dont like that term either, im not black, like the color of a crayon. Im African American. My ancestors come from African. I dont like being named after a crayon. Neither should u. Ur not white, ur caucasion. Those are rhe correct terms. Thanks to bring that to light.

Answer 2

Does anyone else hate the terms night & day to describe night & day?
Most hours are not exactly these colors so why use such narrow terms.

Answer 3

I don't hate the terms. They are broad terms and they usually just include those with African heritage or Caucasians, when used correctly, anyway. Why should I use "African-American" and all that just because someone doesn't like it, when I can use black all the same and it have the same meaning? I'm not going to change my speech for anyone. The "N-word" is racist, however, as is "cracker" and other derogatory terms.

Plus, not every person who is black in the US is exactly an "African-American". What if they were from France (Algerian heritage or something like that) and you mistakenly called them an African-American? I don't imagine that would sit well.

Answer 4

I like Caucasian even less and let us face it not all people are African-American. Plus, if it is to be African-American and Native American then we should be Anglo-American, German-American, etc... but wait what if you are a hybrid (as most of us are) We have Irish-Welsh-German-French, or Ethiopia-Swaziland-Congo-South Africa, or Comanche-Sioux- Black Feet. Crude what about those of us that are really mixed? I am so confused and the application would be a million pages.

How would you like to see it?

Then there is this:
The Caucasian race (sometimes called the Caucasoid race) is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as, "relating to a broad division of humankind covering peoples from Europe, western Asia, Middle East, South Asia and North Africa" or "white-skinned; of European origin" or "relating to the region of the Caucasus in SE Europe."[1]

How about these old Anthropological terms:

In 1934, Carleton S. Coon redefined Caucasian race as Caucasoid race as one of five racial categories. The other four races that Coon defined were the Mongoloid race, the Australoid race, the ******* race, sometimes referred as Congoid and the Capoid race. These racial classifications are made on the basis of physical features.[10]

I would much rather drop it entirely, but good luck with that!

Answer 5

Vernus is right as far as the usage of the N word. I dont hate the term "Black". I love it. I dont deny that my ancestry is from Africa. But, I prefer to be called black rather than AA. Thats one side of it though. Im not from this country and I am actually multi racial. But anyway, people tend to group all different variations of races together. Its easier that way I suppose.

Answer 6

And just what are your suggestions for new terms?

We need to use these terms because we DON'T know where everyone comes from just by looking at them, do we?

Imagine if someone robbed, beat and raped you, would you really not use one of these terms to describe your attacker to the police and the public?

Think before you speak please.

Answer 7

they should not use the terms black or white because it is not right because white is not my colors i am more darker then white.
i am white but look at the color white once like a piece of paper that is white and i am not that white

Answer 8

Its just easier. What do you want to say; European and African? That is even broader. Everyone knows that white/black means white/black American. I called myself Irish to people from Ireland and they said "you mean Irish-American?"

Answer 9

I don't mind being called white because Caucasian sounds like a disease. My husband doesn't mind being called black because he is not from Africa, so no African-American.
Does it really matter? Tell people to call you what you want to be called. We are just fine.

Answer 10

why should i hate the word white to describe race. i am white and proud of it. what should be offensive is when black people use the "N" word to talk to each other. be proud to be black or white.