What should I refer to black people as?

Question

black, African-American, or something else?

please give reasons!

(I'm trying to be more culturally sensitive!)

Answer 1

.

It really needs to be understood that the 'African-American'
(AA) 'Ethnic' group is *not* the same group as the
’Black American' (BA) 'Race' group -- that the two
(2) terms are *not* synonymous and -- that the two
(2) terms should *not* be used inter-changeably.

We are *not* speaking of ‘semantics’ here – but rather
– the BAs & AAs are two different groups of people.

The AAs are the (largely Mixed-Race) ETHNIC group.

The BAs are the (Mono-Raced) RACE group.

As confusing as it seems -- the U.S. government
[due to racism & wanting to stigmatize the part
of their lineage that was from Africa which, by
the way, is only one part of their lineage] ---

has labeled those individuals who are the known
"descendents of the survivors" of the system of
chattel-slavery found in the USA as being AAs
(the hyphen is used in reference to acknowledging
the fact that most of them are Mixed-Race,
with African & non-African blood lines)

AND

has labeled those people who are "volitional immigrants"
who are directly from places such as the continent of
African, the West Indies, etc. -- as being BAs
(with the word 'Black' used in reference to acknowledging
the fact that they are of a Mono-racial full-Black lineage).

In addition, it should also be remembered that – although
some AAs adhere to a socio-political ‘identity’ that is
often described by the slang term of “black”—the AAs
are actually *not* a "Race" group at all -- but rather
they *are* a largely Mixed-Race 'Ethnic' group
(and the socio-political ‘identity’ that a person chooses
*does not* change their racially-mixed ancestral lineage).

Most (+70%) of the people born to two (2) parents who
are of the AA ‘Ethnic’ group are are of a Multi-Racially
‘Mixed’ (MGM) lineage – while the people to two (2)
parents who are of the BA ‘Racial’ group – on the
other hand – are of a Mono-Racially ‘Black’ lineage.

There is a big difference between a largely Multi-racial
'Ethnic' group and between a Mono-racial 'Race group.

In addition, there is also a big difference between
one's socio-political 'identity' (ex. "black") and
one's ancestral racial 'lineage' (ex. 'Mixed').

Just because a person adheres to a given
socio-political 'identity' does *not* change
the composition of their ancestral 'lineage'.

Also -- the 'One-Drop' Rule (the false teaching that
'any amount' of Black ancestral lineage make a
person "full black") is nothing more than pure-racism.

The racist 'One-Drop Rule' (used only by the United
States government, by the way) was created during
the antebellum, chattel-slavery era by White racial
supremacist in order to get people to believe the false
racist myth that the so-called White "race" was "pure"
and to falsely view the Black "racial" admixture
(even the slightest amount) within someone's
ancestral lineage as being "tainted".

To embrace the 'One-Drop Rule' is the equivalent of BOTH
embracing "racism" and embracing the false teaching
that a Mixed-Race person's Black lineage is "tainted".

My advice is that a non-Racist should *not* embrace
the concept of the 'One-Drop Rule' -- as "Black blood"
is *not* "tainted" -- and should never be perceived
or embraced as being so (not even in the
name of so-called "pride" and "unity").

In addition, legally-speaking, attempted forcible
application of the racist 'One-Drop Rule' -- against
any individual or group -- was made illegal and ruled
as unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court
in 1967 via the case of 'Loving vs. The State of Virginia'.

Through the 'Loving vs. Virginia' case, the U.S.
Supreme Court, ruled against both all of the laws
banning Interracial marriage -- and -- also ruled
that any so-called law which forcibly applied the
'One Drop Rule' -- was racist, discriminatory,
illegal, unconstitutional, and non-enforcible.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/1402

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/1400

Related Links:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MGM-Mixed
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FGM-Mixed

------------------------PLEASE NOTE---------------------

--- Dr. Luigi Caveli-Sforza, who is the Executive
Director of the Human Genome Project and the
world's foremost authority on human genetics
has both tested and proven that more that 70%
of all AAs have a full ancestral lineage which
consists of +20-30% White / European and
more than +25% Amerindian bloodlines.

--- That means that the 'average' (+70%) person
born to two (2) parents who are both members
of the AA Ethnic group actually has slightly
less than 50% Black / African blood lineage
found in his or her full-ancestral lineage.

For more information -- see supporting links listed below:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/1399
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/1032
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/1034
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/991
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/1570
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/1573

--------------------------- ADDED NOTE ---------------------

It should also be noted that -- contrary to popular belief and
myth spread among many groups who are not educated or
informed on the whole topic -- it was not the group that is
currently being referred to as being the African-Americans
(AAs) -- who chose this term for them -- but rather --
like so many of the other terms used to describe
them -- this term was also implemented by
the United States federal government
(starting with the 1990 United
States 'Census Bureau' Forms).

If a person insists on spreading the 'myth' that it was the
AAs who chose this term for themselves -- it is clearly
indicative of the fact that they have never even once
actually studied the entire topic and are simply basing
their comments on assumption-based ignorance --
rather than objective facts and empirical evidence.

Hope this answer is helpful.

Have a nice day. :D

.

Answer 2

I use the word black for black people and white of white people. African American is just too cumbersome. I have found that most black people have no problem with it. I guess what really matters is if you intend to be offensive or not. I do not. They seem to know that.

After all, they are just people same as I am.

What confounds me most it the term Asian American. It is much too general. There are people from India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, etc. all being called Asian American.

Sigh! I'll be glad when the day comes that we can all just be American.

.

Answer 3

Just use Black. Most Black pple use Black anyway, when trying to sound PC use African-American. Although, if you are around a lot of Black pple you almost will really never hear African-American in regular conversations.

Answer 4

A. People of any ethnic institution WHO ARE CITIZENS OF ANY AFRICAN NATION are Africans. If they immigrate to an extra nation (the United States, for illustration) BUT RETAIN THEIR FORMER CITIZENSHIP, they're nonetheless Africans. If they end up residents of the US or every other nation, they're now not Africans. Not B. Not all Africans are black.

Answer 5

Human Beings
People just like you
Friends
Part of the human family
Your fellow Americans
or just ask, "Hi. What's your name?"

Most black people just want to be treated like people. When you get to know someone, THEN you find out what like like/dislike, how they feel about stuff, whatever. Find people you have something in common with and take it from there.

Who knows? Someday you may refer to a black woman as your wife.

Answer 6

It doesn't matter which. If you're trying to be formal , say African- American. If you're with your friends (especially if they're black), say Black. I usually say African- American as being formal or to mean those of the American society, and Black to mean everyone of the color, including Africans.

Answer 7

Can't call the blacks in Europe 'African American'. Just to complicate things for you.....

Answer 8

Well calling them "African-American" isn't accurate because they're not all from Africa and they're not all from America. Calling them "black" doesn't make sense to me because they're usually different shades of brown. Of course the "N" word is reprehensible, and even though "*****' is a perfectly acceptable word, I find many of them get upset when I use it. I usually just call them those "affirmative action people" because whether trying to get into schools or jobs here, or just trying to feed themselves in Africa, the common denominator for their survival always revolves around hand-outs from the white man in one form or another.

Answer 9

I say "black" because the black people I know even use "black"... as in "the black community", "this lady I work with, who's black too, said...", etc.

Answer 10

as a black man i find this topic rather funny. it is ok in my opinion to say Black, It is Ok to say African American, Just dont say N****!

Answer 11

Americans.

if from Mexico, Mexican, from Republic Dominican, Dominican. Address them from where they are from.