why are black people called African Americans?

Question

Ok this is my question why are black people called African Americans? When half of Africans are white? Does that mean when a white man from south africa comes to the usa is he categorized the same as a black man from africa doesn’t it sound smarter to say if you are from africa black or white your African and if your black white or in between and are born in the usa your American ya i can understand people being subcategorized as a black American or white American.... but why are black people that are born in the usa referred to as African Americans they weren’t born there not only black people come from africa there are allot of whites... its called south africa?

o ya and why is it a bad thing to call a black person black? it just happend one day lol knda dumb i think

ok good answers but also why is it a negative thing to call them black... say some body comes up to me and says hey have you seen say rob and i reply yes he is the black guy over there in todays standterds that would be considerd racial but why how did that become a problem and now all of a sudden i have to refure to blacks as african americans whats next?

mordent... do some reading there are alot of whites in south africa

so what you are saying nonesuchwhy is that indians are native americans because they where here first, the white men that came over are americans because they took it over, and black people are african americans because they just showed up?

ok one more things for every one that put because there african descent.. dont we all descent from some where eles besides indians ofcours why arent other races known as french americans or german american ect it seems to me that the only group thats reprasented that way are blacks

Answer 1

.

A White person who was born in a country located on the
continent of Africa who then later moved to the U.S. and
became a citizen -- would *not* be an 'African-American',
--- but rather, their category would then be that of
a 'White-American' (of South-African 'Ethnicity').

--------------------- REASON ----------------------

The African-Americans (AAs) are *not* a "Race"
group -- but rather they are a very specific (and
also a largely Multi-Racial) 'Ethnic' group.

(Much like Latinos are considered to be
a largely Multi-Racial 'cultural' group).

Our society really needs to try to begin to understand 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 (2) 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 (1) 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
Africa, 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 of a ‘Multi-Generational
Multi-Racially ‘Mixed’ (MGM) lineage – while the people
born 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.

.

Answer 2

It could be because we are of African descent living in the US. We are descendants of Africa and thus call such. We group Asians Americans and Hispanics in the same manner. Although there are "white" ppl (as you say) that are from Africa (South Africa), Im more than sure they would mark African American as their choice to describe their ethnicity and if not that is self denial and that is a whole other issues.

Answer 3

HALF of Africans are white? Where on earth have you got that idea from?! The VAST majority of Africans are black, and I mean HUGE. Even at the height of European imperialism blacks still vastly outnumbered whites. Only 9% of South Africa is white, and that's one of the countries with the highest proportion of whites.

I think the term African American has arisen out of political correctness - it's better to say that than "black american", but regardless it amounts to pretty much the same thing most of the time.

*edit* Dizzy, do some research. Between 9 and 10% (depending on which census you use) of South Africa's population is white.

"Ethnic groups: black 79.5%, white 9.2%, Coloured 8.9%, Asian 2.5% (2006 est.) " - wikipedia, Demographics of South Africa

"Ethnic groups: black African 79%, white 9.6%, colored 8.9%, Indian/Asian 2.5% (2001 census) " - CIA, the world factbook - South Africa.

"In the early 1980s" *that's 1980, not 2007* "... whites constituted only 16% of the total population and dropping, in comparison to 20% fifty years earlier" - Wikipedia, 'History of South Africa in the apartheid era"

Answer 4

I refer to a person's race by how they prefer and what the situation calls for--it's less complicated that way. Some prefer Black, African-American. I have older friends who see nothing wrong with being referred to as a ***** when you are speaking of their race, that is. I am personally not comfortable with that term but I am younger and I think we have a different connotation of the word. I don't mind White, caucasion, but am not real fond of Whitie or Snowflake :) What the hell....I kind of like Snowflake.

Answer 5

They're called African Americans because many dark skinned nationalities we see in America are from Africa. However, they're not completely African anymore, they're African American because they live here, in America. White Africans are also known as African American because they're both African and living in America.

Answer 6

It is a fact that most so called African Americans don't know much about Africa. If you ask me (a "European American"), we should call each other human beings, and get rid of the colour identifications. These color definitions only divide us more. In order to keep this (any) country from falling apart we need to come together as one, not as separated by colour or creed.

Answer 7

what about native-americans ?

english spealking first americans killed native americans then they usurpated the title of 'americans' in the first place.

africans slaves were deported to america. They were forced to 'move' to america. They should be distinguished from the nation that exploited them.

africa is a black nation originally. White africans are colon descendant.

Answer 8

1. their great, great, great ancestors originated from there! They immigrate to america..... became citizen of america, so they are african american!
2. About white african? The whites invaded SA because it is a country rich with minerals and ornaments and called it their own. And whites settled there, reproduce, and now the majority of SA are whites!

Answer 9

I hear it now called "People of African Decent" ...does that apply to white people from Africa too? Same problem there too.

Answer 10

I don't know much about the situation in America, but here in Australia where I live, Aboriginals and Africans are called 'Australians'. It doesn't matter whether you're black, white or yellow, if you were born here or have made the commitment with becoming an Australian citizen, you are Australian.
Sorry I wasn't much help here with your question. :(

Answer 11

we are called african americans because our ancestors decended from africa. white people coming from africa would just be considered african just as blacks from africa would be considered african. if a white persons ancestor decended from africa, then i guess they would be considered african american as well.