Are only black people considered African-American? Details below.?

Question

I have a black friend who insists that my brother-in-law is not African American, even though he was born and raised in Africa and has dual citizenship. (And his family has been in African for generations and generations - he says they are native to Africa.) I asked her what determines who is African-American and she said that only black skinned people (with American citizenship) are considered African-American. Is this because only black people are native to the continent of Africa? ARE black skinned people the only ones native to Africa? I really don't know.
(This is a serious question and not meant to be offensive or racist.) I in no way think that black people (African-American if you prefer) are inferior to any other race.

anyname5. . . so, all the black people born and raised here are American, not African American, right?

Thanks for all the answers. So far, everyone has confirmed what I have always thought. Like anyname5 says, born here, American, no matter your color.

Answer 1

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No – your brother-in-law is not an 'African-American',
but rather, his category (if he has also now become a
naturalized American citizen) would be that of being a
'White-American' (of, say, South-African 'Ethnicity').

Also, the categorization of 'African-American' (AA)
has nothing whatsoever to do with "skin color".

In fact, the AAs (due to their largely tri-racial
lineage) tend to have a very wide variety of
skin colorings, hair textures, facial features
and body shapes, sizes and types as well.

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

The group known as the 'African-Americans' (AAs)
are a "very specific" 'Ethnic' (*not* 'Racial') 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 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.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AiebDu.tSshJzQ0wS5fMp7jty6IX?qid=20070623205206AANUzPN&show=7#profile-info-q1hdwifgaa
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AjwuxYj8agKY7yGgqaJ7i.Xty6IX?qid=20070704121228AA7ZMsA&show=7#profile-info-ezQwEaJLaa

------------------------------... ------------------------------

Hope this information is helpful
and that you have a nice day. :D
.
Source(s):
.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mgm-mixed/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fgm-mixed/

.

Answer 2

Was your friend ever even IN Africa? If not then your dear, sweet, handsome, charming brother-in-law is more African than her no matter what his skin color.
Why such a need to have a name/classification like this at all? My ancestry is out of Europe but I don't call myself European-American.

I wonder why Kent Shakespear says African Americans are from sub Saharan Africa? Is northern Africa not as much Africa as the rest of it? The Berbers of north Africa have been in north Africa for almost 3000 years.

Answer 3

African-American really implies that u have origins that are native to Africa. Are all black skinned people african-american? no, because there are black people who are of spanish descent as well...one can argue that they all originated from Africa...a black person with generations rooted in america who says that they are not African-American is just in denial. I understand where you are coming from, there was a girl when i was in high school who was born in Egypt, but she was of middle eastern descent..and she looked white, but swore she was Af-American because she was born in Africa and now in America...i laughed, because technically she was right, but black people in general i think would have been offended by that...i agree, it can be very confusing, but there is history behind that term and was evolved from n***er, *****, black (all what white people called us) then afro-american, african-american (what we called ourselves) Yes we are all considered americans, until we fill out the damn forms that ask for race...where it gets very confusing (esp. those who are biracial)

Answer 4

the term is used to describe people of darker skin whose ancestry came from Africa. Think of "African-American" as an abbreviation for "Americans whose ancestry lived in sub-Saharan Africa for thousands of years."

white Africans were a more recent phenomenon, generally since the 1400s (although one could make the case for ancient Greeks who lived in Egypt) but becoming more common in the past few centuries. to call them Af-Am does not invoke the same abbrevaition, and only serves to cause confusion.

language is not perfect.

Answer 5

Your Brother-in-law is African-American when he is in the US. In Africa, he's just African.

A person can be black without being originally from Africa, and in that case, they are not "African-American"

Answer 6

If you were born and raised in Africa, you are African. No matter the color of your skin. If you are born in America, you are American regardless of the color of your skin. If you are born in Africa and move to America, you are African American. It's not about skin color...which very VERY few people seem to understand.

Answer 7

"African-American" is a cockamamie term invented by people who were too hung up and skittish to use the word "*****". African-American is a nonsensical, idiotic term that is devoid of logic and used to avoid using more appropriate words.

I once heard of an American reporter doing a news report in Africa who stumbled while referring to black Africans as "African-American Africans". Now how stupid is that? Are all black people, even those who live in Africa and have never been to America, still referred to as "African-Americans???"

Political correctness is such a stupid, inane, and generally moronic concept it amazes me how anyone can give credence to it at all.

Answer 8

I don't like being called African-American. I like the term black better. I know nothing of african culture, customs, and their language. I have never even been there. I am from the islands and I like to be considered Afro-Caribbean if we are trying to be politically correct.

Answer 9

Theresa heinz-Kerry has declared herself an African-American. I remember seeing a guy from Jamaica being interviewed and the interviewer insisted on referring to him as african-american. The guy said I am not from Africa and I am not American so please stop calling me that, but he insisted anyway. It was hilarious!

Answer 10

Well if you consider yourself to be African, then you aren't American. Just like if you're a French citizen, you aren't American. And so on.

Answer 11

The father of a friend of mine was born in Johannesburg, SA and immigrated to the states many years ago. When he fills out a form that has the block for AA...he checks it...and he's WHITE! hahahahaha
I check NATIVE AMERICAN because I WAS BORN IN AMERICA, so that makes me NATIVE TO THIS COUNTRY.