African American vs Black
As Americans, we’ve grown up being corrected when using the term black to describe an African American. It has been ingrained in our minds to think of black as a derogatory description. Without much thought, the practice of saying African American has been accepted and followed in our daily lives.
Why insist on using the former (African American) rather than the latter (black)? What does it even mean? Should I insist on being called German American? It’s silly. You’re not from Africa any more than I am from Germany. My skin is white and yours is black. The same idea applies to Asian Americans. Aren’t they just Americans too? I guess nobody calls them yellow though. I’m so confused…
Can anyone shed some more light on this subject?
The Angry Black Woman discusses this very subject of racial terminology at length. She brings up a good point: what if a white person, from Africa, immigrates to America? That would make him or her an African American more than it would make a black person an African American. This is quite the thought provoking subject, is it not?
From reading the comments about usage of the phrase Black American, you can see that there are very different perspectives on the matter. It seems that we all agree to be called American. Some prefer to make a distinction between black and Black. I prefer the former, or nixing it completely, because if you start inferring a certain heritage and lifestyle with the color of your skin you’re likely to degenerate into mudslinging.
Is Barack Obama a Black American or a White American? He grew up only knowing White America but he was very much Black. This is why we must avoid the discrepancy and labels based on nothing more than genetic differences to describe a way of life.
Maybe many black people do live a different life than most whites but can we really go as far to say that it is because they are black? If that’s the case, then why are the lifestyles of whites and blacks slowly converging towards one another? Wouldn’t that imply that the skin color is also changing and that is the reason?
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