Black People: Do you like the term “African-American”?

October 21st, 2008 | by admin |

  1. 19 Responses to “Black People: Do you like the term “African-American”?”

  2. By Out of Touch on Oct 21, 2008 | Reply

    I’m black.

    My skin bristles when I here people politely saying “African-American.”

  3. By *Positivity* on Oct 23, 2008 | Reply

    I really don’t mind, I don’t think about it much

  4. By ExoticAngels on Oct 24, 2008 | Reply

    i dont think too much about it. im not from Africa so…

  5. By kidd rune on Oct 25, 2008 | Reply

    Your people didn’t like the term Negr0id or Negr0 because it ’sounds like an animal’

    Colored lost its popularity too,

    Black is a color, not a race, you just share a common skin color.

    African American means you have African ancestors but are an American Citizen.

  6. By Chicago on Oct 27, 2008 | Reply

    Well, this is a very sensitive subject. How about we just be called by our names??? And when spoken of as a group, I’d prefer Black. Simply because all black people are not from Africa, why would they call someone who’s from Jamaica and came to America African-American? It doesn’t make sense to me. So I’d prefer Black.

  7. By NiA [sp*] on Oct 29, 2008 | Reply

    I prefer black. It’s like the formal term is African-American and the informal is black.

    AA fits Africans who have American citizenship, but not me.

  8. By VANETTE IN ACTION on Oct 31, 2008 | Reply

    My husband prefers human.

  9. By toolgirl@att.net on Nov 3, 2008 | Reply

    ok i know im not black…………but i dont know the best way to refer a person of dark color………..i feel wrong for saying black,cuz i dont know if it offends anyone, so AA seems to be the most neutral word…..but with you sayin that, i wont feel as weird about sayin it. thanks

  10. By SiLlY fArT on Nov 3, 2008 | Reply

    i totally see what you are saying. but to be fair, the term ‘black’ is mostly incorrect too. your ancestors did come from africa at one point. it is the continent of LIFE. why not embrace it?

  11. By Sabrina K on Nov 5, 2008 | Reply

    Another white person chiming in.
    I prefer to use “black”. I agree with you that saying “African American” sound strange and your heritage may not be from Africa, like others were mentioning, they may be Jamaican, or from anywhere else.
    Also I don’t say, Irish American, Italian American, Mexican American.
    I say, White, Italian, Black, Mexican, etc.
    Good question.

    PS. It’s also true that we say black which is a color and here in America most of our blacks arent black, lol. They are brown and lighter shades.
    The first time I left this country and saw black, blacks I was so surprised! I was like wow, they are black. Hmmm….someone has been mixing the melting pot without question.

  12. By ~Jade on Nov 5, 2008 | Reply

    Sorry, I’m not black, but…
    I don’t. Not at all. I say people are people. Why do people have the habit of labeling people, especially the minority?? I **** it. My skin is ivory during the winter and I actually **** that too. Skin color is totally not something people should get worked up about. People are people, no matter what they look like. And I totally agree with you about white people not being called European-Americans. I think though, that since they are from Europe and Asia, plus the fact then when they moved over here they fought for the land and won, white people aren’t called European Americans. Native Americans, and African Americans… why even bother using the first word? It’s a waste of breath. They are Americans. They live here don’t they?

  13. By Shay on Nov 8, 2008 | Reply

    I don’t. I wasn’t born in Africa. I don’t speak any African language. None of my relatives are African. I know very little about Africa. Why should I be labeled with a whole continent I have no cultural ties to?

    I’m a person of African descent, no doubt. But I don’t feel I have the right to claim the title “African” in any sense. I’m American. My mother is Latino, and I was raised as a Latino American. Everything else is just window dressing.

  14. By Jamal L on Nov 11, 2008 | Reply

    You’re more African then you are American.

    For that matter what do “Americans” look like?

    edit: You said “The term suggests that I am a different kind of American”

    Culture wise no, genetically wise yes. Whites aren’t Americans either. If we all followed the rules they would be European-Americans, but we don’t make the rules.

  15. By Dive Into A Holy River on Nov 12, 2008 | Reply

    To be honest, I really Don’t give a crap.

    oh and I’m African American or Black…whatever.

  16. By DEUTSCHLAND Euro'08 on Nov 13, 2008 | Reply

    though i’m white, i dont think there is a need for it. black and white is fine. i mean, there isnt an issue with calling someone a red head. or calling a type of dog a “black lab”

    i think if a black person doesnt want to be called black then they have some issues with there own race. im white and have no issue with being called white, im proud.

    like you said, if one does not want to be called black, perhaps they are ashamed, or otherwise, not proud of it

  17. By honesty&wisdom on Nov 17, 2008 | Reply

    i’m black. and i love it. i don’t like the term african american. that term is something that jesse jackson coined so that we could say that this is the term that we gave ourselves (unlike “colored” and “n*gro”). i do like somethings about african culture that i myself adopted (i like the communal bond they tend to share) and i love the fact that no matter what, they are proud, happy, celebratory people even in the worst circumstances. honestly, i also have some american traits. but at the end of the day, i call myself black. i can’t deny the white ancestry that i do have, but the fact is, america doesn’t claim me, so why should i claim it? i’m black and that’s that.

  18. By Just Me on Nov 18, 2008 | Reply

    you are so stupid go back to school dude, i mean u just happend to be a black person and live America!?, u are called African-American because your great great great great great great………parents came from Africa workin for the white folks as a slave. Take a DNA-test! and find where your true roots are and that’s 100% in Africa!.

    And all of you ‘black people’ in America who call yourself black that’s not a great term either because your brown not black!

    btw, all yall black folks in america come from Africa and THATS IT!

  19. By Ms-trustme on Nov 20, 2008 | Reply

    - I prefer black but I don’t care what term is used

  20. By south girl on Nov 23, 2008 | Reply

    I honestly prefer to be called black. one of the reasons is your because we don call whtie people european american.

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