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Permalink Reply by miss cali on July 26, 2012 at 11:30am

i prefer black... depending on how it's said (idk why) but i sometimes find it offensive; almost like calling a hispanic person "mexican." im jamaican, so if you have to categorize me as something other than american or black... then ask lol

it's sad because the U.S is one of the only countries in the world that puts emphasis on race when identifying someone

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Permalink Reply by Dragon Slayer Puss on July 26, 2012 at 11:41am

Black is a term we derived and named ourselves in the 60's. African american did come about in the 90's, i believe. I remember when we started identifying ourselves as AA and i was born in 1981. Black was supposed to be a term of empowerment, but I think you are right Sheli, after the riots, panters, Farrakhan, lol, most "educated" blacks wanted to be called African Americans, I guess for assimulation reasons as you stated. Now, EVERYONE should know that the birthplace of the HUMAN RACE is in AFRICA. So essentially, we are all Africans.  I am black tho. You can call me an African American, hell they can call me colored, negro, it doesn't matter to me, because I determine who I am, your title for me does not.

Sheli said:

Maybe I've been misinformed, but I thought that black people began to IDENTIFY with and embraced the "Black" term during the late 1960s, wasn't that around the time James Brown dropped "Black & Proud" where black identity was at it's highest? That's where you had black people no longer afraid to say they were black----->Black Panthers, Black Power Movement, Black Arts Movement, Black is Beautiful, Black Girls Rock, Black Men United etc.  No one can make me associate the term "Black" with lacking identity.  I always thought the term "African American" was used by those who thought it would make assimilation more easy. 
blackfujones said:

Not actually sir...everyone else called us blacks/coloreds/negroes etc.  African-American was the only term that WE CAME UP WITH during the 70's by a cat named karenga.  Like I said earlier it was a basic thought for people who had no identity to identify with seeing that we've been robbed of our old culture. It was a chance to start anew 
Tone said:

Only people that use African American is really cacs when they don't want to sound racist

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Permalink Reply by DJ - A.K.A - DON_JUAN on July 26, 2012 at 11:54am

i concur

Siren said:

There are people all over the world whose roots trace back to Africa. South America, Carribean, India and so on with roots from Africa they don't call themselves. African anything I am a Black Woman... My family from Trinidad they are Trinidadians but they call themselves Black men and women. The fight for them to call us African- American hasn't done anything for us. As long as they are not refering to us as niggers, coloreds and negroes I am alright.

blackfujones said:

I am african-american.  I'm a person who has no freaking clue where my people are from. That's where the whole term was derived from, from persons like me who wanted an identity.  I wish more black folks would understand that, but then again not everyone cares like i do

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Permalink Reply by DJ - A.K.A - DON_JUAN on July 26, 2012 at 12:09pm

well thats why on most applications, the choice is still black/african american

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Permalink Reply by luvsmoochez on July 26, 2012 at 12:10pm

I prefer to be called black as well. The roots to being identified as African American are honorable ones and a way for people to unite, but just as Siren, I have family from other places, such as Belize. We have family from Cuba and I am mixed with a little of everything, so it is hard to put a one size fits all term such as African American, but we do all consider ourselves black.

It's a trip to me that I have a co-worker from Switzerland and she is blonde with blue eyes and she had a kid last year. They don't call her little girl a Swiss-American (or whatever the term would be) the kid will be looked on as white, an American with no hyphen.

So many of our ancestors have plowed this land and created this country and are more American that many whites. I am a Black American.
   
Siren said:

There are people all over the world whose roots trace back to Africa. South America, Carribean, India and so on with roots from Africa they don't call themselves. African anything I am a Black Woman... My family from Trinidad they are Trinidadians but they call themselves Black men and women. The fight for them to call us African- American hasn't done anything for us. As long as they are not refering to us as niggers, coloreds and negroes I am alright.

blackfujones said:

I am african-american.  I'm a person who has no freaking clue where my people are from. That's where the whole term was derived from, from persons like me who wanted an identity.  I wish more black folks would understand that, but then again not everyone cares like i do

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Permalink Reply by luvsmoochez on July 26, 2012 at 12:13pm

Loves it!!
 
Love is a Losing Game said:

Black is a term we derived and named ourselves in the 60's. African american did come about in the 90's, i believe. I remember when we started identifying ourselves as AA and i was born in 1981. Black was supposed to be a term of empowerment, but I think you are right Sheli, after the riots, panters, Farrakhan, lol, most "educated" blacks wanted to be called African Americans, I guess for assimulation reasons as you stated. Now, EVERYONE should know that the birthplace of the HUMAN RACE is in AFRICA. So essentially, we are all Africans.  I am black tho. You can call me an African American, hell they can call me colored, negro, it doesn't matter to me, because I determine who I am, your title for me does not.

Sheli said:

Maybe I've been misinformed, but I thought that black people began to IDENTIFY with and embraced the "Black" term during the late 1960s, wasn't that around the time James Brown dropped "Black & Proud" where black identity was at it's highest? That's where you had black people no longer afraid to say they were black----->Black Panthers, Black Power Movement, Black Arts Movement, Black is Beautiful, Black Girls Rock, Black Men United etc.  No one can make me associate the term "Black" with lacking identity.  I always thought the term "African American" was used by those who thought it would make assimilation more easy. 
blackfujones said:

Not actually sir...everyone else called us blacks/coloreds/negroes etc.  African-American was the only term that WE CAME UP WITH during the 70's by a cat named karenga.  Like I said earlier it was a basic thought for people who had no identity to identify with seeing that we've been robbed of our old culture. It was a chance to start anew 
Tone said:

Only people that use African American is really cacs when they don't want to sound racist

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Permalink Reply by livelife25 on July 26, 2012 at 12:26pm

Luvsmooches you made a great point about that little girl not being called "Swiss-American" or whatever the term would be.  No other race identifies themselves by country then American on most official documents (i.e. Mexican-American, Japanese-American, it's usually just "Asian" or "Hispanic/Latino"), so I was always puzzled that it was seen as something essential for people of African descent to do so.  I prefer "black" because culturally I'm not just tied to the US having spent most of my life outside of it. "African-American" refers to people in a certain place, that place being America.  A person of color who was raised anywhere outside of the US would sound mighty crazy calling themselves "African-American."

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Permalink Reply by Dragon Slayer Puss on July 26, 2012 at 12:26pm

Charlize Theron is from Africa too. She was born there. Is she African? African American? I think they call her white.
luvsmoochez said:

I prefer to be called black as well. The roots to being identified as African American are honorable ones and a way for people to unite, but just as Siren, I have family from other places, such as Belize. We have family from Cuba and I am mixed with a little of everything, so it is hard to put a one size fits all term such as African American, but we do all consider ourselves black.

It's a trip to me that I have a co-worker from Switzerland and she is blonde with blue eyes and she had a kid last year. They don't call her little girl a Swiss-American (or whatever the term would be) the kid will be looked on as white, an American with no hyphen.

So many of our ancestors have plowed this land and created this country and are more American that many whites. I am a Black American.    
Siren said:

There are people all over the world whose roots trace back to Africa. South America, Carribean, India and so on with roots from Africa they don't call themselves. African anything I am a Black Woman... My family from Trinidad they are Trinidadians but they call themselves Black men and women. The fight for them to call us African- American hasn't done anything for us. As long as they are not refering to us as niggers, coloreds and negroes I am alright.
blackfujones said:

I am african-american.  I'm a person who has no freaking clue where my people are from. That's where the whole term was derived from, from persons like me who wanted an identity.  I wish more black folks would understand that, but then again not everyone cares like i do

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Permalink Reply by JustMe on July 26, 2012 at 2:11pm

Yep... My coworkers from Tunisia are considered Arab...

Love is a Losing Game said:

Charlize Theron is from Africa too. She was born there. Is she African? African American? I think they call her white.
luvsmoochez said:

I prefer to be called black as well. The roots to being identified as African American are honorable ones and a way for people to unite, but just as Siren, I have family from other places, such as Belize. We have family from Cuba and I am mixed with a little of everything, so it is hard to put a one size fits all term such as African American, but we do all consider ourselves black.

It's a trip to me that I have a co-worker from Switzerland and she is blonde with blue eyes and she had a kid last year. They don't call her little girl a Swiss-American (or whatever the term would be) the kid will be looked on as white, an American with no hyphen.

So many of our ancestors have plowed this land and created this country and are more American that many whites. I am a Black American.    
Siren said:

There are people all over the world whose roots trace back to Africa. South America, Carribean, India and so on with roots from Africa they don't call themselves. African anything I am a Black Woman... My family from Trinidad they are Trinidadians but they call themselves Black men and women. The fight for them to call us African- American hasn't done anything for us. As long as they are not refering to us as niggers, coloreds and negroes I am alright.
blackfujones said:

I am african-american.  I'm a person who has no freaking clue where my people are from. That's where the whole term was derived from, from persons like me who wanted an identity.  I wish more black folks would understand that, but then again not everyone cares like i do

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Permalink Reply by Bonita on July 26, 2012 at 2:15pm

I tend to have an issue with White South African because they tend to be African when its convenient for them.

On first glance I look like the next black or aa woman so people tend to assume..I guess that's why I have held on to my accent for dear life to hold on to my roots. Soo no am not black or aa am African. 

I sympathize with multi-racial kids. My nieces who live in germany and have a german mother are more african than me..its way too cute. They love their heritage and I commend their white mother for helping as well.  

Love is a Losing Game said:

Charlize Theron is from Africa too. She was born there. Is she African? African American? I think they call her white.
luvsmoochez said:

I prefer to be called black as well. The roots to being identified as African American are honorable ones and a way for people to unite, but just as Siren, I have family from other places, such as Belize. We have family from Cuba and I am mixed with a little of everything, so it is hard to put a one size fits all term such as African American, but we do all consider ourselves black.

It's a trip to me that I have a co-worker from Switzerland and she is blonde with blue eyes and she had a kid last year. They don't call her little girl a Swiss-American (or whatever the term would be) the kid will be looked on as white, an American with no hyphen.

So many of our ancestors have plowed this land and created this country and are more American that many whites. I am a Black American.    
Siren said:

There are people all over the world whose roots trace back to Africa. South America, Carribean, India and so on with roots from Africa they don't call themselves. African anything I am a Black Woman... My family from Trinidad they are Trinidadians but they call themselves Black men and women. The fight for them to call us African- American hasn't done anything for us. As long as they are not refering to us as niggers, coloreds and negroes I am alright.
blackfujones said:

I am african-american.  I'm a person who has no freaking clue where my people are from. That's where the whole term was derived from, from persons like me who wanted an identity.  I wish more black folks would understand that, but then again not everyone cares like i do

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Permalink Reply by blackfujones on July 26, 2012 at 3:15pm

was supposedly around the late 70s to mid 80s.  You had one side who called themselves pro black and another who sided with the notion of being pan-africans.  It came from a cat who studied in cali the thought of african american, which in turn brought about african american studies etc.  Was sort of a way to bring the militants and the eggheads together to unite.  Some folks got tired of not being able to identify with any culture, thats why you had folks lying saying they were from some island knowing damn well they weren't.  So he came up with pan africans or african americans, and a guy by the name of asante went a bit deeper into it in the 80s.

Sheli said:

Maybe I've been misinformed, but I thought that black people began to IDENTIFY with and embraced the "Black" term during the late 1960s, wasn't that around the time James Brown dropped "Black & Proud" where black identity was at it's highest? That's where you had black people no longer afraid to say they were black----->Black Panthers, Black Power Movement, Black Arts Movement, Black is Beautiful, Black Girls Rock, Black Men United etc.  No one can make me associate the term "Black" with lacking identity.  I always thought the term "African American" was used by those who thought it would make assimilation more easy. 

blackfujones said:

Not actually sir...everyone else called us blacks/coloreds/negroes etc.  African-American was the only term that WE CAME UP WITH during the 70's by a cat named karenga.  Like I said earlier it was a basic thought for people who had no identity to identify with seeing that we've been robbed of our old culture. It was a chance to start anew 

Tone said:

Only people that use African American is really cacs when they don't want to sound racist

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Permalink Reply by blackfujones on July 26, 2012 at 3:22pm

but usually i put other, bc i have no f***** clue where im from

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