Should African Americans do away with the term "black"?

And just be called "African American?

Dont get me wrong,im not ashamed of the term "black" but all it is,is a inaccurate social construct
"African American" denotes an ethnic group with shared history/culture
Also most African Americans dont know exactly where our ancestors were taken from in Africa,unlike African immigrant groups who say "Nigerian american",or "ghanian american" and etc etc

Plus






All of these people are African Americans
if they went around calling themselves "black"(especially the "white" looking dude,Benjamin Todd Jealous,and the old lady,Sylvia Olden Lee )they'd be laughed at
Benjamin todd(3rd pic/head of the naacp) says that people cant believe that hes "black" when he tells them he is

 

That is a tough question. I think it must be very hard for African-Americans to come up with just the right term to identify their culture.

For example with white folks, people will say that they are Italian, Irish, Polish etc. Black people who are from outside of the US ie. Africa or the Caribbean are specifc like white folks tend to be" Haitian, Kenyan, Senegalese etc.

Even with white folks who ARE immigrants to America like me, we don't necessarily identify with other white folks born here who are from the same ethnic background. I was born in Ireland, and my parents keep tradition. I LOATHE St. Patrick's Day here in the States, it gives the impression that all Irish people are drunken idiots. At home, Saint Patrick's Day is a more mellow religious holiday like Easter. The parade in Dublin only started 15 years ago for the American tourists.

My point is that culture and ethnicity don't always go hand in hand. I guess that it is a personal choice on how to identify oneself. I do think the term "black" implies a history of incredility sad oppression, but African-American could be considered vague due to the fact that people stolen out of Africa don't know their ancestory in many case KWIM?

 

I'm Black. I was born in New Jersey, not Africa.
Black is fine with me.

 

Just call me American.

 

I'm an American of African Ancestry. I'm not a true African in that I was not born and raised there, nor do I speak an African language, know intimately the history or know what ancestral tribe I'm from. I have an uncle who looks white, should he be called black?

 

There is nothing wrong with black. Black is beautiful.

 

Lots of classifications over the years:race man,negro,colored,afro-american,black-american ,and now african-american. The names change but little thing have not. Me? Black-American or Afro-American. African-American belongs to the Kenyans,Nigerians,South Africans,Nanibians and other people from the African continent.

 

No,because many of them dont call themselves "african americans"

They say "Nigerian american",or "ghanian american" or whatever country they,or their parents,hailed from.

 

I classify myself as "TheChosenOne" on official documents

 

That's a very good way too look at things. The term African American is mostly used as a euphemism for "black" here in the US. There are almost 10 millions White Africans who live in the continent and who have been Africans for centuries, and if some of them come to live in the US and the a US citizenship, would they be call "African American" as well? Charlize Theron is an example, she is as African as Nelson Mandela, but she probably has a US citizenship by not, so how would one call her?

The same question could be asked for the more than 100 million or so of Maghrebins/North Africans who aren't blacks, but yet they are Africans. Though the term African people refers to people who live in Africa or people who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa, it makes more sense if it's used to describe an inhabitant of Africa with an African nationality. Nowadays, Ethnicity or race is irrelevant when we talk about African people.

 

yo this guy is wild

:smt029

as for 'Big' Ben Todd, I can't believe he would classify himself as black either..

I have pale fam, but they have my hair texture and other features, which are dead giveaways...

that guy looks like he could pass for an Italian