Some Blacks insist: 'I'm not African-American'

as a guyanes-grenadian american, i rep this for truth.

 

I think after one or two generations people usually lose the culture of their home countries. So unless you are able to continue the upward mobility as a group then the result will be predictable.

You can actually see the same negative view that is perpetuated against blacks in USA being used against West Indians in England. The London riots exposed us to an underclass in England, that has a big percentage who are black and from West Indian origin.

 

Really? I was under the impression it was more African and Middle Eastern first generation immigrants not west indians.

And we were talking about the US

 

The term 'African American' in this country is just a politically correct way of saying BLACK. Most people don't use it literally, as in, you are from Africa.

It's different from calling someone Italian-American or Greek-American. If you're in a situation where someone is making such a culturally specific distinction, in that case it's appropriate to hyphenate the country of origin of your parents.

To understand why 'native' Black folk chose to use terms like 'Black' and 'African American' requires a very deep cultural literacy about the racial history of this country, and how the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s and '70s for Black people centered around identity and how we perceived ourselves, instead of how others defined us.

Decades ago, it used to be socially acceptable to call a Black person 'colored' or 'Negro'. When we decided that WE would be the ones who named ourselves, 'Negro' fell out of favor. 'Black' became the general term for Americans of African descent.

To me this debate is sort of like Asians who don't like to be called 'Asian', since it implies all people of Asian descent are the same.:smt104

The way I see it, calling a person of Asian descent who I have no idea is either Chinese/Korean/Japanese/Vietnamese/Thai, etc. is just my attempt to be polite, without asking, 'hey..what ARE you?'

Being Black in America, or being associated with Black Americans because you share similar physical features, isn't all negative or living down to stereotypes.

I guess it bothers me that many first and second generation West Indians know about as much about the history of Black people in this country as the average immigrant, which is to say, not much.

 

There is a growing inner-city crime in London and most of the black youth's involved are West Indian.

I do know that we are talking about the US, but I was trying to show you that the statement you made against the blacks in the US, has been used by recent immigrants to England against West Indians.

 

Andreboba,long ago the Black Americans called themselves 'Race' men and women during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Goodlove,there had been race riots in the UK dating back from 1918,1958,and 1983. I however,did not understand why Kwanza was invented since the activities of this holiday do not come from one of the African tribes and no other African state had adopted this holiday. Black-Americans come from a combination of various tribes and races. Funlove are you saying that the African immigrants from the former colonies don't have a connection with the Caribbean immigrants in the UK?

 

This mirrors something I was saying to Alectrona/Tarshi in an earlier post that the degree of ethnic identification among minorities has a lot to do with the degree of discrimination they face. In England, Africans and Eastern Asians generally outperform West Indian and South Asian youth in most economic and social indicators. West Indian and South Asian communities largely occupy the strata occupied here by black and Mexican communities on the West Coast (from what I've read, as I haven't been to the West Coast since the age of 3). I didn't want to imply that any one group had a monopoly on suffering, but the response to it has a lot to do with the larger social milieu in which one finds oneself.

 

It doesn't prove anything, nor am I trying to. It's just distinguishing them from a cultural perspective, as well as their features (ie:appearance), that's all.

 

Interesting. I know other people use terms like hot blonde or banging brown green eyed chick. I've always just used the term hot. I wonder why some of us choose to be more descriptive. Somthing to ponder I guess.

 

Exactly my point!!

 

I like your train of thought here, Orejon. Like you said, we have a lot to learn from each other. And in reality, West Africans have had a lot to learn from the African American experience.

In Ghana, the founders of modern Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah had an American education, so also in Nigeria, the first president, although ceremonial had an American education. And the perspectives that Fela Kuti infused into his music came from the political mentoring he received from an African - American woman. The perspectives developed from the linkages to the African American experience gave them a sense of purpose.

At the basic level, Africans may not share the same cultural values (maybe, because of the ethnic identities and their historical experience and upbringing) , yet there is a connection that cannot be wished away. For many Africans that the British colonised they helped nurture an identity that is built on cultural values of the educated elite that obtains across cultures. I think it explains why the same stereotypes that describe the urban youth in London also obtains for similar youth in New York.

In all, I will say America draws disaffected people, or do I say disadvantaged people from across Africa that are increasingly coming to seek the American dream. The level of poverty in many African countries makes the poverty they likely see in American cities something not of major concern, but an opportunity to rise up from since they might have seen worse and the debilitating type. The idea of having the advantage of coming from another country works wonders in realistic objectivity as to what matters in getting up. I think that is something most immigrants would have irrespective of race.

As the world opens up and we discover one another, and there is more infusion of perspectives across borders, we would have more trust and more friendships. More importantly for me, I believe the values that people share eventually serve as a bond for friendships and relationships. This is always key.

 

Right on. I think that all the different strains of the Diaspora have a lot to learn from each other.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

 

My initial post was trying to illustrate to Dark Knight that some of the general negative perceptions used against blacks in America by newer immigrant groups like the West Indies, are used against the West Indies by newer immigrant groups in England.

 

So is your point to ignore it and not get upset when you know that your segment of the population doesn't represent that. The funny thing is I'm sure if AA weren't the oppressed group in this country I'm sure they wouldn't have a problem doing that to newly incoming immigrants. Its the shitty stuff people do to each other.

 

My point is that human beings have a inherent need to feel superior towards others. I illustrated to you that the negative statement you made about blacks in the US is used about the blacks of West Indian origin in England.

 

Your ass is Black Paniro!!:smt019
Get in line!!!:smt109

 

LOL. they dont hang you because you call yourself brown they hang you because they call you black

 

Now that's real. Cosign.

 

The rest of the country. If it suits you to call yourself brown do so. Just hope the cops think the same way lol

 

The only thing I've ever been called by a cop is "nigger" or "black ass". And all the multiple ancestries, languages and countries of origin couldn't save me from that fate. Unless I was with one of my former bosses, then it was "Sir", lol.