Hua Hsu in “The End of White America?” in the Atlantic Monthly for February 2009 argues, like John McWhorter, that America is becoming postracial. Race will matter less and less; whiteness will come to an end.
In the 1950s the mainstream culture was solidly white. Those who were not white wanted to be as white as possible: to fit it, to not be so threatening to others, to get along by going along. That model worked because most Americans were white.
But the U.S. Census Bureau says that by 2042 most Americans will no longer be white. That is already true in Hawaii, New York and California. It will be true for those under 18 by 2023. So Americans who are being born now will grow up in a very different America from the one of the 1950s.
By the 2050s white will no longer be right: the numbers just will not be there.
Hsu notes that this shift has already started in the culture. His main example is hip hop. Instead of being watered down and whitened like black music in the past, it has remained unmistakably black and yet has taken over the music industry. Sean Combs, like Barack Obama, can be black and yet be accepted by Americans of all colours and reach the top of his field.
Hsu also notes that white Americans do not have a strong culture: what is it, like NASCAR and Led Zeppelin? How can anyone’s sense of who they are be based on that – let alone the country as whole?
That is his argument as I understand it.
Here is what is wrong with it:
The same sort of arguments were made in the 1920s. There was even a book written about it: “The Passing of the Great Race” (1916) by Madison Grant. But who was threatening the great race? Blacks, yes, Asians, yes, but also Italians and Jews! The law was changed to keep them from pouring into the country in huge numbers – to “protect” “America” and the position of the “white” race.
But now everyone thinks of Italians and Jews as white. It will be the same with white-skinned Hispanics and so the white race will carry on as before, still comfortably on top by the 2050s.
Further, this idea of white Americans not having much of a culture or a weak culture is completely wrong. They have one of the strongest cultures in history – easily on a level with the Romans, the Persians and the Chinese. Any archaeologist 3000 years from now will be able to tell you that. Just because white Americans listen to hip hop and eat tacos does not mean they do not have their own culture. The Romans followed Greek philosophy, the Turks read Persian poets. Does that mean there was not much of a Roman or Turkish culture? Of course not.
The reason white American culture seems so weak is because when you are in it you take it for granted, it becomes hard to see – like water to a fish.
See also:
- “The End of White America?” by Hua Hsu
- Is racism in America over?
- White American culture
- gangsta rap – which I argue is hip hop made for white people
- blackface and minstrel shows – white Americans have been entertained by blackness since at least the early 1800s.
- Mulatto Nation
Sat 10 Jan 2009 at 22:20:22
The so-called end of whiteness that some authors are spouting about is way overblown. What I look forward to is not the end of white America but the end of white supremacy where no social value or privilege is placed on what skin color you have. You can be any color but we’re all Americans first.
Sun 11 Jan 2009 at 11:17:00
Exactly.
Sun 11 Jan 2009 at 17:30:39
You can be any color but we’re all Americans first.
1) This could work… if anyone other than whites felt that way.
2) A country without a dominant culture is inherently unstable. And culture is tied to race, like it or not. Individual assimilation is always possible and always happening, of course, but mass assimilation is almost a contradiction in terms.
Sun 11 Jan 2009 at 17:51:11
It will be the same with white-skinned Hispanics and so the white race will carry on as before…
Theoretically possible, but problematic in practice.
For one, most of Hispanic immigrants and settlers come from Mexico, and thus are not white, but mostly Mestizo. Mass immigration from, say, majority-white Argentina might not be as big a problem (although any mass immigration is currently undesirable — numbers are of the essence).
Second, Hispanics of all racial backgrounds share cultural (and political) affinity. As the white Americans’ numbers and influence shrink, and those of Hispanics correspondingly increase, white Hispanics’ identification with the host culture becomes increasingly inlikely.
Mon 12 Jan 2009 at 05:50:52
Not all Hispanics are white. I know that. That is why I said “white-skinned Hispanics”.
It remains to be seen how Hispanics will play out in America, but I am thinking that for most of those who grow up in America and can pass for white, especially those who grow up in white suburbia, their sense of being “white” and “American” will be stronger than their sense of being “Hispanic”, which will be largely a matter of lip service.
Watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946), the Jimmy Stewart film, and look at how the Italians are regarded. No one thinks of Italians that way any more – but it is how many Americans now think of Hispanics.
There are parts of the country where most whites come from a particular country, like Norway, Ireland or Italy, yet the whites there do not think of themselves as Norwegian or whatever first and American second.
America has an amazing power to turn people from all over the world into just a handful of races. As bad as racism is, perhaps it has saved the country from a far worse balkanization by nation instead of colour.
Mon 12 Jan 2009 at 06:03:37
nonserviam, you said:
You can be any color but we’re all Americans first.
1) This could work… if anyone other than whites felt that way.
The main reason America is still divided into races is because white-skinned Americans think of those who are not pure white as being black or Asian or whatever first and American second (if at all). Race is more important than country.
If you doubt me then ask any Asian American how many times he has been asked what country he is “really” from.
Also ask yourself why people made such a big deal of Obama not wearing a flag pin.
Mon 12 Jan 2009 at 06:24:46
nonserviam, tou said:
2) A country without a dominant culture is inherently unstable. And culture is tied to race, like it or not. Individual assimilation is always possible and always happening, of course, but mass assimilation is almost a contradiction in terms.
Why do say culture is tied to race. How do you know?
Mon 12 Jan 2009 at 06:40:31
Aba said: It remains to be seen how Hispanics will play out in America, but I am thinking that for most of those who grow up in America and can pass for white, especially those who grow up in white suburbia, their sense of being “white” and “American” will be stronger than their sense of being “Hispanic”, which will be largely a matter of lip service.
****************
I agree with this. In Nov 2008, I heard a story that occured in the Staten Island suburbs in which 7 “white” boys attacked a Mexican boy(who was really Ecuadorian). They said they wanted to “Get a Mexican” but the most interesting thing about this story was that one of the lead attackers was half-Puerto Rican.
So much for Latin solidarity!
Over time, white-looking Hispanics will assimilate, if they haven’t already and reenact the same racist attitudes of the dominate majority.
Mon 12 Jan 2009 at 18:13:48
abagond – In response to comment 6 -
Its just not white people who think this way. I have people ask me what I am or where I am from. Latin people, black people, asian people…rarely white people.
My dark curly hair coupled with high check bones and a nose from my great grandmother who was taos indian, combined with very fair white skin and green / brown eyes has people guessing italian, greek, hispanic, irish. Never what i am, but everything else.
I just tell them I am an all american girl…but that never satisifies…they want to know what country before america my ancestors come from.
It is not just whtie culture that wishes to classify a person they meet…its human nature. I notice that small children classify based on gender first – boys and girls. Then they might note a persons physical difference but it doesnt divide them…its just smething they observe.
A person would notice a blue flower in a see of orange ones. Noticing race isnt the problem. Its deciding, based on the smell of one blue flower – that all blue flowers smell the same.
Mon 12 Jan 2009 at 21:00:07
Davida’s flower imagery is beautiful and truthful. truth is regardless of our exterior we we may have many things and many continents that we descend from but it is simple accident of birth that most of us end up looking one way over another.
Looks are of course not a base on which we can judge character.
for instance me, i am a happy black woman. if you ask me that is what i will tell you, i could tell you the various racial backgrounds of my great grandparents but it does not matter because, i know that i am just myself and if black is they label then i am happy with it.
Mon 12 Jan 2009 at 21:24:45
okay – i gotta admit the blue flowers and orange flower description was used because I am gettin blue and orange flowers tattoo’d on my hip on febraury 6th – I cant wait…but I am glad you liked my description. It will be blue spring ventians (flowers that grow in the perinese mountains) because I am happiest in the mountains, and orange california poppies because I am a california girl. I am soooooo excited…I know way of topic…sorry.
Mon 12 Jan 2009 at 21:28:01
make that spring gentians
Thu 15 Jan 2009 at 23:35:39
*If you doubt me then ask any Asian American how many times he has been asked what country he is “really” from.
This hypothetical question posed to your hypothetical American of Asian extraction may be rude, but it isn’t necessarily racist (racism being morally wrong speech or actions directed towards a person or a group thereof on the sole account of their race). Like Davida points out, being interested in each other’s backrounds is simply a part of human nature. It maybe impolite to notice someone’s race as it is impolite to stare at a woman’s cleavage, but it’s no more “racist” than that.
*Also ask yourself why people made such a big deal of Obama not wearing a flag pin.
Because he clearly intended it as a political statement (but, being steeped in the far-left milieu for so long, failed to realize some Americans may have a problem with that).
Thu 15 Jan 2009 at 23:41:41
America has an amazing power to turn people from all over the world into just a handful of races. As bad as racism is, perhaps it has saved the country from a far worse balkanization by nation instead of colour.
Or perhaps not so much racism, as the material reality of race.
I am an enemy of tribalism, and would like the “in-group” to be as inclusive as reasonably possible. But the reality is such that some groups (as opposed to individual members thereof) simply aren’t assimilable, at least at their current stage of cultural evolution.
Thu 15 Jan 2009 at 23:47:41
Why do say culture is tied to race. How do you know?
How do you know that it isn’t? Notice, I didn’t write “identical to”, or even “reducible to”. We are not disembodied spirits, but material, biological beings. Race is a part of who we are. Culture is a way of external manifestation of who we are.
Fri 16 Jan 2009 at 05:32:43
So who is not “assimilable, at least at their current stage of cultural evolution” into, say, white American culture?
Fri 16 Jan 2009 at 05:41:30
Davida and nonserviam: It is not racist to want to know where someone or his family is from, what his background is. But my point about Asian Americans is that they are seen as foreigners even when they have lived their whole lives in America, when it is the only country they have ever known. To then ask where they are “really” from, that is extremely insulting.
Asian Americans are seen as Asians first, Americans second, third or fourth. And that is racist, profoundly racist.
Black and Asian Americans are just as all-American as white Americans are, but on television they are rarely shown that way, except maybe (briefly) at the Olympics.
One of the great things about Obama is that you cannot get much more all-American than being president and yet he is black!
Fri 16 Jan 2009 at 17:51:56
I actually believe first or second generations are more american then other generations (regardless of where they come from). Because they are closest to the original american vision. I find most third or fourth generation americans to be spoiled with a certain sense of entitledness (not sure if thats the right word). I love talking to first generation and second generation americans…about why they came to america, what does it represent to them or their parents. its the immigrants that make america strong and represent the real american dream.
Some asian families have been here longer than the white person asking them so I can see how that could be insulting. The idea that america is a white country that has other races in it is an incredibly narrow minded view. Even in 1492 – when columbus sailed the ocean blue – america was a mix of races.
Fri 16 Jan 2009 at 18:28:44
So who is not “assimilable, at least at their current stage of cultural evolution” into, say, white American culture?
Let me put it this way: despite all that horrible white racism, Americans of East Asian descent seem to be doing just fine in the white-created society. In fact, a lot of them are doing better than most whites, without the benefits of preferential treatment. Some other non-white groups, despite having those benefits, not so much.
You see, the civilizational framework created by whites rewards certain things (industriousness, respect for learning) and punishes certain other ones (anti-intellectualism, antisocial behavior). The rest is statistics.
Fri 16 Jan 2009 at 18:47:46
The idea that america is a white country that has other races in it is an incredibly narrow minded view.
Davida, that’s what America has been for most of its history. When it ceases to be so, it will cease to be America — it will become another country. A much worse one.
Of course, whites becoming a minority in the general popuation doesn’t necessarily mean the elites would change their composition, at least not immeadiately. In fact, I believe that our treasonous white rulers engineer that race-replacement with an envious eye towards Mexico and other Latin American countries. Where whites, despite being a minority, still (surprise) comprise most of the elites.
That vision is not unlike the trans-American slavery empire the South dreamt of just before the secession. But is that the future you would want for your country?
Fri 16 Jan 2009 at 18:51:32
I will point out that I am one of those four gen + people…although I find the basic additude of that group of people intolerable. they stop working to make america better and just point out the faults.
If my husband spent all his time on my faults he would soon leave me. Its was immigrats that recognized the good things and worked to improve the bad that created the american dream.
Half of my family dates back to the Beevis (which sailed the next year after the mayflower), and they married natives (Taos Indians). The other half came after WWII from germany.
Fri 16 Jan 2009 at 19:05:41
I actually think of the original ruling culture as not a white culture…but a judao – christian culture. It came from a christian culture of predominately white people, but the skin color wasnt the driving force. Their religion was. What has made america so succesful and open and inclusive to immigrants was its christian basis. It was true christians who said slavery was wrong and fought to build the underground railroads. It was true christians who were sent to concentration camps in germany for helping jews and gypsies escape. It was this judao christian culture that started hospitals for alland schools for all – not just the rich. There were white christian pastors supporting Martin Luther King. Not cultral christians…but people who have a loving and deep relationship with god. As a country we have lost god…and that will be our ultimate distruction…not race replacement – but god replacement.
My concern for america actually lies in the athestic path we are on. Judao-christian culture, without god loses its purpose and meaning and tries to find that meaning in godless things. And that is where the the corruption comes in. That is the danger we face to day. It has nothing to do with races mingling or the color of our presidents skin, but in the godless society we are becoming. some of the most dangerous people today are those who do things in a cultural religions name but have lost God.
some of the unhappiest people i know are culturally jewish people who are no longer religious. Their whole upbringing and purpose for persuing knowledge is to bring them closer to God. Once they lose their god they lose the purpose…they are still driven and succesful yet ultimately unfullfilled.
Sat 17 Jan 2009 at 05:50:13
nonserviam said about America being a “white country that has other races in it”:
that’s what America has been for most of its history. When it ceases to be so, it will cease to be America — it will become another country. A much worse one.
I have to disagree with this 1000%.
First, if you look at the food, the music and the people, America is more an Afro-European country than a European one. Go to Europe and come back and you will see it – or at least be in a good position to see it. It is a sort of Brazilian England, if you know what I mean. White Americans do not want to see it that way because they still have this white-is-good-black-is-bad mindset, they are still into the whole white purity thing.
Second, America is not based on race, even though much of its history has turned on race (Abe Lincoln, Martin Luther King). It is not based on language, a way of life or even religion, even though those too have played a big part in its history. America is based on a certain understanding of law and freedom. So long as it maintains that, it does not matter if everyone is Mexican, black or Chinese, Protestant, Jewish or Hindu.
You do not have to be white or Anglo-Saxon to have that understanding of law and freedom. The genius of Martin Luther King is that he used that understanding to help make this country live up to its promise, to bring it closer to its true self.
Sat 17 Jan 2009 at 06:25:44
nonserviam said:
Americans of East Asian descent seem to be doing just fine in the white-created society. In fact, a lot of them are doing better than most whites, without the benefits of preferential treatment.
This is something white people like to believe, it is one of their stereotypes: Asians as the model minority. It is not as true as you think. More Asians live in poverty, for example, than whites.
I wrote about it here:
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/the-model-minority-stereotype/
Sat 17 Jan 2009 at 07:50:55
This is something white people like to believe, it is one of their stereotypes: Asians as the model minority. It is not as true as you think. More Asians live in poverty, for example, than whites.
***************
That’s true. Most Asians especially South East Asians ARE poor/working class. I live in NYC and I see it everyday.
Yes, there are some professionals but it’s a PURE FALLACY to assume every Asian is living the Dream.
Sat 17 Jan 2009 at 16:57:24
Living what dream – the american dream isnt about be rich or a profesional.
I acutally asked my friend julie about this last night. She owns the nail salon that I get my nails done at. She was born in vietnam. She told me that americans who have always lived here are used to the priveledges that america affords all their people…and they dont realize how lucky we are. She and the other women told me that their lives in america (as minimum wage earning nail techs) was much better than their lives in vietnam. they were all proud of their citizenship and talked about how they worked to become americans. It was nice to hear someone actually say good things about the USA for a change. She says that those of us who have always lived here are spoiled and have no idea how lucky we are
Professional sucess isnt the american dream.
I find it odd how people equate money to happiness. A big diamond engagement ring does not a good marriage make. Sometimes its the ring from the cracker jack box that is the begining of a beautiful marriage. A big house does not mean a happy family. sometimes its the small apartment filled with lots of family, love and laughter. In fact I bet the number for “successful” execs with lots of money and cars seeing a shrink and on anti depressant meds is higher than people deemed living unsuccesful lives. The number of failed marriages for “successful” people is probably higher than those with average life. Orson Wilde once said, “Ambition is the last refuge of failure” and I have to agree. I would say its the refuge of a failed personal life.
Sat 17 Jan 2009 at 18:45:01
If a new version of Ambrose Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary were to come out, I would propose this addition:
Stereotype, n. An undeniable but inconvenient fact concerning a protected group.
Sat 17 Jan 2009 at 18:57:58
it’s a PURE FALLACY to assume every Asian is living the Dream.
As it is to assume that “a lot” means “every single one”, or that you have to be white or Anglo-Saxon to adopt the American understanding of law and freedom.
I understand that statistical thinking is counter-intuitive — indeed, contrary to human nature — but it’s the only way to the truth about human differences.
Sat 17 Jan 2009 at 19:03:47
And obviously, NE and SE Asians are ethnically and culturally distinct groupings.
Sat 17 Jan 2009 at 21:21:54
nonserviam said: If a new version of Ambrose Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary were to come out, I would propose this addition:
Stereotype, n. An undeniable but inconvenient fact concerning a protected group.
I got a better definition
Stereotype, n. A way that intellectually lazy people view the world, that often falls in line with their own prejudices and often used to justify receiving unjust benefits and rights or to deprive others of benefits and rights that are just.
And if you are going to try to define stuff, you should learn the difference between what is “fact” and what is opinion.
Sun 18 Jan 2009 at 20:47:33
I’m all about making meaningful distinctions. How ’bout this: what in your opinion are “just benefits and rights”, may in fact be unmerited entitlements.
Sun 18 Jan 2009 at 20:52:19
Orson Wilde once said, “Ambition is the last refuge of failure” and I have to agree.
Are you sure it wasn’t Oscar Welles?
Sun 18 Jan 2009 at 23:32:20
you may be right. I actually heard the quote at the end of a CSI tv show (i know I know). I did some googling and the reference said orson wilde…but I am only as good as my references.
the quote resonated with me. As an executive assistant I have supported execs with 3 or 4 marriages under their belt. and it just seemed the more they tried to be “succesful” the more unhappy they were. And here I sit – with an average life…not extravegent – but yet it is full and wonderful. I started thinking about how americans definition of succes seemed to be horribly off the mark. if you look at alot of what american deems succesful – they are all faulures when it comes to marriages, family, friends, parenting – all the things that actually matter. and that quote seemed to sum it all up for me.
Mon 19 Jan 2009 at 00:23:55
It’s a joke, Davida. Wilde was Oscar (and that quote does sound very much like him), the most famous Orson was Welles.
Mon 19 Jan 2009 at 04:12:03
ahhh gotcha – i got them mixed up. lol i know who orson welles is.
Mon 19 Jan 2009 at 05:09:59
It was Oscar Wilde who said that.
Mon 19 Jan 2009 at 05:17:06
In general, Koreans seem to do well in American society. So do the Japanese, but for a long time that was not true (just like with the Irish). Cambodians, Vietnamese and some Chinese seem to do less well.
Mon 19 Jan 2009 at 05:24:43
To Davida’s point about her Vietnamese hairdresser in comment #26:
The West Indians who come to America are glad to be here. Back home they would have lived in poverty, but here if they study hard and work hard they can live a comfortable middle-class life. Even if they come here with nothing. They know that America is a land of opportunity because they have lived it.
And yet at the very same time they know full well that America is a racist country because they have experienced that too.
America is not all good or all bad. It has its virtues and its evils.
Mon 19 Jan 2009 at 22:04:49
i agree – one can be proud of the virtues, but not be blind to the evils. Or the evils will overcome its virtues.
Tue 20 Jan 2009 at 02:15:23
It is hypocrisy to claim to be post-racial and, at the same time, be obsessed in seeing America as “White America,” “Black America,” etc. Truly “post-racial” (I prefer to call it “non-racial”) individuals accept everyone as individuals and don’t engage in this divisive garbage.
Wed 21 Jan 2009 at 01:41:56
Funny people keep mentioning immigrants coming over here, I wonder how housing/business loan discrimination affects them compared to some Americans who are already here. Instead of indirectly inferring that some are just inferior and thats why they cant succeed, stop assuming that and ask someone who lives it
Wed 21 Jan 2009 at 04:07:36
John:
“Post-racial” is a term of deception, just like its older sibling “multicultural”. Its real meaning is “post-white”: only whites are meant to “transcend race”, i.e. welcome their own cultural (and eventually biological) extinction; all the other groups are encouraged to pursue their interests at the whites’ expense.
Wed 21 Jan 2009 at 16:14:25
Nonserviam, it never ceases to amaze me how so many individuals claim to be champions against racism but are the biggest racists themselves. I am white and I treat people of all ethnic backgrounds with respect. I have friends from diverse backgrounds and dated mostly women of color. It is disgusting to hear these sick racists claim to be post-racial at the same time they rejoice in their desire for white people to disappear. What difference is there between these racists and the Nazis?
Thu 5 Feb 2009 at 20:55:16
John I do share your feelings. Most American enjoy being racist. Case in point Abagond in line # 17 Says:
“One of the great things about Obama is that you cannot get much more all-American than being president and yet he is black!”
Why is Obama Black and not muticultural? With a White mother and being reared by Mid-western White grandparents Obama surely IS NOT culturely Black. And isn’t he just as White as he is Black?
And also note when Abagond is giving us the truth of America “America is based on a certain understanding of law and freedom. So long as it maintains that, it does not matter if everyone is Mexican, black or Chinese, Protestant, Jewish or Hindu.” she used a small “b” in the word black, did she miss the shift key? No, it is the deep racist thought process working on automatic. When in a small letter to describe a race of people. NEVER. That’s is just RACIST.
Thu 5 Feb 2009 at 22:33:38
My “deep racist thought process” when I do not know how to spell a word is to look it up in the dictionary. Since I use the Oxford English Dictionary, it is “black”, not “Black”.
And, yes, I do think Barack Obama is black:
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/12/17/is-obama-black/
You can be sure that if he robbed a 7-Eleven at gunpoint instead of win the White House, no one would care one bit about his white mother or his white Midwestern upbringing. He would be as black as they come.
Thu 5 Feb 2009 at 23:57:22
@Dr. Hargrove said:Obama surely is not culturely Black.
*********************
Let’s see…he actively went to the Southside of Chicago when he did not have too. He actively joined Reverend Wright’s church when he did not have too. He actively MARRIED a BLACK woman to have his kids with.
Have you even READ Obama’s book DREAMS OF MY FATHER? He clearly associates himself with African-American culture.
Obama can be BOTH BLACK AND MULTICULTURAL.
THEY ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.
Fri 6 Feb 2009 at 06:45:41
Now we really see how racist you are. In Oxford English Dictionary black is an adjective you like black car, black sheep not a race of Black American. You are a liar if you say you looked up the word black before you wrote it in this blog. But carry on call his anything you want just make sure you call him Mr. President.
And Kat:
Yes President has associated himself as Black or African-American much to his credit. But all half White-Black folk do the same. Normal everyday Black DO NOT have that option. And there are many everyday Black folk who grew up and live in White America who are not culturely Black. I know this to be a fact of life because I taught them at a major Black university for 15 years. Coming to the university was their first Black experience and why lots of their parents sent them there.
Fri 6 Feb 2009 at 10:00:12
Dr Frank Hargrove:
Here is definition two of “black” as an adjective according to the Eleventh Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary:
2. relating to or denoting a human group having dark-coloured skin especially of African or Australian Aboriginal ancestry.
I have looked it up long before now. I wrote a post on it over a year ago on October 30th 2007:
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/black/
Using the Oxford dictionary in such cases is my general policy:
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2006/07/22/how-to-spell-hezbollah/
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/10/06/burma-or-myanmar/
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/05/15/style-guide-names/
Fri 6 Feb 2009 at 10:16:54
Abagond:
No matter how wrong you are YOU must be right. No English teacher in 2009 would allow you to write in a paper “black” with a small “b” no even in the deep south where Blacks are still made to feel like smal “b”. But must be right, right? Why? White is right, isn’t it? You should just start from this day to pus the shift key when writing the word Black to denote a people. I will not hurt you and it will make Black folk who read what you write feel better about you, me included. Yes how you make other feel should be important to you.
Fri 6 Feb 2009 at 10:18:57
Dr Frank Hargrove, you said:
And there are many everyday Black folk who grew up and live in White America who are not culturely Black.
There is a Black American culture, but that is not what makes someone black in America. It is having noticeably African features in a white racist country:
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/the-wigger-fallacy/
Fri 6 Feb 2009 at 13:01:34
Dr Frank Hargrove:
My answer to #49 became a whole post:
http://abagond.wordpress.com/2009/02/06/why-i-use-black-instead-of-black/
Sat 14 Feb 2009 at 20:53:22
Is this “Dr. Frank Hargrove” the same as “Kyoshi Frank Hargrove?” If so, he does not hold a PhD. In fact, you should read his wife’s blog, “Sparring with Frank Hargrove.” He’s a loser who does not care for his children, and ripped off his karate students. Enough said!