African American (1988) is a term for blacks in America, those native-born Americans who look at least part African. Although “black” is still the common word, “African American” has become the politically correct term, the one it is always safe to use in mixed company.
Not everyone who is black in America is an African American. The word does not apply well to foreigners, especially those from the West Indies or even Africa itself, strangely enough.
Maybe I travel in the wrong circles, but of the people I know, most who use the term are white Americans with university educations. They seem more comfortable with it than the word “black”. It fits in with their colour-blind racism, which looks at American society as if skin colour no longer matters – all the while looking down on dark-skinned people!
I know there are blacks who use the word, like Barack Obama. And I know the word is a way to show pride in Africa. But because I mainly hear it in the mouths of well-to-do whites, for me it has come to mean something like “those poor people who cannot help being screwed up because they were born black”. And it is said in a way as if the word was too good for them, like a poor man in a Brooks Brothers suit. It has become a white euphemism for black.
So it is not a word I use.
Although it has been in use for 20 years it is not about to take the place of “black”.
For example, Mildred Loving died last month, so there have been plenty of stories about her in the news. If you search the Internet for “Mildred Loving” and “black woman” you get 20,400 pages. But if you search for her name with “African American woman” you get only 871 pages. That is less than 5%. The word “black” is 20 times more common. (“Negro woman” gives you 65 pages and “colored woman”, 10).
Even the ever-so-politically-correct New York Times called her a black woman. The Economist found a way to avoid calling her either.
The idea behind the word is that just as those whose families came to America from Italy are called Italian Americans, so those whose families came from Africa are called African Americans. So far, so good. But there is a difference because of the One Drop Rule: someone who is only one-eighth Italian would not be called Italian American unless his family name was Italian. But most people who are one-eighth African or more are called African American – even if they are mostly European by blood!
That is because African American is not an honest word. Blacks in American society still function as a race, like it or not, but this word tries to hide that fact.
But what if everyone used the word? Would that help to make them colour-blind? Not likely: after 20 years all it has done is help to make people into colour-blind racists.
See also:
- African American as a termfrom the point of view of:
- an African: stuff white people do: fail to distinguish african immigration from slavery descent
- a white American: What do I call “them”
- a black Canadian: Gloria Reuben
- other words forAfrican Americans:
- African
- Negro
- The N-word
- coloured
- coon
- black
- Black (capitalized)
- Afro-American
- colour-blind racism
- Race in America
- One Drop Rule
- style guide: names
- political correctness
I know. This term was coined by Jesse Jackson in 1988 in describing himself and his family members. Black leaders and white academians follow suit afterwards. I do think the term is PC because I don’t describe myself as one. I’m Black with some Indian and White.
S.B.
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LOL: “coined by Jesse Jackson in 1988 in describing himself and his family member.”
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One thing i think the term does, is diminish the diversity of black people’s cultral heritage. It seems to be a catch all. You do not hear about Nigerian- Americans or lucian -Americans,Jamaican-Americans, south African-Americans, Haitian-americans. It’s like we all have to be hegemongised to be accepted. People who are “African-American” have their own unique cultures to cherish and should not have to share their identity with other people. my uncle married a woman (A-A) from lousiana and she had a unique way of doing things, compared to her (a-a) neighbours in florida. my family from the caribbean have their own unique way of doing things also.
that is the end of my rant!
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I don’t use the term myself. Was Roberto Clemente African-American? Is Pele? They’re from The Americas. Is Barack Obama or Shemar Moore an African-American?
Is Freddy Adu? I like Black (sounds better juxtaposed w/ “white”).
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I like that about the word black: black and white are like the two main opposite sides of America.
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Louise: Good point. Even apart from the whole race thing it is still not a good word.
Blanc2 on another page pointed out that white South Africans who move to America are, strictly speaking, African Americans too.
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abagond Says:
“LOL: ‘coined by Jesse Jackson in 1988 in describing himself and his family member.’”
I have frequently seen the coining of the term attributed to Jesse Jackson. I am certain he did not originate the term, but according to what I read, he did endorse and/or popularize it.
The term “Afro-American” predates “African-American.” The meaning is virtually identical. “Afro” is an abbreviation of “African.”
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Abagond:
“But because I mainly hear it in the mouths of well-to-do whites, for me it has come to mean something like ‘those poor people who cannot help being screwed up because they were born black’. And it is said in a way as if the word was too good for them, like a poor man in a Brooks Brothers suit. It has become a white euphemism for black.”
This is the first time I have ever heard the notion that the term was predominant among “well-to-do whites.” I live in New York and, 15 to 20 years ago, I almost never heard a white person use the term. It was mostly black people that I heard say it back then, including former mayor of NYC, David Dinkins. As a matter of fact, I rarely heard him say “black.”
Today, I hear or see the term “African American” everywhere and amongst people of all ethnicities. Even many Africans use it to refer to those born in America. It just seemed to have gained mainstream acceptance.
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Here is how I think of it and what I use in this blog (this might be a West Indian way of looking at it):
black – anyone who is black by race, regardless of country.
American – someone from America, regardless of race.
“African American” does not work as a synonym for black, the way many white Americans use it (like on forms): most blacks are not American. And as a word for native-born black Americans it is a strange term because they are certainly no more “African” than, say, West Indians or Nigerians who live in America.
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I read a little about “one drop-rule” on Wikipedia, and think of the percentage of white people in USA must be lower than 70% if you go by that “standard”. Is there anyone that know how many people in the USA thats counted as “Caucasian/White” but who actually hold African American or Black genes aswell??
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abagond Says:
“‘African American’ does not work as a synonym for black, the way many white Americans use it (like on forms): most blacks are not American. And as a word for native-born black Americans it is a strange term because they are certainly no more ‘African’ than, say, West Indians or Nigerians who live in America.”
I said the same thing in another thread. However, your topic was “African American,” which by definition, assumes you are referring to Americans only.
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miker Says:
“I read a little about ‘one drop-rule’ on Wikipedia, and think of the percentage of white people in USA must be lower than 70% if you go by that ‘standard’. Is there anyone that know how many people in the USA thats counted as ‘Caucasian/White’ but who actually hold African American or Black genes as well??”
I totally dismiss the “one drop rule” as an idiotic concept. No human being can claim to be “racially pure” anyway. Even if you applied the “one drop standard,” you cannot be certain. In the southern US, for example, many records pertaining to family trees were destroyed during the American Civil War.
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Is there anyone that know how many people in the USA thats counted as “Caucasian/White” but who actually hold African American or Black genes aswell??
According to recent genetic studies, ~30% of white Americans appear to have black ancestry, ~2.3% on average.
Incidentally, your “70%” is outdated. Whites are currently at 66% in America, and falling.
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Incidentally, your “70%” is outdated. Whites
are currently at 66% in America, and falling
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Actually the 70-75% number merely includes both non-hispanic and hispanics who identify as white.
Non Hispanic whites make up at least 66 % and Hispanic whites make up about 8 %.
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Like you said, not every black people is African-American. As a West Indian myself, I kind of prefer African-American because (to me) it describes a specific group of black people in America.
My issue is that the term of African-American and the word “black” is a catch all word for people who don’t want to differentiate between the different cultures of “black” people.
People like me get lumped into what is “black” or stereotypes of what “black” people are. A West Indian is different from an African who is different from an Black European who is different from an Afro-latino who is different from an Afro-American. Unfortunately, people love to lump, lump, lump other people together for no other reason than we “look alike”.
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Kat said:
“A West Indian is different from an African who is different from an Black European who is different from an Afro-latino who is different from an Afro-American.”
I totally agree with you. In another thread, I said that “black” is based on an archaic scheme and I think it is ridiculous to lump Afro-American, Afro-Caribbean, etc. under a simple “black” label, when they are different cultures.
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A white guy & nonserviam..thanks for the answers.
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Non Hispanic whites make up at least 66 % and Hispanic whites make up about 8 %.
Yes, I was talking about non-Hispanic whites. Thanks for the clarification.
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frican American (1988- ) is a term for blacks in America, those native-born Americans who look at least part African.
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That might be changing…
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=7567291&page=1
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Yeah, I read about that!
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I know this can be frustrating I am Afro Colombian and some afro americans and white people call me african american i am a afro latina i am a black woman when i tell them I am latino then suddenly i’m not black
anyway my friend who is nigerian and british always get call african american despite her thick english accent just like naomi campbell sometimes LOL
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Anyway, i have gone thru coments. It sounds odd to mention colour if we knew how to manage our economy, there would’t be any colour. The black in their orginine and blood their fit to do all they want.We have passed away with the stories of slavery and many blacks all over the world have learnt many things to enable them stand on their own why not trace your origine and go back, form one nation and call yourselves real Africans? I hait when they call me coloured woman. Are the white trasprent? Yes they regard us like poor people and now almost all nigerian have left their country roaming about begging on the streets. What do the transperent colours would think about the blacks when they think that we sleep on the tree while blacks think that money falls from heaven and onye ocha is God. The made judas a black man but was luciffa not the most beautiful angel of trusth to God? If you place white and black who would you pick first? Pls open your eyes.
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Not a big fan of this term.
Sounds like the Caucasians are trying to be too nice.
It’s phoney, in other words.
BLACK I prefer.
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I see nothing wrong with words “black” and “white”. After all, we all know what it’s mean by “African American” and “Caucasian”. Using PC names doesn’t change what’s in someone’s heart.
I don’t like term “Africna American” because there are millions of black people who aren’t African Americans. “Caucasian”, on the other hand… I don’t even understand it: is it just a PC term for “white”, or are there some Caucasian people who aren’t considered white? (Arabs, South Asian people… ?)
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Abagond thanks for opening my eyes to the truth behind the term African American. Its nothing but a ugly trick that whites use to hide their racism. From now on I will use the word black only. Besides when I speak about racism in America I’m speaking up for ALL blacks not just blacks who are born in America so the term African American does not apply.
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There’s one problem with this term that you’ve not brought up yet: IIRC, it was Jesse Jackson who popularized it.
It was always “black” or “Afro-American” until Jesse made his speach on the topic.
It seems that every 20 years a new euphemism for “black” is produced. My favorite is the one Mason loves to use: “people of color” (as opposed to “colored people”?). It presumes – consciously or no – that all human groups had basically the same experience facing white racism and that said experience can essentially be boiled down to a re-run of the black american experience.
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Whoops. I see this was brought up, above. Still, it`s true: Jesse popularized this term aamong whites. I remember it happening, very distinctly. In fact, I remember seeing a lecturer berated by a black woman in 1989 for saying “black” instead of “African American”.
Ward Churchill wrote about this sort of experience, in fact. His ironic comentary was “I study the Black Panthers. should I now call them the ‘African American Panthers’?”
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I believe all people have right to be called the way they want to be called. So, if a black person prefers “African American”, I will refer that person as African American.
Still, the term seems really… fake to me. Not sure why. It’s like you have regular Americans, then African Americans. See what I mean? I am aware it’s not really how Americans see this problem, but for some reason I always thought “African American” is just a PC word to make whites feel better (and non racist), NOT about the actual black people in question.
It seems that every 20 years a new euphemism for “black” is produced. My favorite is the one Mason loves to use: “people of color” (as opposed to “colored people”?).
As far as I understand, “people of colour” are all non-whites, not just blacks?
It’s funny to me because it assumes whites have no colour. But then again, maybe it’s true: whites seem to see themselves as “colorless”.
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I’m not sure about it’s accuracy, but I was reading that the term “colored people” was often intended to be an inclusive term that encompassed both those who were black in phenotype as well as mulattos. However, it was supplanted by the term “black” during the 1960s. This shift in language was part of a larger trend in which physical characteristics became more important in defining who is and is not “black.”
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Well, I use “African American” because I discuss or make music from idioms described as “Afro Cuban”, or ,”Afro Brazilian”, and can use “Afro American ” to describe something culturaly or musicly.
I could use and do use various terms like “black American” as well, and it depends on the discusion, and ,if you are going to discuss things you have to have some term to refer to it.
If Im in a discusion and someone prefers to not be referred to in a certain way, Im more than happy to please them.
But, if someone is just looking to back me in a corner and cant give me the term they want to be refferred to, then, they just have to deal with it.
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People in cultural discusions about music or dance dont really refer to Afro Cuban culture as “black Cuban”, and I have heard the term “Afro Brazilian ” more than “black Brazilian”, including Brazil , “cultura Afro Brasileira” , I hear more than ” cultura Brasileira negra”.
So, I use “Afro” or “African” out of using it in musical or cultural discusions.
Again, if someone prefers not to be referred to something in a discusion, Im more than happy to oblige them if they give me the term they want to be reffered as.
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I understand both sides of the “who is an African” argument, and while I’m proudly a member of the African diaspora and an individual of African descent, I am not an African. I am, however, Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Latino, and I’ll be damned if anyone tries to tell me otherwise.
While I identify as a Black man, personally I eschew the label Black mainly because while it says everything about my skin colour and race, it says next to nothing about my culture, heritage, experiences and lifestyle. I could be Black in Barbados, Canada, the UK, Nigeria or France, and, depending on which country, Black takes on radically different meanings both individually and within the wider society one is a part of. Someone who is Black in the United States may not be Black in the Dominican Republic, and how they see them selves both socially and culturally may be vastly different as a result.
For this reason I choose to embrace terms which reconcile both my African heritage and my identity as a child of the diaspora. Saying one is African American or Afro Caribbean or Afro Latino says alot more about who a person is and where they come from than saying that they’re Black. We’re more than just a colour, we’re groups of people with rich cultures and histories that stretch back hundreds of years. Names mean ALOT.
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You human.
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“For this reason I choose to embrace terms which reconcile both my African heritage and my identity as a child of the diaspora. Saying one is African American or Afro Caribbean or Afro Latino says alot more about who a person is and where they come from than saying that they’re Black. We’re more than just a colour, we’re groups of people with rich cultures and histories that stretch back hundreds of years. Names mean ALOT.”
I think it’s a sign that crude racialism is being overcome when people feel comfortable identifying themselves not so much by their physical appearance but by their cultural background or geographic origins.
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I am a white male who dates bw exclusively. I personally hate the term African American, and I do not use it…ever. My currenty girlfriend is from Cameroon and my last girlfriend was Carribbean. I’m sick of all the PC crap…nobody calls us Caucasions…they call us white (which is perfectly acceptable). I hate how people wanna be so careful they have to change the words they use for the sole purpose of not offending someone. Also, as the author stated, many black people in America ARE NOT African Americans and you can not always tell. It’s like calling all Hispanics “Spanish” (which means you are from Spain). Even when I want to differenciate and use the term African American correctly, I instead use “Black American”.
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african american is a caste for poor dumb uneducated Black Americans. smart educated Black Ameircans are going to have to sperate themselves from the deadly culture of ‘african americans’, which most Black Ameircans are not african in origin. Older blacks never used any kind of “afro’ term and its disrespectful. Futher those undesevring africans are coming to america and assimimalting faster than any other ethnicity becasue they are feeding off Black Americans. Do you know most of these ppls are from remote villages and are functioning iliterates graduating with nursing degrees? oh yeah literacy is a huge problem in africa. I’m surprise the us government hasn’t called them out. all i see in urban areas are african owned hair braiding shops, resturants and medical professionals, wouldn’t it be wonderful if our sista’s owned brainding shops instead of ‘african” women? food for thought.
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myskiesareblue
A Black Africaphobe? Hmmm… I guess if you live long enough, you’ll see everything at least once.
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LOL: “coined by Jesse Jackson in 1988 in describing himself and his family member.”
@ Abagond
I don’t understand why you were laughing. Why were you laughing? What the commenter Stephanie said is correct. Jackson made a huge to-do about the term.
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The term “Africo-American” was commonly used (by black abolitionists and freedom fighters) PRIOR to the end of slavery. Also, Blacks actually chose to refer to themselves as Africans, not as any of these other names we BELIEVE they did. They even incorporated “African” into the names of some of their institutions.
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I agree. When I was born (1951) people who looked like me were called colored. Then we became Negroes (and you had better be careful to put a long “E” in that word). Then in my high school and college years we became black, and that is the term that I still prefer to use because it came into usage in connection with terms like “Black Pride” and “Black History.” I try not to use the term African-American. I do use African-American when I have to for practical reasons, like when it is necessary for search engines, but when that is not a factor I use the term black. There are a lot of reasons I feel that way, which would take too long to cover here. Before any of my brothers and sisters get bent out shape by this, let me state that I’m not offended by the use of the term African-American, nor am I telling others they should not use it. It’s just not the term I choose to use.
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