African American?

[DallasApple]

Many white people have asked me whether I liked to be called "black" or "African American". I usually respond that I prefer to be called by my first name. Being a black man, I find the idea of being called an African-American silly. There are white people, such as Teresa Heinz Kerry, who are African-American because she was born in South Africa, but is now an American citizen. So, the idea of referring to black people as African Americans makes no sense to me. I also don't like to be called "black". For one thing, I am brown, not black. I personally don't know of anyone that is so dark that they would be considered black. All the black/white race thing does is cause division in our society. If you were born in this country, you're an American, plain and simple.

LOL!!...I dont "dislike" or "resent" being called white..But at the same time it is silly...Because Im not litteraly "white" Im more "pink" with brown spots (freckles)..

I think its more about culture though rather than "color"...

I have a black friend I actually met on a forum..I consider her a mentor..And we kid around and she calls me her white piece of bread sista...and I call her my beautiful chocolate sista!

Love

Dallas

 

[lilithu]

Make that his own, sorry about that. I got caught in the middle of a messianic thought and the spirit of prophecy.

You didn't answer my question: what exactly do you mean by saying that Dr. King was killed by his own?

 

[Katzpur]

I don't think it's just Blacks who are labeled that way. My husband is Hispanic. His father was born in Mexico and his mother in New Mexico. His mother never thought of herself as American. It just drove me nuts. She and I always had a good relationship, but I think she would have been pleased if her American-born son had married a "Mexican" girl instead of an "American" girl. We also have several friends of Greek descent. They were born and raised in the U.S. but consider themself Greek first and American second. It's party the fault of Caucasian Americans, but it's partly the fault of the non-Caucasian groups themselves. Americans whose ancestors came from Western Europe don't seem to have this hang-up. At least after their families have been in the U.S. for several generations, they think of themselves as Americans, not as German-Americans or Danish-Americans, and so does everyone else.

 

[lilithu]

I also don't like to be called "black". For one thing, I am brown, not black. I personally don't know of anyone that is so dark that they would be considered black.

As a Chinese American, I used to examine my skin as a kid trying to understand why we're called yellow. Now, I would say that East Asians do have a yellower tint to our skin. But if we are "yellow" then (northern) European Americans are "pink", not white.

Actually, I have met a few people who are so dark that I would call them black, not brown. So black that the skin had a bluish tint to it. But they weren't African American. They were from Southern India. Upon meeting them, I finally understood why Krishna is depicted as blue and is described as black. But I digress.

All the black/white race thing does is cause division in our society. If you were born in this country, you're an American, plain and simple.

Not to mention the fact that there are more than just blacks and whites in this country and yet people keep speaking in terms of black and white. :sarcastic

I *am* an American. That is my nationality. But I am also of Asian descent, and as such my experiences are not the same as that of someone of European or African or Latin American or Middle Eastern or Native, etc descent. Given that it is still the case that when we hear the word "American" we think white, northern European descent and culture, etc, the term "American" by itself does not fully reflect my identity. From my perspective, diversity is a wonderful thing, to be celebrated. And at any rate, it exists whether people want to recognize it or not, so they might as well learn to like it. From my experience, the divisiveness that is racking this country does not come from the recognition of differences. The division comes from the people who react with hostility when differences are brought up.

 

[Katzpur]

As a Chinese American, I used to examine my skin as a kid trying to understand why we're called yellow. Now, I would say that East Asians do have a yellower tint to our skin. But if we are "yellow" then (northern) European Americans are "pink", not white.

I used to tease my husband and tell him he was pink, when he is actually light brown. I grew up (in the 1950's, mind you) being taught in school that there were four races: White, Black, Yellow, and Red. :cover: Since Hispanics are actually a combination of Caucasian (white) and American Indian (red), I figured "pink" was a good description for him.

 

[kai]

here we dont have the african british aproach we have the title Afrocaribean to the distaste of my Afican friends who by the way consider themselves "Kenyan)"who seem to dislike the Afro caribeans claim on somehow owning Africa as if its one country.

 

[lilithu]

here we dont have the african british aproach we have the title Afrocaribean to the distaste of my Afican friends who by the way consider themselves "Kenyan)"who seem to dislike the Afro caribeans claim on somehow owning Africa as if its one country.

It's common for new immigrants to think of themselves in terms of their ethnic group. The Asian American community used to not think of ourselves as Asian American. We were Chinese American, Japanese American, Korean American, Vietnamese American, etc. And in truth there was often as much rivalry and suspicion between these different ethnic groups as there was of non-Asians. (I know the same is true for Latino Americans, who actually identify more as their respective nationalities of origin.) But after Vincent Chin was murdered by a Euro-American unemployed auto worker who couldn't tell (or didn't care to tell) the difference between Chinese and Japanese, that's when Asian Americans started to realize that we are seen as the same by others even if we didn't feel it ourselves. After the murderers got no jail time for beating Vincent to death with baseball bats, that's when Asian Americans realized that we had common concerns in this country and were stronger if we united.

With regards to the OP: People ask me why I insist on the hyphen - why I can't be just American. Honestly, when I was a kid I wanted nothing more than to be just American. It was people like the murderers of Vincent and the judge who let them off that created the concept of "Asian Americans." It was forced upon us. We just decided to be proud of it instead of ashamed.

Your Kenyan friends should understand that the term "Afro-Caribbean" is not an attempt to claim all of Africa as one country. It's because blacks who are descendants of slavery often don't know where their ancestors come from. They can't identify a specific country the way that descendants of voluntary immigrants usually can. Often, all they can identify is Africa. (Tho people can sometimes make some educated guesses.) Honestly, this should be obvious to everyone.

 

[kai]

well i sometimes question the motives of deciding to be "African" its sometimes used as an anti whiteman thing.

i had a friend who was a British passport cayring Afrocarribben activist who considered that africa was indeed one country, the Kenyan took umbridge to this ,mainly because he disliked Massai who consider all cattle to belong to Massai and i mean ALL cattle no matter who owns them. and after many long debates deep into the night led to two revelations to the said activist.
that hordes of whitemen did not run around capturing black people en mass but Africans willingly exchanged vast numbers of young men and women of the most productive and reproductive ages?

the second was that his recent conversion to Islam led him to beleive that muslims had nothing to do with slavery at all.

as a footnote we are all still friends the Kenyan is back in Kenya, and the Activist runs a chip shop in Brixton and not quite so active or Muslim