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Recently I stumble on this video about a wave of African Americans that are rejecting that term and simply say they are Americans. This isn't an attempt of "racial denying" or even denying they consider themselves black, but rather the basis is:
- Most blacks have been in the United States since colonial times just like most whites.
- Blacks also took part (though their recognition is still not enough, IMO) in the Revolutionary War that basically made the USA. Blacks have also been a part of every single war the USA has been in including the Civil War on both sides.
- All blacks have some ancestry from Africa, but they aren't Africans and neither their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc.
Why is it when whites simply say they are Americans there is no issue, but if blacks say they are Americans and not just African-Americans many times an issue arises?
Now, this is a discussion that black Americans should have. I'm not an African-American, so what I think about this is sort of moot. I will say this, I have always seen Africsn Americans simply as Americans because they are. I think as a way to further help the USA move away from race and become a country where race snd color truly doesn't matter, the first step is not just for black Americans to simply say they are Americans with no hyphen, but the rest of American society see them as an integral part of American society and in a way mot some sort of "other." See them simply as Americans too. Barack Obama is a true African Americsn because his mother was American and his father was an actual African, born and raised there. Most black Americans descend from people that have lived their entire lives in the USA. It's ridiculous to see black Americans as so e eoet of foreigners in thrir own land, as if they aren't "real" Americans (not the "right type" of Americans?) when in fact they are just as Americans as most of the whites and, in a way, "more" Americans than actual foreigners in the USA.
What do Americans, particularly black Americans, think about this?
PS. I don't follow the "rule" of always writing a non-white "race" with a capital initial. Quite frankly, to me race and color is secondary, something unimportant about someone and as such, I treat all "racial" lsbels with the same rule. Capital letters if they are the first word in a sentence, otherwise no. To me, people distinguish themselves by their personal qualities.
PS2. I also see this as black Americans still struggling to get recognition as the full fledge Americans that they are. I find it kind of ridiculous that at more than 200 years this is still an issue of a segment of its population that has been in the USA since before it was the USA. When you think about, the black American struggle regarding this is simpky summarized with a group of people that simply wanted to be part of the USA on equal terms and their own country denied them that. I see this as an extension of that, sort of saying "you are not the 'real' Americans" when they have been in Georgia, in South Carolina, in Louisiana, etc since "ever."
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Good for them!
Most Blacks today, even the boomers are far removed from Africa, with over 150 years passing since the last slaves were brought over. My father came over from Portugal at age 3 in 1922, and I don't identify as Portuguese American. Like most Blacks living here I was born in the USA so I am an American. One co-worker came here recently from Nigeria, she could truly qualify as African American but doesn't.
It ought to be up to the individual how they label themselves.
But I really think you're wrong on one thing. While it has certainly faded, there is still an identification among many as being "Irish-American" or "Italian-American", etc. Not as much as when I was a kid...but it's still there.
It seems the term "African-American" became more and more popular as a substitute/PC term, instead of using "black".
I never thought it had anything to do with ancestry, just people trying to find an alternate replacement for saying black, because some people felt uneasy saying black.
It ought to be up to the individual how they label themselves.
But I really think you're wrong on one thing. While it has certainly faded, there is still an identification among many as being "Irish-American" or "Italian-American", etc. Not as much as when I was a kid...but it's still there.
Your first sentence highlights the problem.
Too many labels.
Labels create categories.
Categories separate people.
Separate people generally do not know or understand other categories and labels.
Lack of knowledge leads to distrust.
Distrust leads to more separation.
More separation leads to more distrust.
Ultimately, we are not the "United States" but the many hyphenated, labeled people separated by categories.
Separate people generally do not know or understand other categories and labels.
Lack of knowledge leads to distrust.
Distrust leads to more separation.
More separation leads to more distrust.
Ultimately, we are not the "United States" but the many hyphenated, labeled people separated by categories.
I don't think it should HAVE to be that way, though.
I do think that "identifying" and "labeling" should be up to individuals. You define yourself, what things resonate for you. You can label yourself a Catholic, or an Italian-American, or black, or Latino, you can call yourself goth, geek, classy or hood, you can think of yourself as a Mom above all or a dog person, straight, gay, pan, ace, whatever.
At this point I am beyond being bothered by anything that anyone says that they are. For the most part, right off I will ascertain if they have announced that they are a thing I believe will be harmful to me in some kind of a way (occasionally, bad people do tell you who they are and it can be a good idea to listen) but other than that I'm just like, "OK."
People wanting to express that they've got some sort of an identity should not bother anyone unless they have some weird idea that anyone who is not their exact clone is some sort of a threat. Some DO act that way, but I have never understood it. Why would anyone want for everyone around them to be exactly the same? I would be bored out of my skull.
I've had enough black Americans tell me that "black" is the term that they prefer, that I default to that if I need mention it at all. But it is not actually all that difficult to adapt to language that individuals prefer if I am speaking about some element of their identity. It helps to realize that someone correcting me on terms they would rather that I used, is not a personal attack on me or a criticism that I have done something wrong. It is a chance to learn a bit more about a person. It's not a big deal.
I think that one reason I don't find this stuff all that divisive is that I don't place a lot of investment in my own "identity labels"...most of them are not important to me. Being a white, Gen X, female, mom, middle class American person...it's all just like, "sure, fine." I am not on a mission to be intensely feminine or making my race or even (now that my sons are young adults) my role as a Mom to be the center of what I am. I'm just me, a person. What matters to me is the stuff in my head...my thoughts and ideas and tastes, the things that make me happy, upholding my word to obligations that I accept, being kind when I can. And most of that, in practice, is too layered to be summed up with a label or word, and is better demonstrated by actions than words anyhow. But that doesn't mean I need to get fussy about it if a label or identity thing has big meaning for someone else. Why should I care what another person's priorities are as long as they are not jerks?
And if they are jerks, well, on THAT I will accept that there's some division. I don't like to associate with jerky people. Pretty simple stuff.
I don't like labeling (classifying) people. It is step one on the road to genocide.
Once the classification label is in place the rest of the steps can follow.
Once the classification label is in place it enables divide and conquer games used by governments, politicians, royalties, religions, corporations and creeps of all sorts as they play one group against the other.
Corporations have been doing this for generations, playing blacks against whites to keep wages down, to keep out unions and above all to keep profits high for management. They play men against women, the old against the young, the immigrants against the settled population, region against region, state against state, even setting the healthy against the sick by blaming the victims for bringing it on themselves. It never ends.
Unless we end it by not participating.
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It seems the term "African-American" became more and more popular as a substitute/PC term, instead of using "black".
I never thought it had anything to do with ancestry, just people trying to find an alternate replacement for saying black, because some people felt uneasy saying black.
Yep, looking at Google Ngram you can see the prevalence of the terms Negroes, Blacks, and African Americans.
It seems the term "African-American" became more and more popular as a substitute/PC term, instead of using "black".
I never thought it had anything to do with ancestry, just people trying to find an alternate replacement for saying black, because some people felt uneasy saying black.
Exactly, I think the OP is just over thinking it. When I travel out of the country and people ask the inevitable "what are you question" I say American. African American is only used inside the country and even then, most black people simply say, "I'm black." If you look through the Census records the term used to describe black people has changed many times. Going from Negro to Colored to Black to now African American. I may be wrong, but I believe African American was the first time we got pick what we would be called. This was before I was born, but I'm sure they didn't take vote.
Personally, I just prefer the term black. It's easy, and everyone knows what it means. A course with the recent migration of Latin Americans people to the country, this term is now causing some friction, since many of these people identify with their country of origin as opposed to the term black (looking at you Dominicans)
Regarding the use of labeling. It's naïve to disregard labels. Doing so doesn't change anything. Plenty of countries that don't describe to racial labels at least on paper, yet issues of discrimination persist. Latin America is a good example. A black Brazilian or Colombian will still be treated as different even if there isn't technically a government label. Human beings are inherently tribal and will always find a means in which to form a "us versus them, situation." Instead of pretending or hoping such problems will go away, or choosing to ignore them, why don't we just acknowledge this human flaw and implement policies to counter it.
It can be done, and Singapore and modern Rwanda is probably the best examples of countries taking this tactic, although these states are more on the authoritative side so implementing such polices is was easier.
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