This being and site dedicated to the many historically black colleges and universities, are any of you selective or argumentive(lol is that a word?) over what is considered black these days? In my eyes you're black if you ancestors were brought over here from Africa in chains. Personally, I have become very accepting of different cultures granted I live in the melting pot of the country- new york. Yes, I am accepting however when other cultures such as: Jamaicans, Haittians, Trinis', and other dark skinned islanders begin to say they're black I start to have a bone to pick with them. No offense to any of yall but if you're from a particular island inhabiting dark skinned people or from any other country wit dark skinned people why is it that from my perspective, when you're out in the street you reppin ya country but when its time to apply for a job or whenever its conveinent (sp?) you're black? And black people are all of a sudden wanting to be what they're not. Like I said, this is a trend I've seen in my neighborhood. The only country Im reppin is America. Another point that needs to be made is the herritage of America. America is a country that is a melting pot in its self because nobody accept Native Americans have any true origins here. Next in line Id say would be the quote unquote settlers of this country and the slaves they brought with them. so now you have Native Americans, White people and African Americans (blacks) who are here. Where does everybody else fall? How many generations have to have lived in America to be considered American? Do you believe all people of color should be lumped into the catagory of being black or better yet African American? Id love to hear your responses but I hope I haven't caused too much controvery. I just want to get another view point on this.
MY **** CHECKS AFRICAN AMERICAN/BLACK BECAUSE THEY DONT HAVE HAITIAN MOST OF THE TIME TO CHOOSE FROM :roll: IM MOST DEFINITELY NOT ASHAMED,SH*T IM PROUD TO BE HAITIAN. DO I FEEL WE DONT GET THE RESPECT WE DESERVE? NOPE! BUT MOVING ALONG :arrow:
To 2damnREAL and West_Indian_Cutie and all other peeps who may not neccesarily consider themselves the "African American prototype" do you think its right to check "African American" or "other" and give your reason. Oh and how long have you or your family lived in America or can you not remember anymore?
hmmm, well my momma's been in america longer than she's been in Haiti..29 yrs??? hmmm ya, and the other question i answered before
2damnreal wrote:
MY **** CHECKS AFRICAN AMERICAN/BLACK BECAUSE THEY DONT HAVE HAITIAN MOST OF THE TIME TO CHOOSE FROM
When i think about it i feel it's right to check African American because even though the Caribbean is not the United States it is still apart of the Americas so technically West Indians have a right to say they are African American and i also think it's right to check other because although the Caribbean is apart of the Americas they are (in some cases) looked down upon because their dialect is different some feel they owe it to noone to select African American
Although the term African-American is used, I believe that it refers to a person of African descent currently residing in the United States. In other words, any Black person in America, which includes naturalized Americans as well as foreign immigrants.
This is the same way that a White person born in Kansas, a White person born in Germany and now living in the US, and a White Irishman would be classified together.
There is a difference between ethnicity and race, although they are used interchangably. Ethnicity refers to culture, while race (theoretically) refers to biological origins. There can be many ethnic origins within one race, which is what you see here.
So yes, a Black person of Caribbean descent would still be classified as African-American, while a White person from Africa would not. Holla!
Just to test your theory once more... A White girl from South Africa moves to AMerica.. is she Black or African-AMerican, or White?
Think About It...
I posed the same question to my history teacher.
It all depends on your use of the word "Colored." In the media, "woman of color" is used to describe any non-White person. So a "colored" person could be of Asian descent, African descent, Indian descent, Spanish descent(As in Spain), and so forth. I think adding the hyphen to yourself, as in "African-American" confuses things. If you were born and raised in America(as in North America and South America) and your ancestors were slaves stolen from Africa, you are Black. If you are an immigrant from an African country but get citizenship here, you are African-American, just as much as a Nigerian moving to England is African-English.
I think Black should be used if you were born and raised in a place, and the "african-" used if u emigrated.
I'm black. I am of African descent. I will not say I am African-American, however, because I am not an immigrant, nor has anyone in my family stepped foot on African soil since 1798(when my ancestors were stolen from ghana and imported to mississippi).
It's kind of funny now with everyone trying to represent as if they are from Jamaica and the DR when they are not, they are just Black.
All Negro people are of African descent, whether they be from the US, the DR, Jamaica, Brazil, or England.
The white South African immigrant is technically African-American.
If Craig David moved to the Bronx, would you call him Anglo-American?
Yea the issue of black or African America comes up often in our community. I happened to see it a little different than my sista Afropoetic. You see when you limit yourself to just being black your are (in my eyes disowning your African heritage).
Never did I say i disowned my African heritage. I said I am Black, of African descent. Just where I live, when u say African-American, you are referring to immigrants, not african-american as in Oprah Winfrey. If you checked my picture thread, you see all types of African heritage decorations in the background of my house. If you see me in real life, my pride and respect for my African heritage are made manifest in my comportment and dress. If you read my poetry journals you'd see many psalms in praise of Africa. Checked my personal library you'd see much Africana.
But I refer to myself as Black because that is how i see myself. BLACK A strong word. The color of strong stimulating coffee. The color of your eyes' pupils, who's job is to turn meaningless light into relevant images. The color of fertile soil. The color of the coal that eventually turns into diamonds. The last color you see before you drift off to sleep. One of the African continental colors. If you call someone Black, you immediately make the mental connotation with someone of African descent, so I see nothing wrong with the term.
Love you, HU-Intellect 8)
^^^^^Yea luv. That's what I was thinking you to me are one of the most Afrocentric people on this site (PS I love that :wink: ). But you have the intelligence and education to see the beauty in being "black", but unfortunately many people just see black as a color with no meaning. While black is everything that you mentioned you also have to realize that in today's society "Black" is the color of almost everything bad. Black sheep, darkness to represent evil, I'm sure you already know no reason to go over it.
I say that if you are intelligent enough to know the true meaning of being "Black " then go right ahead, but unfortunately I often hear my brothas and sistas say I am black because I don't wanna have nothin to do with Africa and that SH*T is plain ignorant!
^^^^^Yea luv. That's what I was thinking you to me are one of the most Afrocentric people on this site (PS I love that :wink: ). But you have the intelligence and education to see the beauty in being "black", but unfortunately many people just see black as a color with no meaning. While black is everything that you mentioned you also have to realize that in today's society "Black" is the color of almost everything bad. Black sheep, darkness to represent evil, I'm sure you already know no reason to go over it.
I say that if you are intelligent enough to know the true meaning of being "Black " then go right ahead, but unfortunately I often hear my brothas and sistas say I am black because I don't wanna have nothin to do with Africa and that SH*T is plain ignorant!
co-muthaphuckin signs! i hate hearing people callin eachotha "african" as if its a bad thing. I went to this museum & was looking at an Kenya exhibit & a tourist(a korean man who didn't speak much english)he says was asking me questions about the plants("they have many in africa, right?") and some of the clothing so I explained it to him but had this look on my face at first, he asked,"you look African, right? your people from Africa?" & I said yes he looked at my girl wit the same question & she wz like, i aint no africa i'm american!"all ignorant like. Dude looked confused as hell 'cause her features are stronger than mine :?
See in situations like that you really need to rep your heritage.
Being called "African" doesn't bother me, in fact, it makes me feel proud, but for simplicity's sake, "Black" comes out easier than African-American. Yes, "black" has negitave connotations, like evil, dirt, irresponsible(black sheep), but it is up to US as a BLACK PEOPLE to eradicate such connotations by carrying ourselves in a way to give the word "BLACK" a positive meaning. Until that happens, we will be judged as a group instead of individuals, and we will be thought of as "savage Africans" in the Hottentot, Sambo, Jungle senseThat involves a good 50 million people in this country. so**shrugs**Call me Black, call me African, but don't call me African-American, cuz i'm not an immigrant!
Wow I read some very very good points from some different perspectives too and that was what I was looking for. Thanks to everybody who replied. You sure schooled me.
