Posted on 02/05/2012 7:49:11 AM PST by Libloather
Some blacks insist: 'I'm not African-American'
By JESSE WASHINGTON | Associated Press – 21 hrs ago
The labels used to describe Americans of African descent mark the movement of a people from the slave house to the White House. Today, many are resisting this progression by holding on to a name from the past: "black."
For this group — some descended from U.S. slaves, some immigrants with a separate history — "African-American" is not the sign of progress hailed when the term was popularized in the late 1980s. Instead, it's a misleading connection to a distant culture.
The debate has waxed and waned since African-American went mainstream, and gained new significance after the son of a black Kenyan and a white American moved into the White House. President Barack Obama's identity has been contested from all sides, renewing questions that have followed millions of darker Americans:
What are you? Where are you from? And how do you fit into this country?
"I prefer to be called black," said Shawn Smith, an accountant from Houston. "How I really feel is, I'm American."
"I don't like African-American. It denotes something else to me than who I am," said Smith, whose parents are from Mississippi and North Carolina.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
The US is the only country in the world that classifies its citizens.
Identity crisis! They went fron negro to black to egyptian to african American. HOW ABOUT AMERICAN FIRST AND FORMOST
India?
This term African American is so stupid. Is a person of West Indian descent such as Colin Powell African American? I'm glad that some blacks are waking up to this.
Smith, whose parents are from Mississippi and North Carolina.
Why those places aren’t even in the Union.
Dang Confed-Americans./s
It’s time we considered ourselves just plain American,
and all spoke the same language.
African < American
is what is really mean
Don’t think so. In India their citizens are not hyphenated. It’s a cast system. It’s different altogether.
My favorite African-American is Charlize Theron.
Now if we could also get rid of hyphenated marriages!
There are so many labels that could be applied to me, and labels that have been applied to the people from whom I descend in the past. I honestly don’t care, so long as it’s not intended as a slur.
Stop worrying about it, accept any categorization not meant to denigrate, and just be. That’s my suggestion.
Black American, OK, how about saying white American, yellow American, brown American, and red American, Uhhhhhhh? Why not just, American, born in the USA?
The socialists will be displeased. The brain washing isn't having the desired effect.
They can be American African or Negro, their choice. I guess they didn’t care for ‘Colored’ as an option?
WHITES can be AFRICAN American too.
Anyway calling blacks African American seems to not know or understand that the continent has millions of white and suntanned people.
HOW ABOUT AMERICAN FIRST AND FORMOST”
Roger that. If someone identifies them self as Mexican American I presume they are Mexican first therefore to me they are mexican. Same with Africans or any other hyphenated critters. A person identifys their loyalties by rank order so I should respect that
I’ll go with the Shawn Smith mentioned in the article... Why don’t we just leave it at “American”?
The only people still playing the race card are the ones with a vested interest in maintaining a divided nation. And, they don’t even bother trying to hide it these days.
Charlie Rangel
Sheila Jackson-Lee
Jesse Jackson
Al Sharpton
and on, and on, and on...
Oh I get to cite one of my universal laws.
Any minority eventually will reject any label once the label has been adopted by the majority.
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