Atlanta Ranks #2 for African American Population (Stone Mountain, Dallas: find a job, luxury, universities)

[Akhenaton06]

Originally Posted by johnatl

you obviously do care, very much. You have proven countless times that atlanta is a huge thorn in your side, in several different ways.

Every time this topic comes up, you always repeat the same things over and over.

There is no concerted effort on atlanta's behalf that is repsonsible for this situation, yet you act like it is some sort of city-funded agenda. Deal with it.

+1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ,000,000,000,000,000,000

[slambango]

It's not "African-American" ffs... they're BLACK! Stop trying to be PC. It just makes you look lame.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by slambango

It's not "African-American" ffs... they're BLACK! Stop trying to be PC. It just makes you look lame.

It's not being PC, it's being specific. For example, there are "white americans" and then there are subgroups such as Italian-Americans and Irish-Americans.

In that same vein there are "black americans" and then there are subgroups such as African-Americans, Afro-Cubans, Somali-Americans, etc. African-American culture had it's genesis in the United States (America) and is very different than Afro-Cuban, Somali, or whatever other group of Africans or blacks you would find around the world.

Get it?

[slambango]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

It's not being PC, it's being specific. For example, there are "white americans" and then there are subgroups such as Italian-Americans and Irish-Americans.

In that same vein there are "black americans" and then there are subgroups such as African-Americans, Afro-Cubans, Somali-Americans, etc. African-American culture had it's genesis in the United States (America) and is very different than Afro-Cuban, Somali, or whatever other group of Africans or blacks you would find around the world.

Get it?

No.

Anyone black is called "African-American". An Irish-American is someone born in Ireland who moved to the USA.

I know a white guy who moved here from Africa. He is African-American.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by slambango

No.

Anyone black is called "African-American".

Not true.

Originally Posted by slambango

An Irish-American is someone born in Ireland who moved to the USA.

And those descended from Irish immigrants. If two people come from Ireland to America and have a child, is that child not Irish?

Or how about a Japanese couple that moves here, would their child not be Japanese-American if they were born in the States?

Originally Posted by slambango

I know a white guy who moved here from Africa. He is African-American.

This is indeed where things get sticky in America as we put more emphasis on skin color than national backgrounds in most instances. That person is indeed an African, but not an African-American. If he's from South Africa, then his demonym would be South African-American.

There is a very specific reason why African-Americans are called so. The culture, language and history we have is unique to the United States. The only thing we have in common with say a black person from the Caribbean is that their ancestors too were slaves, and most times all we have in common with black people in Africa is our skin color.

So, it's not about being "politically correct" to protect someone's "feelings", it's about being factually correct. This isn't a hard concept to grasp, but if you think all people are the same just because they share the same skin color then that would go a long way in explaining why you don't understand.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

Not true.




And those descended from Irish immigrants. If two people come from Ireland to America and have a child, is that child not Irish?

Or how about a Japanese couple that moves here, would their child not be Japanese-American if they were born in the States?




This is indeed where things get sticky in America as we put more emphasis on skin color than national backgrounds in most instances. That person is indeed an African, but not an African-American. If he's from South African, then his demonym would be South African-American.

There is a very specific reason why African-Americans are called so. The culture, language and history we have is unique to the United States. The only thing we have in common with say with a black person from the Caribbean is that their ancestors too were slaves, and most times all we have in common with black people in Africa is our skin color.

So, it's not about being "politically correct" to protect someone's "feelings", it's about being factually correct. This isn't a hard concept to grasp, but if you think all people are the same just because they share the same skin color then that would go a long way in explaining why you don't understand.

Right on...on all points.

Clear and concise.

[johnatl]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Right on...on all points.

Clear and concise.

Ditto.

[arjay57]

Eugene Robinson has some interesting observations on this in his new book, "Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America." (Note the earlier thread on this). Black Africans living in America today may have a very different experience from American blacks who've lived here for generations.

[tonygeorgia]

Originally Posted by slambango

It's not "African-American" ffs... they're BLACK! Stop trying to be PC. It just makes you look lame.

I'm not black or African American. I'm a stolen slave

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Eugene Robinson has some interesting observations on this in his new book, "Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America." (Note the earlier thread on this). Black Africans living in America today may have a very different experience from American blacks who've lived here for generations.

Oh most definitely.

And for those cognizant of the cultural differences between Africans and African-Americans this should come as no surprise.

For example, just like other immigrant groups from other countries and continents, African immigrants to America today tend to segregate themselves in their own enclaves separate from African-American communities. English usually isn't their first language, and if it is usually a pidgin of other languages and has little compatibility with AAVE. So, the African diaspora in the United States is divided into two overall groups: Those descended from Slaves in the United States and those who were not. But those are things to expect and really isn't any different than other groups of people.

There are some specific pain points however. For instance, African immigrants in this country by and large came after the Civil Rights Era and the Jim Crow laws had been abolished. This means that African immigrants never had to live with the injustices of Segregation and do not have a binding shared history. This has caused some in the African-American community to charge that black Africans who've migrated here in recent decades don't have a true understanding of what it means to be black in America. Such a charge was levied during the 2008 presidential campaign against President Obama, and some in the African-American community still consider the President to not truly be the first "black president" because of this.

On the flip side, there are some from Africa that look down on African-Americans because we descended from slaves. I've even heard of cases of discrimination because of this, but it is very rare occurrence so it doesn't get much press.