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He's a first generation african immigrant, not the same as "african american". I think he'd be insulted to be grouped into that bunch.
Why should he be insulted? If he was born here, he is indeed an American and he is of African descent, so he is an African American. As for the bit I bolded, I do not buy into that nonsense that "American blacks are no good compared to foreign blacks." I find that offensive and untrue. I believe in judging people as individuals.
A Black kid getting into the Ivies is not newsworthy. Wealthy African and Caribbean families (heads of state and businessmen) send their children to Ivy League schools. You also have US born Black people who are either African American or of Caribbean, African, or Latin descent at Ivies. It's not newsworthy because it's NOT RARE. This particularly guy ONLY made the news because he got accepted into all 8 Ivies, and Stanford and a few other top schools. That's newsworthy of any race.
Ita
Quote:
Originally Posted by okaydorothy
I think this guy should get major congrats. His parents are immigrants, work hard, instill on their child a hard work ethic.
I hope my kids will do as well.
I wish the same for my kids too
Quote:
Originally Posted by I_Love_LI_but
Why should he be insulted? If he was born here, he is indeed an American and he is of African descent, so he is an African American. As for the bit I bolded, I do not buy into that nonsense that "American blacks are no good compared to foreign blacks." I find that offensive and untrue. I believe in judging people as individuals.
Why should he be insulted? If he was born here, he is indeed an American and he is of African descent, so he is an African American. As for the bit I bolded, I do not buy into that nonsense that "American blacks are no good compared to foreign blacks." I find that offensive and untrue. I believe in judging people as individuals.
He wasn't born here. And more often than not Africans that immigrate here are much more educated than African Americans. When they are accepted into this country, just as many Asians, the country accepts educated and more wealthy applicants readily.
Last edited by ♦♣♠; 04-04-2014 at 04:24 PM..
Reason: Didn't complete my comment
Why should he be insulted? If he was born here, he is indeed an American and he is of African descent, so he is an African American. As for the bit I bolded, I do not buy into that nonsense that "American blacks are no good compared to foreign blacks." I find that offensive and untrue. I believe in judging people as individuals.
Well, there's another angle.
This kid has directly family ties to Ghana. I don't know what or how this guy identifies as, but if he calls himself Ghanian American or an American of Ghanian descent I could completely understand why. He may be very proud of his heritage. I also believe in judging people as individuals. But a part of judging people as individuals is to recognize there are differences. This particular individual has no reason to identify himself as African American.
I am an American of African descent, but I would not call myself African American either. I know the specific ethnic groups/countries I'm descended from in Africa, and I also have European (I know the specific ethnic groups there too) and Indian/Pakistani descent. I often get asked by people from Nigeria and Mali if I'm from there (they are big parts of my ancestry) and I often get asked by people from the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Trinidad, etc if I'm from there (my ethnic background is similar to people in this countries).
He wasn't born here. And more often than not Africans that immigrate here are much more educated than African Americans. When they are accepted into this country, just as many Asians, the country accepts educated and more wealthy applicants readily.
Oh, really, on your say so? According to all news sources he is a first-generation American, born of parents who immigrated here. Since his parents immigrated here in the 1980s and this is 2014, how was he NOT born here? Can you do the math as per his age? Also, they live in a working class neighborhood of Long Island, not a wealthy neighborhood so are not now "wealthy people" so how were they that when they immigrated (another of your supposed facts)? His parents are nurses, so they do have an education, be it AAS or BS, but you do not have to be "highly educated" (another of your supposed facts) to be a nurse since a 2 year community college degree does it and they may not have had their nursing educations yet when they immigrated (another of your supposed facts).
His parents, who immigrated from Ghana in the late 1980s, are both nurses and pushed Enin to receive the highest grades possible and follow his dreams.
What? I think it's divisive to judge black people from one area (Africa) as automatically "better" than those from another (USA). ***smh*** It's sad what people do and what judgments they make on others that they don't even know. Now that is divisive.
This kid has directly family ties to Ghana. I don't know what or how this guy identifies as, but if he calls himself Ghanian American or an American of Ghanian descent I could completely understand why. He may be very proud of his heritage. I also believe in judging people as individuals. But a part of judging people as individuals is to recognize there are differences. This particular individual has no reason to identify himself as African American.
I am an American of African descent, but I would not call myself African American either. I know the specific ethnic groups/countries I'm descended from in Africa, and I also have European (I know the specific ethnic groups there too) and Indian/Pakistani descent. I often get asked by people from Nigeria and Mali if I'm from there (they are big parts of my ancestry) and I often get asked by people from the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Trinidad, etc if I'm from there (my ethnic background is similar to people in this countries).
I was speaking on a strictly technical angle ... he's African and born in America so technically that's what he is ... but, yes, I can definitely see how he would identify much more as a Ghanian American.
I know that there are many black people born in America who don't know all the specific details of their ancestry and "African American" is a catchall phrase. You have a multi-continent ethnic background that you know about so I see why it isn't accurate for you. These days is there a better term than African American that people would prefer?
My goodness, how many of your posts are contrived.
Bask in the sunshine of the OP; this kind of achievement is particularly special.
Recent Master grad, and it was a lot of work. So I know the demands of school.
To be accepted in that many schools is a great honor.
Correction:
Summa *** Laude - the greatest of honors.
oh my they left out the word "***" - the site forfeited the Latin term.
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