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Except most white folks don't feel that way . . . just read these forums. Mexican this, Chinese that, blah, blah. My Asian-American friend gets asked all that time, "Where are you from?" "Oakland" "No, really, where are your parents from?" "San Francisco" "No, no, where are your ancestors from?" "San Diego?" "Arghhhh"
This drives me INSANE.
"What's your nationality? " is actually a common question that everybody gets here in NYC. I always answer plainly "American" and get blank stares, followed by interrogations.
It's as if people think that no one is American. As if we (the Natives), didn't exist, even though we are actually the majority.
It was surprising — and, to many, annoying — to learn that Raven Symoné, the brown-skinned girl who played the adorable youngest character on TV's seminal black sitcom, The Cosby Show, doesn't consider herself "African-American." (In a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, she said she thought of herself as "a colorless person.")
So who is she? Is it so inappropriate to call black (brownif you want) people an "African-American"? Is "Black American" more appropriate today?
You were annoyed because you did not understand the point she was making.
Yep, culture... Considering Obama's background I wonder if he realizes Obama isn't black either.
The concept of "African-American" is intended to encompass the experiential cultural legacy of descendants of African slaves in North America.
In the US, Obama is black racially speaking, but he's arguably not culturally African-American as the concept is understood because being the child of an African and a white American raised in Hawaii, his background is not in any way African-American.
But a few years ago, my daughter and I watched a program on BET that was intended to display and identify the particular cultural elements that today define "African-American." At the end of the program, my daughter opined, "If that's what being African-American means, it looks like we're not African-American."
It was surprising — and, to many, annoying — to learn that Raven Symoné, the brown-skinned girl who played the adorable youngest character on TV's seminal black sitcom, The Cosby Show, doesn't consider herself "African-American." (In a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, she said she thought of herself as "a colorless person.")
So who is she? Is it so inappropriate to call black (brownif you want) people an "African-American"? Is "Black American" more appropriate today?
This is still America. She can call herself anything she likes. Why is it anyone's business but hers? Why do you think she ought to put herself into a category?
According to currently popular theories of human evolution, we all originated in Africa. If that is correct, aren't all Americans African-Americans?
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