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In the early 70s Afro American was being used interchangeably with black. In an era of domestic terrorists the SLA being the most famous example, the Black Panthers and Malcolm X still being relevant I think black won over Afro because America was not mentioned.
I agree with this article. "Black" was in origin are disrespectful term used to define diverse people of African origin simply as the opposite of Europeans and ignore the cultural backgrounds that they would strip from them. Not only in the US but across the Americas, generally speaking.
I wish there were a way we could identify them NOT by the color of their skin.... :/
Blacks aren't identified simply by the color of their skin. There's plenty of southern Indians who are darker than the average Black person in America, yet people don't call them Black. The term, "Black." is used to identify a whole suite of features, nit just skin color.
Name should be used for the race of African and Afro-Caribbean immigrants to the USA?
Ironically, recent immigrants from Liberia in a way have a right to identify as "African American" (INSTEAD of "Liberian American") because the nation of Liberia was created by former slaves who fled the USA for their homeland in the Old World. But I wonder... did the original African American settlers of Liberia intermarry with people from other African countries, people who had lived in Africa since time immemorial?
And what right to the term "African American" do Cuban Americans of African origin have? Or Puerto Ricans of African origin either on the island or in the 50 states?
I think we should go back to calling them "Colored" being the naacp still uses that term.
If it is good enough for the, it should be good enough for everyone.
Oops, I goofed in asking my own question... my real question was "is 'black' offensive when used to refer to Africans in Africa, or Afro-Caribbean people"?
"my real question was "is 'black' offensive" Why would you even think it is?
IF you are going to ban "black" then you have to ban "white" when referring to Caucasians.
Being many blacks refer to whites as "whitey" why can't whites call blacks "blacky"?
Can you imagine the media uproar?
Today's "fad" thing is to get rid of the Confederate battle flag because "some" are offended.
There are MOTR whites in the U.S. then blacks and MANY whites are offended by the whole list of derogatory names used towards them, ******, whitey, hillbilly, cracker, hick, etc. yet NOT ONE WORD to ban these words.
A prime example is try typing the "n" word" here on this site. It WILL BE BLOCKED OUT yet the derogatory words on whites is OK.
Hopeful, one of these days this juvenile double standard crap with go away.
Nothing is offensive unless it is intended to be offensive. PC is BS.
A definition worth remembering:
There's an annual contest at Bond University, Australia, calling for
the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term.
This year's chosen term was "political correctness".
The winning student wrote:
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional,
illogical minority, and promoted by mainstream media, which holds
forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece
of dung by the clean end."
That would be a very long and complicated answer which I will not attempt to figure out now(though it sounds like an excellent thesis topic!). The short and dirty(and not necessarily definitive) reason probably has to do with how the two states came into the Union in light of the antebellum sectional conflict. Texas was admitted as a slave state in 1845. Mexico saw this an illegal land grab and also was opposed to slavery. The annexation clearly precipitated armed conflict between Mexico and the U.S. Meanwhile, a handful of Californians were busy attacking the Mexican governor's house in Sonoma and raising up the Bear Flag, while John Fremont was conveniently in the area on a mission from President Polk to take advantage of any destabilization. The revolt in California quickly became engulfed by the wider war with Mexico and California was ultimately ceded to the U.S. It was admitted as a free state under the terms of the Compromise of 1850 which also allowed for the Fugitive Slave Act to be law. I suppose that if California had come into the Union as a slave state, it too may have joined the Confederacy, and there were pro-confederacy voices in California during the War of Northern Aggression.
"my real question was "is 'black' offensive" Why would you even think it is?
IF you are going to ban "black" then you have to ban "white" when referring to Caucasians.
Being many blacks refer to whites as "whitey" why can't whites call blacks "blacky"?
Can you imagine the media uproar?
Today's "fad" thing is to get rid of the Confederate battle flag because "some" are offended.
There are MOTR whites in the U.S. then blacks and MANY whites are offended by the whole list of derogatory names used towards them, ******, whitey, hillbilly, cracker, hick, etc. yet NOT ONE WORD to ban these words.
A prime example is try typing the "n" word" here on this site. It WILL BE BLOCKED OUT yet the derogatory words on whites is OK.
Hopeful, one of these days this juvenile double standard crap with go away.
Again, none of that really has anything to do with the groups being discussed. Most Afro-Caribbeans and Africans are not concerned with whites. Most of those terms are from generational American culture.
Additionally, is Caucasian the right term for White Americans? Many people who are actually from the Caucasus do not consider White Americans as Caucasians. Anyway, it is whites who came up with these broad and backward color labels and the more recent racial ideology. Really and truly, Africans were not "black" en masse until slavery/colonialism, the former depriving Africans of their cultural identities by force. Prior to that, ethnic/cultural identification was used like in the rest of the world.
That is one reason why you will find some who reject the black label. For certain Africans, it is seen as referring to them as a descendant of the slave trade when they are not. Others may see it as calling them Black Americans when they are not, because the terms are often used interchangeably (some Latinos of African descent in the US feel that way).
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