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Most diverse black community simply isn't in DC. as an AA from Boston..when im in DC or Cheltenham PGC I notice it on the ground. Its regular hip hop ...hbcus...step shows...Steve Harvey morning shows...with some Africans sprinkled in. But its is nothing at all like when Im at school in Hartford or at a club in Providence or with my friends in Boston. In Boston I have Nigerian, Cape Verdean, Bajan, Trinidadian ,Jamaican, St. nevian, St. Lucian, Haitian, Dominican friends in BULK. WAY more than AA. If anything Boston is lacking AAs. In SNE ur assumed to be non AA or some type of mixed black ancestry in these places whereas in DC ur assumed AA but people wont be surprised if ur African. Honestly totally totally different. Its clear percentage wise an anecdotal wise DC is more diverse than most areas when it comes to blacks but is like 1/3 or 1/4ths as diverse as NY-SNE. Thus I rule it out and laugh. If were just listing diverse black communities I guess (Although I dont feel like 85% aa is diverse at all). But if were talking most diverse then I think we all know where that is. Ny-sNE or Miami. In boston the black radio station slogan is "more hip hop more dance hall more Rnb more urban music" C'mon now. All Providence Hartford and bBston urban stations dedicate segments every week to dancehall and reggaeton. I also didn't mention Liberians emigrate to Providence.
You said it yourself...Boston is lacking AAs...it's a comparitively small Black community relative to other cities more commonly known as "Black" cities...DC has more foreign Blacks in total population based on the stats I am seeing in this thread...while I will agree that Boston Black population is more diverse based on the strict definition of the term, you were a little too casual in your dismissal of DC
You said it yourself...Boston is lacking AAs...it's a comparitively small Black community relative to other cities more commonly known as "Black" cities...DC has more foreign Blacks in total population based on the stats I am seeing in this thread...while I will agree that Boston Black population is more diverse based on the strict definition of the term, you were a little too casual in your dismissal of DC
Exactly.
And besides, if he wants to experience different sounds of the African Diaspora, it's not impossible to check out some of the nightlife venues (lounges, clubs, late-night restaurants) and observe the patronage. In DC, especially in Adams Morgan, Shaw, U Street, Park View, and Petworth, you can hear East or West African music, Reggaeton, Afrobeat, Reggae Fusion, etc. at some of these venues. You can also find these in downtown Silver Spring, Arlington, etc. as well.
People are so fake and lame that it is a shame. People do any and everything to deny their blackness or to disassociate themselves with black americans. No one wants to have anything to do with us until we do something amazing or make a new trend, then they want to all of a sudden act like our friend. Please.
It's a shame how Black Americans are treated, not just by Whites, but by Black foreigners who want to completely distinguish themselves from AA's when it's convenient. Many times, it'll be the AA community that has our back when racism strikes.
West Indian/African ancestry by metro (% of AA population).
Boston - 198,082 (57.7%)
Miami - 602,150 (51.1%)
New York - 1,189,348 (35.8%)
Washington, DC - 302,438 (20.9%)
Los Angeles - 148,991 (16.9%)
Atlanta - 273,639 (15.9%)
San Francisco - 48,058 (13.6%)
Philadelphia - 132,979 (10.6%)
Houston - 108,686 (10.6%)
Chicago - 101,728 (6.3%)
Using this criteria, West Indian and Sub-Saharan ancestry probably make up similar proportions of both metros as a whole (given the much larger Black population in DC).
It's a shame how Black Americans are treated, not just by Whites, but by Black foreigners who want to completely distinguish themselves from AA's when it's convenient. Many times, it'll be the AA community that has our back when racism strikes.
Because only White people are allowed to retain their cultural identity? What exactly are you complaining about? Irish, Italians, Greeks, Germans, and Jews are able to identify without issue. However when it comes to Asians, "Latinos" and Black people; we're all put into boxes and the "Crabs in a Barrel" mentality rears its head......
African Americans built this country with unpaid labor, Black folks around the world know this. If AAs had been located in a different location (like Haitians, Jamaicans, etc.) that didn't have a majority group already trying to appropriate the term "American", that'd be the demonym for them. However White American folks had already took it and AAs were left looking to identify.
Notice how it's in the South people mostly identify ethnicity as "American". In other parts of the country (New England, NY, etc.), a white person will say they're "Irish" because their great-grand mom was the child of Irish immigrants.
Wouldn't it be strange for White people to say "How come you're trying to separate, we're all White at the end of the day?" to someone celebrating German heritage in Wisconsin? or a White Mexican in NM who identifies by language instead of pigmentation (which makes so much more sense)? Mexicans consider themselves Mexican first and foremost. So does every other culture in the Americas.
When we immigrate we bring our cultures with us and just like everyone else, we want to make sure our ancestors stories, celebrations, and history are not diluted and forgotten. It's especially important for us people who come from enslaved African descent in a society that is biased against people who only look like us. Race exists everywhere, but Americans (White & Black) LOVE making it the most important feature of a person. A Black person from Canada is Canadian, but a Black person whose ancestors built this country is an "African"? Only in America. Go to most other places and Nationality comes before race.
I don't know if I'm Igbo, Yoruba or Hausa (a Nigerian might though). Could be all three or something completely different. But I do know that my family is Haitian and my parents/grandparents came here for a better life.
Why is it ok for some African Americans to guilt foreign (non-colonial) Black Americans into this "We're all the same" thing? It's one thing coming from White people. Pure ignorance. A large plurality just assume we're all the same.
But from others who are suffering from the same sweeping generalizations of "who we are", you'd think there'd be more comprehension.
Last edited by MassNative2891; 04-02-2015 at 08:29 AM..
It's a shame how Black Americans are treated, not just by Whites, but by Black foreigners who want to completely distinguish themselves from AA's when it's convenient. Many times, it'll be the AA community that has our back when racism strikes.
This is true. It is also a shame when Black Americans are disrespectful to foreign Blacks which happens just as often as the reverse. We are all in this thing together (or should be) as the overall most hated race on this planet. That does not mean however, that we cannot celebrate the diversity within our communities. I will say it again...I have not seen anyone disrespect AAs in this thread.
Man. Can't wait until we meet aliens. The onus will no longer be on us as being "different". Especially for something as silly as a pigmentation that everyone on the planet used to have.
Because only White people are allowed to retain their cultural identity? What exactly are you complaining about? Irish, Italians, Greeks, Germans, and Jews are able to identify without issue. However when it comes to Asians, "Latinos" and Black people; we're all put into boxes and the "Crabs in a Barrel" mentality rears its head......
African Americans built this country with unpaid labor, Black folks around the world know this. If AAs had been located in a different location (like Haitians, Jamaicans, etc.) that didn't have a majority group already trying to appropriate the term "American", that'd be the demonym for them. However White American folks had already took it and AAs were left looking to identify.
Notice how it's in the South people mostly identify ethnicity as "American". In other parts of the country (New England, NY, etc.), a white person will say they're "Irish" because their great-grand mom was the child of Irish immigrants.
Wouldn't it be strange for White people to say "How come you're trying to separate, we're all White at the end of the day?" to someone celebrating German heritage in Wisconsin? or a White Mexican in NM who identifies by language instead of pigmentation (which makes so much more sense)? Mexicans consider themselves Mexican first and foremost. So does every other culture in the Americas.
When we immigrate we bring our cultures with us and just like everyone else, we want to make sure our ancestors stories, celebrations, and history are not diluted and forgotten. It's especially important for us people who come from enslaved African descent in a society that is biased against people who only look like us. Race exists everywhere, but Americans (White & Black) LOVE making it the most important feature of a person. A Black person from Canada is Canadian, but a Black person whose ancestors built this country is an "African"? Only in America. Go to most other places and NIationality comes before race.
I don't know if I'm Igbo, Yoruba or Hausa (a Nigerian might though). Could be all three or something completely different. But I do know that my family is Haitian and my parents/grandparents came here for a better life.
Why is it ok for some African Americans to guilt foreign (non-colonial) Black Americans into this "We're all the same" thing? It's one thing coming from White people. Pure ignorance. A large plurality just assume we're all the same.
But from others who are suffering from the same sweeping generalizations of "who we are", you'd think there'd be more comprehension.
It's not about guilting anyone into anything. You can self-identify how you want. You can celebrate your culture how you want. It's the arrogance with not being "Just like regular blacks" that some Black foreigners have. And maybe race trumps culture for many AA's here in America, because any semblance of pre-European undiluted African culture is hard to come by for them. That's why some AA's have embraced Pan Africanism, and have a "we are all one" mentality. Like you, they don't know if their ancestors are from Nigeria, Benin, Togo, etc. But unlike you, they don't have a somewhat not-as-diluted cultural heritage like you do being Haitian. Haiti being a Free Black-ran country since 1804, has that privilege. Although Haiti STILL (as a predominantly black country) has it's own colorism issues that are remnants of Slavery and Colonialism, Haitians for the most part, still have their own unique cultural identification to fall back on. That's a privilege. YES, we are all African. Whether you're AA, Jamaican, Haitian, Bahamian, we all have ancestral roots in the same parts of Africa. We have genetic similarities that a Greek and a Russian, or a Brit and a Spaniard, or that a Croatian and a Norwegian don't have.
You said it yourself...Boston is lacking AAs...it's a comparitively small Black community relative to other cities more commonly known as "Black" cities...DC has more foreign Blacks in total population based on the stats I am seeing in this thread...while I will agree that Boston Black population is more diverse based on the strict definition of the term, you were a little too casual in your dismissal of DC
1/3 of Massachusetts' 470k black are immigrants compared to 9 percent nation wide. Wow.
That relavent to your comment when I say..AAs are still the largest plurality of the Black population. Also if Massachusetts has 470k+ black ppl, idk how less than 400k could live in the metro..I see figures as low as 298k and as high as 416k id err on the side of 416k because the only other places black people live in Massachusetts outside the boston metro are the cities of Worcester and Springfield. Each about 30k black people each. So I think the definition or geographical bound of the boston metro may be off or the smaller definition on this thread. And as far as it being a "black city" its not no one claimed it was. The title of the thread in this case should be "largest and most diverse black communities that still keep it 'real' black cuz its vast majority AA" and this is from an AA...
It's the arrogance with not being "Just like regular blacks" that some Black foreigners have.
That's more of a C-D and literally "fresh off the boat" immigrant thing. Most second-generation West Indians are "just regular Blacks" now. Just look at Derek Luke holding it down on Empire with all of its glorious ratchetness.
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