When White People Stop Identifying Themselves As White, I'll Drop African American. (Chicago, rifle)
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For the 10,000,000th time.....an African American is an American with a distinct heritage that comes from a specific history and culture based in the post-Middle Passage experience. An immigrant from Africa is not an African American. Nobody from Nigeria, Somalia, Egypt, South Africa or any other place on the African continent who moves to this country is an African American, be they black, white or anything else.
You do realize the grammatical contradiction of using the term "African-American" with the cultural and historical definition you've just given?
The only way this works is if you call people by their specific nationality then hyphenate it with "American" i.e.:
Somali-American
Nigerian-American
Ethiopian-American
It's one reason that I personally prefer the term Black American. It more clearly delineates the fact there are unique cultural and historical differences between a Black person born in the United States with descendants that arrived in America as part of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and either a Black or White person born in Africa.
SO, A black man moving to the USA from Africa and becomes a citizen. He is an American because he is a citizen, he is African because that is what he is actually from. But he is not African American beacuse he does not share the same history as the following : His black neighbor down the street who's family have lived here for 200 years and came here as slaves, because only then can you call yourself African Ameican?
This thread is funny, I am white and come from European stock and NEVER refer to myself as a European American which is equal to a Black referring to themselves as an African American.
There are many "Africans" that are not Black.
SO, A black man moving to the USA from Africa and becomes a citizen. He is an American because he is a citizen, he is African because that is what he is actually from. But he is not African American beacuse he does not share the same history as the following : His black neighbor down the street who's family have lived here for 200 years and came here as slaves, because only then can you call yourself African Ameican?
Im sorry i just don't understand.
Lol, that's what the game's all about. We're all confused; it's just a minority of us who will admit it. I'm thinking about calling myself a "Peach North Americaner (of the sub-Canadian variety)" just to tick people off
does it occur to anyone else that, as Americans, we are incapable of identifying ourselves due to shared cultural heritage, so we frament our experiences and attitueds into a bunch of sub-cultures. I'm pretty sure that this sort of thing will eventually cause the dissolution of the "United States".
For ONCE I would like to see one person who has a problem with the hypenated-American issue bring up....ASIAN Americans. Why do the same people have no issues with that particular hypenation?
You do realize the grammatical contradiction of using the term "African-American" with the cultural and historical definition you've just given?
The only way this works is if you call people by their specific nationality then hyphenate it with "American" i.e.:
Somali-American
Nigerian-American
Ethiopian-American
It's one reason that I personally prefer the term Black American. It more clearly delineates the fact there are unique cultural and historical differences between a Black person born in the United States with descendants that arrived in America as part of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and either a Black or White person born in Africa.
Yes, JTG, I do realize that. The problem is that not every Black person in America is from the culture I described in that post. My mother, for example, is Black but not African American, while my dad is African American. I identify as Black. I identify as African American. But I won't identify as a capital B Black American because to me there is no such ethnicity. There is no grammatical contradiction whatsoever.
For ONCE I would like to see one person who has a problem with the hypenated-American issue bring up....ASIAN Americans. Why do the same people have no issues with that particular hypenation?
Who said we don't? Are you making crap up...again?
If a person was BORN in another country, and becomes a citizen HERE, if he/she wishes to honor their adopted country by adding 'American' to their heritage, by all means....go to it.
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