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Are you black? African-American? If neither, why do you need to have an opinion on this?
By the way, how do your Asian friends self-identify? If they choose to label themselves Asian-American, do you have a problem with that?
As American as vanilla ice cream, eh? How telling.
Or Japanese-American, or Chinese-American, or Vietnamese-American, or Korean-American................Nobody seems to have a problem with it. Just African Americans are the problem. It's idiotic.
This has no relevance. The African American population is an amalgam of all of Africa (mostly, but not all, West African) and other parts of the world. What binds us together is our shared pan-African heritage and shared culture.
This is simply not correct. First of all only 500K Africans were brought to the USA. The lion share of Africans were taken elsewhere. So you think European slave traders scoured the entire continent of Africa to scour a relatively small number of people?
They did not it wouldn't even be cost effective. They identified already established slave markets and sourced the slaves for the particular labor they wanted. For example planters in the rice growing regions of the South sourced slaves from the Senegambia region where Africans had been growing rice for centuries and thus were familiar with rice growing. That's why today the Gullah speak a language that is derived from Sierra Leone. It is thought about 6 tribes make up the lion share of African ancestry in African Americans.
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You're telling people to educate themselves? That's hilarious.
Actually, I know many Egyptian Americans who have as much Black African heritage as the typical African American and do identify themselves as Black (not African American).
I think Hoda Kolb would be an example of this but I don't know if she considers herself Black. On another note I don't know what the fascination of Egypt is to African Americans. I mean do you guys realize you have absolutely no blood ties to these people?
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He is a Ugandan American. Pretty simple. Is he the same ethnic background as you? I don't know. Are you of Ugandan ancestry?
This world champion is also a Ugandan American.
Pretty interesting story. Yet although he was born in America he consider Uganda his homeland, not all of Africa or even America.
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But Kiwanuka also knows that there is something greater than a birthplace, something more meaningful than the city where a boy learns to read and write and block and tackle. Indianapolis may be his hometown, Kiwanuka said, but Uganda will always be his homeland.
Or Japanese-American, or Chinese-American, or Vietnamese-American, or Korean-American................Nobody seems to have a problem with it. Just African Americans are the problem. It's idiotic.
You're contradicting yourself and making a point I stated earlier. These are specific identifications to a country not an entire continent.
Also I have no problem with folks using African-American it's just not a term that I believe is applicable to me.
I've seen African Americans test anywhere from 40-80% African and, indeed, many who think they do have Native ancestry do not.
I've had extensive testing done, as well as know a lot about my genealogy, and I definitely can include Asia, North and South America with Europe (as well as Africa of course).
The racial lines in America were quite harsh no where near the level of mixing as elsewhere in hemisphere. There were laws banning interracial relationships as far back as the 1600s in the colonies. No such laws existed in Latin America.
One reason is that the English brought their women over whereas the Latins for the most part did not.
Studies on Latin Americans even "white" ones reveal that the non-European blood is overwhelmingly matrilineal.
The other thing though -- the loss of melanin is preferrable in climates with little sunshine. You can't have a lot of melanin blocking UV light when there isn't much light or you end up with Vitamin D deficiency which is not good. People with less melanin have a survival advantage - they can live where there is sun or where there is little sun.
Unless you run around stark naked, vitamin D deficiency is a given in modern humans. That is why milk is vitamin D fortified. That's why you are not as vitamin D deficient as you might be. If you don't take vitamin D capsules or drink milk you are vitamin D deficient. Period. On the other hand, I don't need expensive and harmful sunblock anywhere in the U.S. My S.O. burns in 20 minutes even in the Pacific Northwest. Please tell me where there is less sun than that? I understand your need to defend your lack of melanin and turn it into a cultural advantage but you should stop trying. As the wise Frank Zappa once said, "you are what you is". I can think of a raft of things that would be better for me if I had less (a lot less) melanin. But I don't. I'm not about to try and fathom why or why not. As another wise person, albeit whose nom de plume is unknown to me, once said "that way lies madness".
This is simply not correct. First of all only 500K Africans were brought to the USA.
That is wrong. It was closer to a million. As well, many slaves from the Caribbean ended up here as well. These slaves, who arrived primarily in South Carolina and New Orleans, are not included in the number of slaves taken directly to British North America.
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The lion share of Africans were taken elsewhere.
I know this.
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So you think European slave traders scoured the entire continent of Africa to scour a relatively small number of people?
No, but as I said, Africans from other parts of the continent (from Cameroon south to Angola, parts of Mozambique and the Sudan [not the country, the geographic region]) also came to this country, admittedly not in large numbers.
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They did not it wouldn't even be cost effective. They identified already established slave markets and sourced the slaves for the particular labor they wanted. For example planters in the rice growing regions of the South sourced slaves from the Senegambia region where Africans had been growing rice for centuries and thus were familiar with rice growing. That's why today the Gullah speak a language that is derived from Sierra Leone. It is thought about 6 tribes make up the lion share of African ancestry in African Americans.
That may be true, but even so, it doesn't disprove what I said about African Americans being an amalgamation.
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I think Hoda Kolb would be an example of this but I don't know if she considers herself Black.
Not sure either, though I know other Egyptians even more "black" than Hoda.
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On another note I don't know what the fascination of Egypt is to African Americans. I mean do you guys realize you have absolutely no blood ties to these people?
Why are so many Europeans so fascinated with ancient Greek and Roman culture? Don't those guys realize that they have absolutely no blood ties to these people?
I don't know if I have any Egyptian ancestry or not, but I do have distant Italian (Roman?) ancestry.
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Pretty interesting story. Yet although he was born in America he consider Uganda his homeland, not all of Africa or even America.
You're contradicting yourself and making a point I stated earlier. These are specific identifications to a country not an entire continent.
I am doing no such thing. Again, in one of my extensive posts on this subject, I contrasted and compared the use of Asian American with African American. While the descendants of Chinese and Japanese, etc., in this country can trace their heritage to specific Asian countries, African Americans cannot do that. That doesn't preclude us from claiming Africa as a whole as our place of origin.
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Also I have no problem with folks using African-American it's just not a term that I believe is applicable to me.
The racial lines in America were quite harsh no where near the level of mixing as elsewhere in hemisphere. There were laws banning interracial relationships as far back as the 1600s in the colonies. No such laws existed in Latin America.
All true, though custom did keep some of the mixing from being even more extensive than it already was.
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One reason is that the English brought their women over whereas the Latins for the most part did not.
Yes.
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Studies on Latin Americans even "white" ones reveal that the non-European blood is overwhelmingly matrilineal.
True again. But what does all of this have to do with the post I made which you responded to?
You're contradicting yourself and making a point I stated earlier. These are specific identifications to a country not an entire continent.
Also I have no problem with folks using African-American it's just not a term that I believe is applicable to me.
I don't think there is any argument that black American culture is still in flux. I'm not sure how old you are Ed, but I believe you are old enough to know that much. What was the point of this thread? Is there another racial group in recent memory that has endured what the black race has? Is it not remotely possible that there might not be artifacts of the ostracism and deprivation and loss of self determination faced by black Americans manifested by awkward social moves like name changes? I'll let you in on a secret Ed. I don't think African-American rolls trippingly off the tongue either. I'll answer to it though, especially if the question is "hey there, hot, A.A. stud muffin, my place or yours?? I mean... why quibble? I didn't quibble when we were colored, negro or black. They were names. Nothing more, nothing less. We know the names to get upset about, do we not, Edward? Is African-American one of them? I do not think so. I also am afraid it isn't going anywhere anytime soon. At least I hope not. As much as I might dislike the term, I dislike inconsistency even more. I just don't have the stomach for another name change. Do you? Do you really? This is your thread, big guy. You can move that it be locked and spare our people anymore self inflicted indignity.
H
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