Some blacks insist: 'I'm not African-American' (compare, documents, jobs, against)

[chele123]

Originally Posted by MIKEETC

African but-not-really African-American.

[the absurdities of these descriptions should be apparent]

They are

[desertdetroiter]

Originally Posted by Memphis1979

I think its more of a fact that most black Americans are mixed with a white man or woman here and there.

They are hardly African. People don't call me an Irish American, even though many of my ancestors came from there, and I have an Irish last name.

African Americans are under no obligation to follow what white folks do. You do you, we'll do us.

I'm an African American.

[Swampmonster]

Originally Posted by desertdetroiter

African Americans are under no obligation to follow what white folks do. You do you, we'll do us.

I'm an African American.

So if I was discribing you to a friend I should say " I talk to this African-American fellow online about politics" and you would be cool with that,but if I were to say "I talk to this black dude online about politics" you would think I was a racist?

That's total horse****...Were you born in Africa?

If you were born here you are an American and you are black,I'm an American who is listed as Caucasian/White on legal documents...not Scots-Irish-American...I do NOT get the big deal.

You can't be any prouder of your heritage than anyone else is of theirs in America and frankly it all seems made up and trite.

[Nite Ryder]

Originally Posted by EdwardA

I'm one of them. I know the specific country and ethnic group of my origins. So to use a name that encompasses an entire continent of diverse peoples seems absurd. Personally I prefer American, Black American or Ghanaian American.
Some blacks insist: 'I'm not African-American' *| ajc.com (http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/some-blacks-insist-im-1331589.html - broken link)

Good for you Edward! I too prefer the name 'Black American' rather than 'African American'. African American means to me a person who at one time was born in Africa and came to America to establish citizenship. As far as I'm concerned there is nothing wrong with just plain "American", we don't call a white guy a "White American", we call him an American. Skin color makes no difference, it's the person under than skin that tells you what kind of person he is.

[Kkaos2]

Originally Posted by itshim

Aside from what you've stated above, what some refuse to accept and choose to ignore is that African Americans are a distinct ethnic group unto their own. There are 'African' distinctions that differentiate AAs from other hyphenated American sub catagories.

What I find interesting is that this "just callyourselves American" movement is never really preached to anyone else but AAs. I'd like to know where these very same folks are when Irish, Italian and Latin Americans come waving their flags.

Well, actually I think it pretty much is preached to a lot of Mexican-Americans too. But anyway, my guess would be this is due to the fact that as a general rule the other groups do not vilify mainstream society and do not seek special affirmative action treatment.

I imagine if a large Irish-American movement started demanding special treatment, you would in very short order see a backlash against "Irish-American" the same as you do with "African-American." As well, if blacks stopped pushing race at the national level and affirmative action were abolished, I imagine that people stop caring what they called themselves.

[desertdetroiter]

Originally Posted by muleskinner

So if I was discribing you to a friend I should say " I talk to this African-American fellow online about politics" and you would be cool with that,but if I were to say "I talk to this black dude online about politics" you would think I was a racist?

Now why in the hell would you make such an idiotic and stupid ass leap?

I said nothing of the kind. I've said on a bunch of similarly related threads that black is just fine.

Get the chip off of your shoulder dude. I don't give a damn what you call other black people.

[TiltheEndofTime]

All African-Americans are black, but not all blacks are African-American.

[TiltheEndofTime]

Also, I'm black, and neither term bothers me. But I preferred to be called 'human' or by my first name.

[SoEdible]

THIS again? I'm Black and I swear, it seems like society keeps confusing a lot of Black people. We have TONS of threads in this sub-forum about this topic and it is so lame. I think that a lot of the Black people that are uncomfortable about this term are insecure about being Black. There are a lot of Black people out there that seem to want to do whatever they can to forget that they are Black. They say the cliche and cheesy line of: "I'm not African, I'm American." They crack me up with that stuff because they know DAMN WELL that the term African-American doesn't mean that people think you are African. It is OBVIOUSLY a way to link your nationality with your ethnicity and your heritage and I don't see why that is such a problem. However, of course, you have your Black people that don't even want to acknowledge or remember that they do indeed have a history and lineage that goes back to Africa.

[desertdetroiter]

Originally Posted by Kkaos2

Well, actually I think it pretty much is preached to a lot of Mexican-Americans too. But anyway, my guess would be this is due to the fact that as a general rule the other groups do not vilify mainstream society and do not seek special affirmative action treatment.

I imagine if a large Irish-American movement started demanding special treatment, you would in very short order see a backlash against "Irish-American" the same as you do with "African-American." As well, if blacks stopped pushing race at the national level and affirmative action were abolished, I imagine that people stop caring what they called themselves.

All of the other groups have been recipients of Affirmative Action at some point and time in this country. I mean...the IRISH? How is it that they overwhelmingly staffed a whole bunch of civil servant jobs in many cities (especially cops) in the early to middle part of the last century?

And not all of us African Americans care about the "backlash." I never did. Get mad...i really don't care about how non-blacks feel about it.