African-American vs. Black.... Why is it Ok Sometimes and Other Times Not?

[thriftylefty]

Originally Posted by NLVgal

Why ?

It seems its okay to refer to someone born in LA as an Asian-America or someone born in New Mexico as a Mexican -American, someone born in New York can be an Italian American, someone born in Fresno can be an Armenian-American ,but to be called an African-American many people insist that you have to have been born in Africa. Although they will not call Ruben Studdard or Levar Burton German Americans.

[emcee squared]

Originally Posted by PullMyFinger

My black buddy at work's family has been in this country 200+ years longer than mine but he's an African-American and I'm just an American. Liberal thinking on display for all to see.

Why isn't he just, 'your buddy?'

[jade408]

Originally Posted by TheWiseWino

You are already connected, every time you hit the dance floor, the way you related to music, the foods you eat, if you step foot a black church the connections are inescapable.

Let me explain it in a simpler way, I will not be able to look for my cousins and find them when I get to "Africa." My family tree currently stops at roughly 1820.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by PullMyFinger

This is the first reasonable post I've seen you make in a long time on here...but you still want to keep those walls up between people. See, I envision America in 100 years where people won't even think about race. It won't even occur to people that someone looks different. That's the way it should be.
I remember when the first people from SE Asia showed up in the little town I grew up in, brought in and sponsored by our Catholic Church. We thought their were aliens from another planet because they were the first non-whites we ever saw in our town.

But now? I have Vietnamese next door and Hmong across the street and most of the time it doesn't even occur to me because they are AMERICANS and they ACT like AMERICANS. They take care of their yards and houses. They take care of their children. They are respectful to everyone in the neighborhood. They have earned their respect. I don't see any difference that I need to worry about, and the differences that might exist are none of my business.

Wrong answer. It is perfectly OK to acknowledge people are different, they have different experiences, heritages and upbringings. What is wrong is treating people differently because of it.

Creating a melting pot where everyone blends and loses their heritage is not the answer.