Don't call them African Americans

Conservative

Conservative

Repent, America!
The labels used to describe Americans of African descent mark the movement of a people from the slave house to the White House. Today, many are resisting this progression by holding on to a name from the past: "black."

For this group — some descended from U.S. slaves, some immigrants with a separate history — "African-American" is not the sign of progress hailed when the term was popularized in the late 1980s. Instead, it's a misleading connection to a distant culture.

The debate has waxed and waned since African-American went mainstream, and gained new significance after the son of a black Kenyan and a white American moved into the White House. President Barack Obama's identity has been contested from all sides, renewing questions that have followed millions of darker Americans:

What are you? Where are you from? And how do you fit into this country?

"I prefer to be called black," said Shawn Smith, an accountant from Houston. "How I really feel is, I'm American."

"I don't like African-American. It denotes something else to me than who I am," said Smith, whose parents are from Mississippi and North Carolina. "I can't recall any of them telling me anything about Africa. They told me a whole lot about where they grew up in Macomb County and Shelby, N.C."

Gibre George, an entrepreneur from Miami, started a Facebook page called "Don't Call Me African-American" on a whim. It now has about 300 "likes."

"We respect our African heritage, but that term is not really us," George said. "We're several generations down the line. If anyone were to ship us back to Africa, we'd be like fish out of water."

"It just doesn't sit well with a younger generation of black people," continued George, who is 38. "Africa was a long time ago. Are we always going to be tethered to Africa? Spiritually I'm American. When the war starts, I'm fighting for America."

Joan Morgan, a writer born in Jamaica who moved to New York City as a girl, remembers the first time she publicly corrected someone about the term: at a book signing, when she was introduced as African-American and her family members in the front rows were appalled and hurt.

"That act of calling me African-American completely erased their history and the sacrifice and contributions it took to make me an author," said Morgan

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/02/04/national/a101235S38.DTL#ixzz1lYIs7Pqo
 
Conservative said:
The labels used to describe Americans of African descent mark the movement of a people from the slave house to the White House. Today, many are resisting this progression by holding on to a name from the past: "black."

For this group — some descended from U.S. slaves, some immigrants with a separate history — "African-American" is not the sign of progress hailed when the term was popularized in the late 1980s. Instead, it's a misleading connection to a distant culture.

The debate has waxed and waned since African-American went mainstream, and gained new significance after the son of a black Kenyan and a white American moved into the White House. President Barack Obama's identity has been contested from all sides, renewing questions that have followed millions of darker Americans:

What are you? Where are you from? And how do you fit into this country?

"I prefer to be called black," said Shawn Smith, an accountant from Houston. "How I really feel is, I'm American."

"I don't like African-American. It denotes something else to me than who I am," said Smith, whose parents are from Mississippi and North Carolina. "I can't recall any of them telling me anything about Africa. They told me a whole lot about where they grew up in Macomb County and Shelby, N.C."

Gibre George, an entrepreneur from Miami, started a Facebook page called "Don't Call Me African-American" on a whim. It now has about 300 "likes."

"We respect our African heritage, but that term is not really us," George said. "We're several generations down the line. If anyone were to ship us back to Africa, we'd be like fish out of water."

"It just doesn't sit well with a younger generation of black people," continued George, who is 38. "Africa was a long time ago. Are we always going to be tethered to Africa? Spiritually I'm American. When the war starts, I'm fighting for America."

Joan Morgan, a writer born in Jamaica who moved to New York City as a girl, remembers the first time she publicly corrected someone about the term: at a book signing, when she was introduced as African-American and her family members in the front rows were appalled and hurt.

"That act of calling me African-American completely erased their history and the sacrifice and contributions it took to make me an author," said Morgan

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/02/04/national/a101235S38.DTL#ixzz1lYIs7Pqo
Click to expand...

Excellent point.
 
Conservative said:
The labels used to describe Americans of African descent mark the movement of a people from the slave house to the White House. Today, many are resisting this progression by holding on to a name from the past: "black."

For this group — some descended from U.S. slaves, some immigrants with a separate history — "African-American" is not the sign of progress hailed when the term was popularized in the late 1980s. Instead, it's a misleading connection to a distant culture.

The debate has waxed and waned since African-American went mainstream, and gained new significance after the son of a black Kenyan and a white American moved into the White House. President Barack Obama's identity has been contested from all sides, renewing questions that have followed millions of darker Americans:

What are you? Where are you from? And how do you fit into this country?

"I prefer to be called black," said Shawn Smith, an accountant from Houston. "How I really feel is, I'm American."

"I don't like African-American. It denotes something else to me than who I am," said Smith, whose parents are from Mississippi and North Carolina. "I can't recall any of them telling me anything about Africa. They told me a whole lot about where they grew up in Macomb County and Shelby, N.C."

Gibre George, an entrepreneur from Miami, started a Facebook page called "Don't Call Me African-American" on a whim. It now has about 300 "likes."

"We respect our African heritage, but that term is not really us," George said. "We're several generations down the line. If anyone were to ship us back to Africa, we'd be like fish out of water."

"It just doesn't sit well with a younger generation of black people," continued George, who is 38. "Africa was a long time ago. Are we always going to be tethered to Africa? Spiritually I'm American. When the war starts, I'm fighting for America."

Joan Morgan, a writer born in Jamaica who moved to New York City as a girl, remembers the first time she publicly corrected someone about the term: at a book signing, when she was introduced as African-American and her family members in the front rows were appalled and hurt.

"That act of calling me African-American completely erased their history and the sacrifice and contributions it took to make me an author," said Morgan

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/02/04/national/a101235S38.DTL#ixzz1lYIs7Pqo
Click to expand...

Fuck you. Race baiter. I describe myself as both "African-American" and "black.
 
The article says SOME blacks...not all, just some.

What's your point here? Would you rather be called a conservative because of a social value set in the 1700's which includes slavery, or a lousy economist because republicans have tanked our economy?
 
JD Kramer said:
The article says SOME blacks...not all, just some.

What's your point here? Would you rather be called a conservative because of a social value set in the 1700's which includes slavery, or a lousy economist because republicans have tanked our economy?
Click to expand...

Why can't people refer to other people simply by name and not race. George, Bill, Wing Wei. Race need never come into it!
(tic)
 
poet;945661....In response to "Conservative"...... said:
Fuck you. Race baiter. I describe myself as both "African-American" and "black.
Click to expand...


I don't know why....you're no more African than Mitt Romney.......Ernie Els and Gary Player are Africans, Muammar Gaddafi was African ....:palm::lol::palm:
 
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bravo said:
I don't know why....you're no more African than Mitt Romney.......Ernie Els and Gary Player are Africans....:palm::lol::palm:
Click to expand...

My Ancestors came from Africa. I was born in America...hence, I am an African-American. I define myself, thank you. Ernie Els and Gary Player are descendants of colonist immigrants to Africa.
 
poet said:
My Ancestors came from Africa. I was born in America...hence, I am an African-American. I define myself, thank you. Ernie Els and Gary Player are descendants of colonist immigrants to Africa.
Click to expand...

You ignore poor Muammar Gaddafi, hes more African than you.


Really ?............According to some that fancy themselves experts in evolution and descendants; all of us can trace our ancestry to Africa......so we can all define ourselves as African American can't we......

Thats just as valid as your claims......
 
poet said:
My Ancestors came from Africa. I was born in America...hence, I am an African-American. I define myself, thank you. Ernie Els and Gary Player are descendants of colonist immigrants to Africa.
Click to expand...

They were both born in Africa, so are you saying that no one with European ethnicity can be called African? In which case, following that logic, no one who originated from Africa can call themselves American.
 
Aoxomoxoa said:
They were both born in Africa, so are you saying that no one with European ethnicity can be called African? In which case, following that logic, no one who originated from Africa can call themselves American.
Click to expand...

No. Not saying that at all. Folks like to throw the notion around that there are "white" Africans. Of course there are. There are "black" Germans and "black" Russians. Originally, everyone hails from Africa from and through Ancestral "Eve", so we're dealing with semantics. When people refer to "Africans", generally, they are referring to "black Africans".
 
bravo said:
You ignore poor Muammar Gaddafi, hes more African than you.


Really ?............According to some that fancy themselves experts in evolution and descendants; all of us can trace our ancestry to Africa......so we can all define ourselves as African American can't we......

Thats just as valid as your claims......
Click to expand...

Bravo, really....was anyone talking to you?
 
Aoxomoxoa said:
They were both born in Africa, so are you saying that no one with European ethnicity can be called African? In which case, following that logic, no one who originated from Africa can call themselves American.
Click to expand...

I almost hate to point out to him that ALL of our ancestors came from Africa. Some just have to trace their lineage back further than others.
 
Say it Loud!!!

Conservative said:
The labels used to describe Americans of African descent mark the movement of a people from the slave house to the White House. Today, many are resisting this progression by holding on to a name from the past: "black."

For this group — some descended from U.S. slaves, some immigrants with a separate history — "African-American" is not the sign of progress hailed when the term was popularized in the late 1980s. Instead, it's a misleading connection to a distant culture.

The debate has waxed and waned since African-American went mainstream, and gained new significance after the son of a black Kenyan and a white American moved into the White House. President Barack Obama's identity has been contested from all sides, renewing questions that have followed millions of darker Americans:

What are you? Where are you from? And how do you fit into this country?

"I prefer to be called black," said Shawn Smith, an accountant from Houston. "How I really feel is, I'm American."

"I don't like African-American. It denotes something else to me than who I am," said Smith, whose parents are from Mississippi and North Carolina. "I can't recall any of them telling me anything about Africa. They told me a whole lot about where they grew up in Macomb County and Shelby, N.C."

Gibre George, an entrepreneur from Miami, started a Facebook page called "Don't Call Me African-American" on a whim. It now has about 300 "likes."

"We respect our African heritage, but that term is not really us," George said. "We're several generations down the line. If anyone were to ship us back to Africa, we'd be like fish out of water."

"It just doesn't sit well with a younger generation of black people," continued George, who is 38. "Africa was a long time ago. Are we always going to be tethered to Africa? Spiritually I'm American. When the war starts, I'm fighting for America."

Joan Morgan, a writer born in Jamaica who moved to New York City as a girl, remembers the first time she publicly corrected someone about the term: at a book signing, when she was introduced as African-American and her family members in the front rows were appalled and hurt.

"That act of calling me African-American completely erased their history and the sacrifice and contributions it took to make me an author," said Morgan

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/02/04/national/a101235S38.DTL#ixzz1lYIs7Pqo
Click to expand...


 
Superfreak said:
I almost hate to point out to him that ALL of our ancestors came from Africa. Some just have to trace their lineage back further than others.
Click to expand...


I already did.....seems he can't recall what went down 5 or 6 posts ago......dementia....
 
poet said:
My Ancestors came from Africa. I was born in America...hence, I am an African-American. I define myself, thank you. Ernie Els and Gary Player are descendants of colonist immigrants to Africa.
Click to expand...

Oh boy, now I can call myself anglo-saxon american because of my ancestors. Eventually people are going to start wanting a list of DNA molecules, stick with black it's easy simple and you only need one syllable.
 
Disillusioned said:
Oh boy, now I can call myself anglo-saxon american because of my ancestors. Eventually people are going to start wanting a list of DNA molecules, stick with black it's easy simple and you only need one syllable.
Click to expand...

Why are you concerned with how I choose to label or identify myself? Don't think that what I do or think has anything to do with you. And kindly keep your advice to yourself.
 
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