"African American"

[Imran Siddiqui]

He isn't as skilled as others, sure, but a good try.

[Drake Tungsten]

Oh, I give him an "A" for effort. Dropping "******" like that really shows that you are going for broke.

[monkspider]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
Oh, I give him an "A" for effort. Dropping "******" like that really shows that you are going for broke.

I don't get why some here are fond of "Amerind" or "Amerindian". Sure, it looks nice on paper. But when you try to pronounce it, it sounds like crap. "Native-American" for me.

[Vince278]

This thread reminded me of something I heard on the TV show "Roc" about ten years or so ago. My recollection may not be precise but in one episode one of the kids said something about being an African-American. The grandfather responded angrily with the following:
"Son, let me tell you something. When I was born I was called a Negro. Growing up as a young man about your age I suddenly became Coloured. Then as I got older I woke up one day and found out I was Black. So you will have to excuse me if it takes me awhile to get used to being called African-American!"

Personally, I have a problem with the phrase "(fill in the blank)-American". I think the only word that matters is "American". We are all Americans (or at least those of you from the U.S. who are reading this) and that is the only thing that matters. Filling in that blank above is divisive.

Also, the phrase itself borders on being non-sensical. Do we call people of Italian (for example) descent European-Americans?

[Tingkai]

Re: "African American"

Originally posted by Jaguar Warrior
I hate the term "African American."

Firstly, it is factually incorrect. It was coined to describe black people. However, it uses continent of origin to describe race. If you went to South Africa, would you say that the country has some white people and some African Americans? Clearly not, because many of them have never been to America, and certainly aren't American. So would you say that the country has some white people and some Africans? No, because the white people are African as well. And what about a black person who immigrated from the Caribbean? Would he be African American?

Man, you really don't get it, do you.

A black American is an African-American because they are Americans whose ancestors were from Africa.

Obviously a South African would not be an African-American because they are not American.

If this is too complicated, just let us know.

Originally posted by Jaguar Warrior
Secondly, it is a seven syllable description when one syllable could suffice.

Yeah, jaguar warrior is a pain to say, so I prefer to use a one syllable word to descrive you: Thick.

Originally posted by Jaguar Warrior
Thirdly, it reeks of political correctness.

No, your comment reeks of ignorance.

The reason people started using African-American is because they wanted a term that was more accurate and that reflected their pride in being American. The term "black" refers to anyone in the world with black or kind of black skin.

For the same reason, Italian-Americans use this term, instead of calling themselves Italian. But I suppose you think Italian-American is just a politcally correct name.

[Vince278]

Re: Re: "African American"

Originally posted by Tingkai
Obviously a South African would not be an African-American because they are not American.

I went to highschool in 1979 with what you would call a South African-American. He used the American phrase at the time to describe himself, not the South African phrase.
(You'll notice I didn't mention his race. The important thing here is that he was an American )

[Solly]

Can't you call them Red Indians?

[Sikander]

Re: Re: "African American"

Originally posted by Tingkai

For the same reason, Italian-Americans use this term, instead of calling themselves Italian. But I suppose you think Italian-American is just a politcally correct name.

I've never heard an "Italian American" use the term except in a rare case where he needed to differentiate between an American of Italian ancestry and a guy from Italy. They call themselves Italian, and rightfully assume that everyone already knows that they are Americans. These terms are for school officials and reporters to worry about, and for the race baiting industry officials to ruthlessly carp about. No one else gives a damn.

Oh, and I've never met an (American) Indian who called himself anything but.

[Harovan]

Re African Americans: If I talk about properties of their skin (like being more resistant to sun radiation etc), I will call them black people. If I talk about their heritage, I will call them people of African descent (or Pacific, or whatever). If I talk about what they are now, I will call them Americans.

[Gangerolf]

"Coloureds"

[Vince278]

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
If I talk about what they are now, I will call them Americans.

[Monk]

I recommend this classic cult movie as the way to cure you guys of your annoying political correctness.

[MikeH]

I use "people".

[Solly]

What if you want to identify someone to point out to a friend, though Mike? "oh, it's that person over there...no, not that one, that one".

You need to have some way of describing.

[Solly]

Btw, I agree with the sentiment you are trying to express though.