Have you ever considered that the term 'African American' is the furthest thing from politically correct because it makes an assumption about a person's ethnicity and nationality based soley on their skin color?
by 
Morg the Army wife
ANSWERS: 12
-
Yes, actually, I have. I've had black Americans tell me, "I've never been to Africa," etc.
-
I think it's a stupid term. If they're American citizens, they're American. Period.
-
I'd say it's about akin to calling someone who's obviously of Asian descent "Chinese" or "Japanese", in that there's a fair chance you may be correct, but it's not nice to presume in any case. Although the largest region with a primarily black population is Africa, there's a very real chance that someone the average Westerner might look at and think of as "African American" could very easily be from elsewhere.
-
This is a quote from a best friend of mine while speaking to his teacher, "Please don't call me African-American. I've never described you as a German-American, and I never will."
-
Yes it is soooo far from the truth. What am I? Scottish, German, Russian, Italian American? We are White, Black, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Indian, or Asian. That about covers the majority of the US. On another note, but same type of thing ... our racial differences and stereotypes are mostly funny. If they weren't Carlos Mencia wouldn't be making any money as a Comedian. That's all he does. I think we can all agree that we all know what words are derogitory and shouldn't be used. Certainly, White, Black, Mexican, etc. are not of that nature.
-
This is why I am color blind when it comes to skin tone. I call people by their name and in the case I do not know their name I call the males men and the females women, no matter what skin tone they may have.
-
Yes. I don't think I would ever consider ethnicity if I wasn't forced to by my government who ask me with every document what my ethnic origins are. I hate being asked because as far as I have been able to figure out, I am a little bit of everything except possibly aboriginal Australian. Yet I am forced to choose one. I appear to be more white than many other colors so I grudgingly write that. I used to use other ethnic names, but kept being angrily told that I was not whatever I wrote and they would re-wrte my answer for me! I think it is time we did away with these labels and all became people and citizens.
-
Yes, I work with four men from Jamaica and a woman from Barbados. People sometimes call them African-Americans. It doesn't offend them, they just laugh it off. I think it's impossible to tell a person ethnicity from their skin tone.
-
I wonder why these terms still keep having to be used in the US, especially on forms etc. In Australia, we might refer to ourselves as Italo-Australians, but we are never required to fill in our ethnic background on a form, except for the census (and that gives us a lot of options, which is great for me as I have ancestors from many parts of the world). I agree that African-American is politer than terms that were used in the past, but it shouldn't define a person. I mean, I am 1/16th African, but you can't tell by my looks.
-
Personally I find any term that separates individuals based on cultural background a bit ridiculous, presumptuous and sometimes rude , but then some individuals' sense of self is (unfortunately IMHO) dominated by their culture, so they might need these expressions to feel whole.
-
My ex-boyfriend was from South Africa, but he was caucasian. He wasn't allowed to say he was "African-American" even though he really was.
-
I am black and i would perfer to be called black, becausue im honestly not african. I was born and raised in America, as were my parents and grandparents. So for that reason i do not see myself as being African American. Just Black American.
RELATED QUESTIONS
Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC