Why is the term African American used for people living in America that have African heritage? If America is your country then, wouldn't it make more patriotic sense to be American African, so the emphasis would unite our country, rather than divide it?
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Anonymous D
ANSWERS: 6
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I really didn't think it divided the country in any way, and it's just saying heritage first. I guess I could say I am German-Lithuanian-American, but that would be silly.
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It isn't dividing. It is just stressing a pride in the ancestry you have which influences so much of what you do. My daughters are Australian born, but identify strongly with their Italian heritage. Therefore they are Italo-Australian. I am Anglo-Australian, since I was born in England of an Aussie mum and a New Zealand father, both of whom had primarily English heritage.
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Thanks for the answers guys. The logic I was thinking when I asked my question was that in a list of ingredients the main ingredients come first. It made it feel to me that the heritage was outweighing the country, and seemed unpatriotic to me. Like the term implies your past is more important than your present. Now that I think about it more, I guess it can be read more like listing your city before your state. I got that when I read Singwell's answer, so thanks.
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People need to understand that there is nothing wrong with identifying with your lineage. Being of African, German, Italian, or even Irish decent helps to identify with where your ancestry is from. There is no division by recognizing where you come from. The uniting classification is American. Who care if it goes first or last when describing your unity. In addition, one other thing I would like to point out, that is patriotism has nothing to do with having pride in your lineage. The number one thing that disturbs me more then anything else is how my compatriots confuse what real patriotism is.
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Since when does nomenclature gotta make sense?! ;-)
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It's ludicrous for almost any black American citizen to call themselves an "African American". I know I sure wouldn't be proud of my predecessors being slaves and sold off/shipped away to continue being slaves someplace else! I mean, it's not like successful or elite Africans in their homeland were suddenly chopped down to slaves and sold to America...what exactly are you proud of? Hell, I'd be proud to be benefiting from my forefathers being lucky enough to be shipped away! So it took a few generations to get free...sure beats the hell out of staying in the homeland. Some of those poor saps are STILL slaves. I don't embrace any slave culture...here or in Africa, and was not a part of either. Be happy your forefathers were part of the one that became more free sooner...which isn't the African part.
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