Why Are We Universally Called "African-American" in this country? From Where Did The Term Originate?Joanna said...
Black is a colour associated with mourning, darkness and evil. When you call yourself "black" you are subconciously calling upon yourself all the negative characteristics and definitions associated with the "black." Just as European Americans call themselves "White" and claim the positive associations that society has attached to the word. Or homosexuals and the word "gay." Call yourself what you want, but I am African American, I am not black.A rose by any other name may still smell as sweet, but if you call a rose "demon spawn" you may be less likely to give a dozen "demon spawns" to your wife.
"Black is a colour associated with mourning, darkness and evil."
Associated by whom?Black is far more than a color. Black is whatever we choose to make it. I choose to make it the greatest thing since sliced bread. Black is powerful. Black is sexy. Black is everything. Black is the reason millions of white people are laying out in the sun risking skin cancer as we speak. Black is the reason tanning salons are a multi-billion dollar industry.
Would I give my wife a dozen "demon spawns"? No.
Nor would I give my wife a dozen "pasty crackers".
Subscribing to memes manufactured by others is a recipe for mental slavery.
28 comments:
because we all came from africa and we live in america.
Always hated the term. "Black" is a unifying term because it ignores national boundries and embraces the skin color we're supposed to be ashamed of.
that dude and pussyassanonymous (lol), i hear you both.
at the same time, 'african' is also a unifying term that ignores skin color and embraces the cultural heritage we're supposed to be ashamed of.
i typically use either, depending on the context
I'm actually quiet surprised by this survey, if it's indeed a true representation of how native American blacks identify themselves. I honestly don't like the term. As an African woman (born and raised), it simply does not apply to me. Still doesn't stop people from calling me it because they're afraid to say black. When did black become something offensive? Ridicules.
Another problem with the term is that sometime people use it to refer to someone who is neither African nor American.
interesting survey DV....recognizing this is the net...and anyone could've participate....it's interesting no one chose "american"
hmmm
Black is a colour associated with mourning, darkness and evil. When you call yourself "black" you are subconciously calling upon yourself all the negative characteristics and definitions associated with the "black." Just as European Americans call themselves "White" and claim the positive associations that society has attached to the word. Or homosexuals and the word "gay." Call yourself what you want, but I am African American, I am not black.
A rose by any other name may still smell as sweet, but if you call a rose "demon spawn" you may be less likely to give a dozen "demon spawns" to your wife.
Joanna,
I guess you should have voted when there still was a chance. Seems to me like you're still channelling a played out Biblical oppositional binary of Black/White Evil/Good. If that's you do you, but don't try to pass off that warped logic to those who identify with Black as a cultural and political symbol and racial identity. It's 2009, not 1909.
dx
I think you're right this is an interesting poll for lotsa reasons. I wondered how come so many people voted on this one - this is double the number to those who've voted in recent DV polls like the Prez O and H1N1 vaccine. I also wonder how many were genuine first-time voters and how many were being honest about their identity.
It's also interesting the no one picked African-American could it be that for *some* Black Americans that call themselves Af-Am voted Black because everybody else was voting Black or there is genuine widespread rejection of the term.
That no one picked American is also a surprise - if someone claims they don't call themselves White, Black or Af-Am they'd pick none of the above but what if that person is American. Is national identity is of lesser importance than racial?
I dunno, but I'd like to know what an 'I don't see color' person has to say.
"Subscribing to memes manufactured by others is a recipe for mental slavery."
Now this is real talk from a meme producer.
Joanna...to clarify: are you uncomfortable using the word black to describe yourself?
i am black...and comely....
perhaps Joanna should read Song of Solomon....beautiful poetry and love letters written to a beautiful BLACK WOMAN.
TGN
Knew a cool dude named Ed in J-school during college who was dark as night that got pissed if you called him African American.
"Man, I'm not African American, I'm from Haiti. I'm black."
Dunno how it relates but this made me think of that.
Yeah. That's interesting DD.
I had a meeting the other night at a restaurant. The hostess asked me at the door if I'd like a seat at the bar. I told her 'no thank you, I'm meeting a gentleman who should be here shortly."
She said 'no problem. what does he look like?'
I told her 'He's a tall black man, with a beard and something of a Barry White voice".
You could visibly see her flinch when I said "black man".
Not in the least bit racist ... just uncomfortable. Like she didn't know if it was ok for her to repeat it.
I wanted to reach out, hug her, and whisper in her ear ... "It's ... O ... K ... to ... say ... black".
I always find it amusing when white ppl seem uncomfortable with the word black as a descriptor... come on, we know we're black. I guess some people view it as Joanna does, negative regardless of the context.
Maybe it's different up north, but down here in the South, white people have NO PROBLEM using the word "black."
As in "the blacks are ruining everything... Don't go there, that's where the blacks hang out... Can you believe he thought he was getting into the club? We don't do blacks..."
Must be a Southern thing.
yeah it's unfortunate....that's y i think this site is school...it is liberatin' to free one's conscience from "negative" stereotypes to a more self-discriptive identity...as DV stated being "black" is much much more than a color....
KW
i agree...self doubt is a muthafugga....we live in a society/world where peoples identity have been defined by other peoples and not to agree with that consensus may be a bit intimidatin' for some
call me radical autonomous but with good cause
"I wanted to reach out, hug her, and whisper in her ear ... "It's ... O ... K ... to ... say ... black".
LOL. Story of my life DV.
Like big man said, it's probably cause I'm in LA.
African American is so wrong for so many reasons. The African continent is too big to claim it as a whole IMO. And just because you call yourself that doesn't mean people are still not going to see your blackness. You can't deny that shit. So it only makes sense to embrace it, love it, and educate others that it is a BEAUTIFUL thing. It is the thing to be.
And yes, it has absolutely nothing to do with color. Whose skin tone is actually the color black?
LOL. You aint lyin' N.
But come on. Nobody has even close yet.
WHERE IN THE FUUUUUGGGGG ... DID WE GET THE TERM "AFRICAN-AMERICAN" IN THE FIRST PLACE?
&
HOW WAS THAT MEME UNIVERSALLY IMPLEMENTED / ADOPTED SO QUICKLY?
I have to say, I'm in agreement with our host on this. I recall that we were all "black" when I was a kid and nobody I know had a problem with it. Somewhere in late 70's or early 80's I heard some reference to "Afro-American's" (I recall my younger sister confusing the hair style with that ethnic identifier). I don't quite remember when the term came into general use, but for some reason Jesse Jackson comes to mind.
I just remember refusing to use the term.
DV,
I found this for you.
"In the United States the term African-American was first used officially when the Emancipation Proclamation was legally enacted.
President Lincoln in a show of support for this new law went and got some Africans that had recently arrived in the United States and swore them in as U.S Citizens and called them African-Americans.
Then he offered them residence, or free passage back to Africa or anywhere else they choose to go.
Almost immediately, those Blacks who were hundreds of years removed from Africa refuted the term African-American, and thus shortly thereafter, the official term for Blacks in the United States as citizens (half, 1/4 citizens) became Negro.
African-American came back into use after the United States government powers, and national, and international business entities in an effort to repair the image damage they had suffered from their part in Africa's Aparthied system, instructed Black leaders in the United States (Real and self appointed) to begin using the term African-American or lose their funding, so they began misapplying it to Blacks born in the U.S. and the media, being part of the forces that influenced Black leaders to promote the term, began using it in the medias to re-enforce it's use and acceptance.
The correct term is Black Americans. African American was a term invented so as not to "insult" the American race. Brits living in the UK are called Black and not African English so why use African American. You would also not say African Austrailian or insert another country. Most blacks' ancestry did come from Africa but whites also came from another country and they cannot be called German/French/Swiss, etc American because their ancestors arrived in America over a 100 years ago. Therefore, we are all black or white Americans unless they just arrived from their country. The blacks and whites are also very mixed with different races so saying African American is an incorrect term. "
Oh African American is wrong is so many ways.
Yes.
Yes.
That's Right!
Jesse did have something to do with it now that you mention it.
But still ... when has Jesse ever been THAT effective.
I mean every SCHOOLBOOK, JOB APPLICATION, NEWSPAPER, HOLLYWOOD MOVIE & TV SHOW ... suddenly uses the term AFRICAN-AMERICAN ... as if a light was switched on.
Could you imagine if in 4 years you never head the term "white"? Only European American?
How did that happen?
Where's Mike Fisher / Telemaque / Jonathan / Johnny /Medium White when you need him?
i recall niggz didnt want to be called "black".... again bec da negative stereotypes that was assoc with it as stated earlier...this pc term was the result...
i see muthafuggs tryin to dispense with that shit now tho
bout fuggin time
i also recall growin up in da caribbean...we never had a prob with being or being called black...thats what we were...but it seemed to me it always transcended color....
so when the term first surfaced...we were like "what da f*ck is an african american??
lol
it just seemed like black folks were ashamed of being called black men and black women
Interesting N.
"African-American came back into use after the United States government powers, and national, and international business entities in an effort to repair the image damage..."
But even still.
That begs the questions Who (exactly), How & Why?
Which administration? Which business entities? Which 'Think Tank'? Which author? Which professor?
How does calling black people in America "African American" appease the PTB interest in apartheid?
deeeee X!
Calling folks in the Caribbean "African-American" sounds ridiculous even without the accent.
"African-American" came into vogue when liberal whites (Who were afraid of being labeled as "Racists") began to search for a term that they felt would not be as offensive as the term "Black".
In reality, it was their image of Blackness they were fighting (Not (most of) ours) and the term stuck.
NEA said:
"African American is so wrong for so many reasons. The African continent is too big to claim it as a whole IMO."
Peter Tosh said: No matter where you come from as long as you're a Blackman, you're an African.
African Caribbean, Afro-Brazilian, Afro-European are all terms in use today to describe people all of African descent. Black Brits used to be called British Africans at a much earlier period in history.
I think y'all need to get some global perspective into your discussion coz there are different reasons to why the African as prefix is applied in some places.
For me, being from a 85% Black country - being African and one's cultural identity matters alot more. When I went through my 'moment of consciousness' in high school (a mostly White schl) I was on this vibe like 'I'm Black y'all, I'm blickety Black y'all'. Then one day I came home from school and thought I'd tell my Dad all about my Blackness, and he was like "Yea, but so is everyone else. What u really know about Africa?"
"I think y'all need to get some global perspective into your discussion coz there are different reasons to why the African as prefix is applied in some places."
thought about that for a min and i think ya right KW...
aint nothin' wrong with identifying with one's "blackness" (color descript or beyond) but maybe the term AA shouldnt be used as a (color descript or beyond) but to identify one's ethic origins/nationality
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