When you think of Africans

[Anonymous]

Wow, it is sad what a turn this thread has taken. Are people really arguing that the Caribbean is not part of the Americas? Would those who are saying Caribbean-Americans can't call themselves AA if they want to say that biracial people can't call themselves black if they want to? Why all the divisiveness?
signed,
a woman who would qualify as a member of the AA club, but simply calls herself black.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:21:25 you sound a bit desperate and insecure and need to let it go. Damn! Call yourself what you want...nothing anyone says will make you comfortable anyway.

Don't worry - there is absolutely nothing here to make me stop calling myself AA, and I am comfortable with it. It's just that I think your definition is WRONG and I want to see where your actual support is. But I will admit to being a bit peeved with the AA posters who insist that those of us with West Indian heritage cannot call ourselves AA, as if we are somehow impostors when we claim AA heritage. As if my parents' generation weren't right there fighting in the US wars, suffering through Jim Crow and marching on Washington with your parents. My ancestors weren't here for the emancipation, but we share the much of the same history and heritage and it quite frankly never occurred to me that some of my AA "brothers and sisters" don't think we are also AA. But oh well, you're right, I probably need to let it go. Still would like to see those scholarly articles though ...

I am not the poster that you have been going back and forth with. See how paranoid and defensive you are? It's really weird seeing you come unglued. While you might still call yourself AA, I get a feeling that this thread will come to mind when you do so.

BTW, how did your ancestors get to the US prior to the Civil Rights Movement? Just curious. Because I know that prior to the passing of The Immigration and Naturalization Act, it was damn near impossible for blacks to migrate to America.

Yes, I do see that I am a bit unglued on this ... it has really struck a chord because it has never before occurred to me that I am not AA, or that others would think I am wrong for claiming AA. So it's a bit of an earth-moving thought. My ancestors came into the US through Miami - there are a ton of black Caribbean immigrants down there and have been for generations. Not sure exactly how they got there, but they were there in droves. My family has been in this country since the turn of the last century. But I personally have little connection to the Caribbean communities down there, so it would be weird to me if I called myself Caribbean American.

[Anonymous]

22:10,

What's so wrong with just being black?

There are plenty of AAs who don't like the label and won't use it.

Just wondering why you have such a strong connection to this term. As I understood it, the strong connection for AAs comes from paying honor to ancestors who were enslaved here. It also seems like a sort of balm for essentially being "rootless".

[Anonymous]

22:10, I am one of the posters who agree with your point of view. I'm AA, even though the crazy lady thinks I'm white or Jamaican. Anyway, I agree that you should just let this go. It's not a big deal, this is an anonymous board, you can't let what people think bother you. You are a true AA in my book not that it matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Neither the Caribbean or countries in Africa are apart of the Americas.

[size=18]It should be noted that people from Africa were brought to the Caribbean, courtesy of the Atlantic Slave Trade.[/size]

Johnny "I Can" Duncan

[Anonymous]

Not this shit again. Let it the fuck go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fine, I'll just call everyone black, because who knows whose ancestor is what.

Dumbest stuff ever.

Do you feel the same way about folks calling themselves Irish-Americans, Italian-American, Chinese-Americans, Korean-Americans, etc?

Of course not. They don't tie their ethnic designation to something so arbitrary as how they got here.

They do it for the same reason that AAs do it; to honor their ancestors. I'm sorry you don't see the similarity (but quite frankly, I'm not surprised).

Do not attempt to use semantics to escape the reality of the situation!

Dr. Johnny Duncan
The 1st Afr-i-can Amer-i-can

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

BTW, how did your ancestors get to the US prior to the Civil Rights Movement? Just curious. Because I know that prior to the passing of The Immigration and Naturalization Act, it was damn near impossible for blacks to migrate to America.

Another caribbean person here, I personally migrated in the '80s
However, I had great_great-aunts and uncles who migrated from the caribbean in the 1920's, showing up in the New York census I found on ancestry.com...and they were Black (Negro in the census), so there must have been a time when it was legal...

and in census and school forms, I list my kids as AA

[Anonymous]

I think everyone is free to choose as they please. There are AA who check "other" to avoid taking away from their European ancestry just as some check both white non-hispanic and black non-hispanic. Just how we have learned that some people want to simply be black non-AA or just AA.

[Anonymous]

Maybe we should get rid of these racial categories.
Why do the even exist?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:African American is a term that applies to US blacks whose ancestors were brought over during slavery. We don't have a reliable way to trace our exact country of origin in Africa, so African America is a nod/tribute to our ancestors who toiled in the US.

African American does not apply to: African immigrants, Jamaicans, Haitians, Bahamians, white people from Africa, etc. It ONLY applies to US blacks whose ancestors were enslaved in the US.

To answer your questions:

"do you consider people from countries in north Africa (e.g. Morocco, Libya, Egypt, etc.) to be African?"

Yes, though it would be more accurate to identify them by their country rather than their continent of birth. (US citizens don't routinely say we're North Americans).

Is is appropriate for Americans from north African countries to check off African American on a college application?

Absolutely not. Neither should immigrants from any other African country check this option.

And this is exactly why I do not ever refer to myself as Af Am. People in the U.S. could not care less about weak or non-extant cultural ties to a continent that is a distant dream for most. They just want to know whether someone has dark skin, big lips, and a big nose. 'Black' is so much more honest. I can't wait until 'Af Am' goes out of fashion. It has always been stupid.

[Anonymous]

As far as I am concerned any person who wants the AA label is welcome to it, Afrikaner, Bajan, quadroon, even Carlos Mencia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of those forms say "Black or African American." In that case I would think that, say, a Ghanaian or a North African of a native African ethicity could check "yes" but an Arab Egyptian or white South African prob. shouldn't. I think those questions are trying to capture ppl who are African by race/ethnicity, not nationality.

I'm not black or AA but DH is West African and our kids will be "African American" or "Black" on their forms.

What about "mixed race." doesnt it count?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The more interesting question is, "Do they consider themselves African?"

It made my (African) husband C R A Z Y that Ethiopians generally don't identify as "African" but as "Ethiopian."

It's a fascinating dynamic, really.

Politically, some Libyans may identify as "African." I can't see Tunisians or non-Berber Moroccans doing the same thing. And, I'm kind of tickled when I think of their reactions should you ever pose the question directly.

Why did it make your husband crazy? I identify myself with my country, not with my continent - if someone asks me: where are you from? Or "Are you American?" I will answer: I'm from Brazil, I'm Brazillian. I don't say "I South American."

My husband say "I'm Italian" - he doesn't say "I'm European"

Now, if they ask my ethnicity, I will say Latina (and I use to think - well, still do, just don't say anymore; that Italians, French, Spanish, Portuguese were Latinos too.... Oh the horror!).

[Anonymous]

I separate race from ethnicity. My race is Black, my ethnicity is African American because I am not from the Caribbean or any island or spanish speaking country. I think you shoukd be able to be a White person from an African country and consider yourself African American.
If an African American born in the USA moves to Canada does he or she say racially Black but ethnically African American?