When you think of Africans
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
Just to further drive home the point that there is no "right" definition of African American - here's more from the Wikipedia definition. Especially note the author who considers Obama African American but not black.
Who is African American? Since 1977, in an attempt to keep up with changing social opinion, the United States government has officially classified black people (revised to black or African American in 1997) as "having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa."[138] Other federal offices, such as the United States Census Bureau, adhere to the OMB standards on race in its data collection and tabulations efforts.[139] In preparation for the United States 2010 Census, a marketing and outreach plan, called 2010 Census Integrated Communications Campaign Plan (ICC) recognized and defined African Americans as black people born in the United States. From the ICC perspective, African Americans are one of three groups of black people in the United States[140] The ICC plan was to reach the three groups by acknowledging that each group has its own sense of community that is based on geography and ethnicity.[141] The best way to market the census process toward any of the three groups is to reach them through their own unique communication channels and not treat the entire black population of the U.S. as though they are all African Americans with a single ethnic and geographical background. The U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation categorizes black or African American people as "A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa" through racial categories used in the UCR Program adopted from the Statistical Policy Handbook (1978) and published by the Office of Federal Statistical Policy and Standards, U.S. Department of Commerce, derived from the 1977 OMB classification.[142] The African-American experience In her book The End of Blackness, as well as in an essay on the liberal website Salon,[143] author Debra Dickerson has argued that the term "black" should refer strictly to the descendents of Africans brought to America as slaves, and not the sons and daughters of black immigrants who lack that ancestry. In her opinion, President Barack Obama, who is the son of a Kenyan immigrant, although technically African-American, is not black.[143][144] She makes the argument that grouping all people of African descent together regardless of their unique ancestral circumstances would inevitably deny the lingering effects of slavery within the American community of slave descendents, in addition to denying black immigrants recognition of their own unique ancestral backgrounds. "Lumping us all together", Dickerson wrote, "erases the significance of slavery and continuing racism while giving the appearance of progress".[143] |
Anonymous
|
"Unfortunately yes, the moment their feet touched anything besides that ship, they were stripped of their AA label. sorry "
You can't be serious ... |
Anonymous
| Are Obama's kids black because of their mother? |
Anonymous
Of course they share the same history. The only difference is that African Americans don't know their countries of origins (so we don't even know who to share a kinship with). |
Anonymous
|
Black but not AA : Zoe Saldana, Rihanna, Carmelo Anthony
AA: Vanessa Williams, Viola Davis, Denzel Washington |
Anonymous
Were the great grandparents slaves in the US? If so, all of their descendants "qualify". If not, none of them do. |
Anonymous
|
For 12:26, you do realize that Africans and "African-Americans" share the same ancestors right? If a family of four was split and 2 were sold into slavery and the other two left behind in Africa, do they stop being family because of that? If they all go on to expand their respective families in different parts of the world, does their source of origin change?
The descendants of the family members that were sold into slavery would be African-American as these descendants would have no knowledge of their family of origin. As you may know, during slavery families were ripped apart and communities were permanently separated. All sense of family and community was lost as mothers were sold to plantations in states like Mississippi and Alabama and their young children were sold to Virginia or Tennesee planters. The term "African-American" was created so that these descendants of slavery could acknowledge and link back to thier ties to Africa despite the fact that they really didn't know their exact country of origin. Conversely, the two family members that were left behind in Africa never lost their linegage, traditions, or oral histories. So yes while all four share the same ancestors, only two of the four family members actually know who their ancestors. As indicated in Wikepedia, immigrants may self-identify as AA but as I understand the history, the rationale behind the creation of the terms does not encompass those who ancestors were not enslaved as part of the forced African diaspora migration. |
Anonymous
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa. Most African Americans are of West and Central African descent and are descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States. However, some immigrants from African, Caribbean, Central American or South American nations, or their descendants, may be identified or self-identify with the term. While you may choose to identify/self-identify as you please, if your ancestors didn’t come directly from Africa, you are not African American. These are the facts. Why does the truth bother you so much? Are you African American? African? |
Anonymous
You don't have to "give up" anything. You can self-identify as you please (as I said, Obama does). Doesn't make it an accurate statement. |
Anonymous
Obviously, the slaves weren't African-American. This term came about in the 1980's based on a poem by Johnny Duncan. Jesse Jackson popularized it in the 1990's. Again, PLEASE educate yourself. How can you take offense when you don't even have the facts of the issue? |
Anonymous
Uhmmm...yeah. They're also black because of their father. Did you mean to ask if they are African American? If so, yes they are because their mother is African American. |
Anonymous
Finally, another voice of reason. Great post, pp. |
Anonymous
|
Usain Bolt - Black not AA
Jesse Jackson- AA |
Anonymous
oh you have to have been slaves in the US. Ah I get it now 
|
Anonymous
He's Jamaican, not American. |