Is it accurate to call someone not born in Africa an African American?

1. 68

   hockey8mnposted 11 years ago

   Is it accurate to call someone not born in Africa an African American?
   
   After all, that individual was not born in Africa.  Same goes for Mexican Americans or any other "politically correct" way of identifying an individual from where their relatives were born.  Why not simply call someone born in the United States an American?

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2. 72

   relacheposted 11 years ago

   This European-American agrees.  Focus on teaching kids that Americans are just Americans.  That's how we'll get the color/race thing to finally stop.

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3. 91

   Georgie Loweryposted 11 years ago

   It's a sensitive issue for a lot of people, and some do identify with their ancestry. That said, I couldn't imagine asking to have myself referred to as a Welsh American. My family has been in this county now for centuries.

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   1. 68

      hockey8mnposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      It is a very sensitive issue and why I asked.  It is something that should be talked about and not swept under the rug.  Talking about big issues in a calm and collected manor is healthy.

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   SpanStarposted 11 years ago

   I suspect it could boil down to how one wishes to view themselves. There are however a number of circumstances which could address the issue of how one wants to be recognized for example if an Asian female was kidnapped and taken out of the country to someplace like say Germany and forced into white slavery for a number of years would she considered herself or her descendents German? If however some people elect to move to a different country and adopt a lifestyle of that country perhaps it would be appropriate for them to recognize themselves as members of that country. The idea that slaves were taken away from their homeland and forced into slavery strikes me as not a consensual choice and the country which they have been forced onto also rejected them as not even human why would one want to align themselves with people that hate them and has hated them for some time?

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   1. 68

      hockey8mnposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I understand the sentiment, but no one is holding anyone here today.  If people don't like the country they are living in today they have the freedom to leave it.  Everyone doesn't hate black people and find them subhuman.

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      SpanStarposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Your comments are not new in that they have been used before in the past as stated "America Love it or Leave it!" When one creates a problem they can't always undo the problem for example should we all not leave this country and give it back to its o

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      daskittlez69posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Most African societies had slaves. Enslavement was often a by-product of localized warfare where the vanquished became the slaves of the victors. Africans sold their own people amongst themselves and to others as well. Caravan routes had long linked

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   4. 68

      hockey8mnposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Its not a matter of love or leave.  Its a matter of identifing yourself in some other way than from an ancestral standpoint.  You don't have to love the country to live here, its a matter of choice to live here.

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   5. 59

      SpanStarposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      It was decided for the American Indians where they will live in their own country. It was decided for African slaves to whom and where they would be sold to. It is time people stopped deciding for other races what they should be.

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5. 75

   daskittlez69posted 11 years ago

   The term African-American does not make any sense at all.  Africa is a continent.  Most Americans don't even know that.  When you ask people where Egypt is, a lot will tell you it is in the Middle East.  Anywho, we should just call ourselves American, that is what we are!

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   1. 68

      hockey8mnposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Technically, Egypt is in the middle east (a subcontinent), but I understand what your saying here.  Geography is not one of the stronger aspects of the education system here.

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   Attikosposted 11 years ago

   It's a matter of semantics. You can call someone anything you like when you're among friends in private, but if someone wants to be called a cockatoo, why not give him that courtesy, at least to his face? It breaks no bones and picks no pockets.

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   1. 68

      hockey8mnposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I wouldn't mind being called a cockatoo lol.  I agree with you and spanstar, someone should be called what they like to be called.

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