Why are black people, called African American? Options

[brooklyneast05]

i dont like being called black because, for me, it's like a nice way of saying colored person. and colored was a nice way of saying negro. and negro was a nice way of saying coon/monkey/the N word, whatever else.

a nice on top of a nice on top of a nice = a really nice

[jesusisthebestth...]

a nice on top of a nice on top of a nice = a really nice

thank you thank you

[brooklyneast05]

thank you thank you

idk what for
im disagreeing with u and saying that black is a nice and non offensive term

but ur welcome

[jesusisthebestth...]

You said blacks have not always been called black. So other than African-American (unless that's what you want to be called), would you like to be called those other names? Such as the N word?

We are going to get no where if we keep trying to be overly politically correct. No one means any harm when they call you black.

this isn't about being politically correct. this is about making an attempt to make african americans feel comfortable in the united states. i find it offensive to find on a standardized test issued by public schools the following choices with which i have to identify myself with:

White/Caucasian
Asian/Pacific Islander
African/Black OR
Black (not of Hispanic origin)
Hispanic
Native American
Other:____________

and african americans or black people, as you will, we're not always considered black or african american. after reading the narrative of a slave girl or the narrative of frederick douglas or, more recently what is the what by dave eggers and invisible man by ralph ellison. you will know the important role race plays in the definition of the african american mind.

but i dont think how u think and u dont think how i think, so i digress

[brooklyneast05]

this is about making an attempt to make african americans feel comfortable in the united states.

considering ive lived here my whole life, i feel very comfortable in the united states

[jesusisthebestth...]

idk what for
im disagreeing with u and saying that black is a nice and non offensive term

but ur welcome

and what's wrong with not being offensive? take hispanics for example, some don't like being called latino. and some latinos don't like being called hispanic. are they as wrong for choosing one over the other as i am for preferring african american to black?

[jesusisthebestth...]

considering ive lived here my whole life, i feel very comfortable in the united states

we've gone over this before and you still haven't changed. i understand your view, but it's as if you cannot fathom my opinions. you're one out of many...do you know how many african american 19 year old men there are in america who cannot identify with you at all?

[brooklyneast05]

we've gone over this before and you still haven't changed. i understand your view, but it's as if you cannot fathom my opinions. you're one out of many...do you know how many african american 19 year old men there are in america who cannot identify with you at all?

what do u mean by not feeling comfortable?
they don't know what anything else feels like if they've lived here their whole life. i dont think i understand what ur saying. being called african american is going to make them comfortable?

[jesusisthebestth...]

i'll tell u about myself.

1. im 19
2. im the oldest
3. wen i was 7 my grandmother told me i would be a corporate attorney.
4. im 19 and i still want to be a corporate attorney
5. im driven, goal oriented and ambitious...i want nothing more than my own happiness
6. i am born of foreign parents, the first american born in a family of jamaicans
7. im righteous, i will do whatever is right, upstanding and good to help my neighbor.

i figure, you're probably the same...you come from a good home, your parents are most likely educated, you seem goal oriented and all that good stuff. this makes you comfortable...if someone comes along today and takes away all of these things, you're no longer comfortable. some people are born uncomfortable...

[brooklyneast05]

i'll tell u about myself.

1. im 19
2. im the oldest
3. wen i was 7 my grandmother told me i would be a corporate attorney.
4. im 19 and i still want to be a corporate attorney
5. im driven, goal oriented and ambitious...i want nothing more than my own happiness
6. i am born of foreign parents, the first american born in a family of jamaicans
7. im righteous, i will do whatever is right, upstanding and good to help my neighbor.

i figure, you're probably the same...you come from a good home, your parents are most likely educated, you seem goal oriented and all that good stuff. this makes you comfortable...if someone comes along today and takes away all of these things, you're no longer comfortable. some people are born uncomfortable...

errrrrrrrrrr
their "situation" might be uncomfortable but they arent uncomfortable because they are called black (which is the topic at hand)

if i was the opposite of what i am, and i was "born uncomfortable" i still wouldn't have a problem being called black.( but thats me)

id have a problem with being poor, or uneducated, or having no goals in life. those are considerably bigger concerns than whether im called black or african american, so i figure those would account for the reason i wouldn't feel comfortable. idk, i don't see ur point still i guess. a white person in that situation wouldn't feel comfortable either, i don't see how any of it's related to a name.


if u want to be called african american thats ur personal preference, i understand that. i don't think where u live or how u live has anything to do with what u prefer as far as that goes, u just like prefer it because u prefer it. i know a lot of black people from both good and bad homes and none so far have a big problem with the term black.

[ClaudelGFX]

i dont like being called black...i thought i made that clear lol =]

Have you ever trought they might call you black just because your skin color is black? lol, it seems logical to me.

And stop saying bs like "black equals slave/coon/monkey" or any other cuz that's not true, like i've said before everywhere on the globe there were slaves and not all of them were BLACK, so if someone calls me white that doesn't mean he actually refers to "slave/coon/monkey" or w/e else, how about you guys just cut the crap and move on ? Stop thinking for the others, cuz you can't really read others mind and see what exactly they are reffering to. And also remember that the African American slaves weren't different nor more special then any other slaves in the history so stop making such a big deal of it.

They are almost the same with the gypsy's from my country, they are black tho and they always complain how people threat them and so on, but in fact their making all those with their own hands by stealing, begging and all others and you know what? because of them our country rename is always dirty, i for one don't like to be called Gypsy just because there is a small minority of people who ARE gypsy's in my country.

To me its all the same, and since other Black people say it tho, i believe its true, the Black ones don't like to be called black and the niggaz don't like to be called niggaz, but the black ones are afraid of niggaz, in fact to the Blacks, Niggaz are just a disgrace of their minority. In the end Black's and Niggaz are all called the same... African Americans.

[jesusisthebestth...]

Have you ever trought they might call you black just because your skin color is black? lol, it seems logical to me.

I AM NOT BLACK!!! I AM A SHADE OF BROWN!

NOTE THE FOLLOWING:
THIS IS A PICTURE OF BLACK:

AND THIS IS A PICTURE OF ME:


THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE COLOR BLACK AND THE COLOR OF MY SKIN. YOU'RE CLOSED MINDED AND IGNORANT.

And stop saying bs like "black equals slave/coon/monkey" or any other cuz that's not true, like i've said before everywhere on the globe there were slaves and not all of them were BLACK, so if someone calls me white that doesn't mean he actually refers to "slave/coon/monkey" or w/e else, how about you guys just cut the crap and move on ? Stop thinking for the others, cuz you can't really read others mind and see what exactly they are reffering to. And also remember that the African American slaves weren't different nor more special then any other slaves in the history so stop making such a big deal of it.

no one ever called whites coon or monkey. even indentured servants weren't called negative, demeaning, or nasty names. you know why, because of white supremacy.

the enslavement of africans is the worst because as a result of discrimination, jim crow laws, grandfather clauses, separate but equal law, the syphilis experiment which used african americans as test gerbils to see the effects of syphilis we were promised treatment but never received it, amadou diallo who was shot to death by white police officers when they thought he had a gun, he didn't. close your mouth and pick up a book. then we can talk.

close your ears and listen with your eyes...then you'll see the difference.

[brooklyneast05]

I AM NOT BLACK!!! I AM A SHADE OF BROWN!

white people aren't the color white


they too come in many different shades, but that doesn't prevent anyone from calling them white.

[jesusisthebestth...]

errrrrrrrrrr
their "situation" might be uncomfortable but they arent uncomfortable because they are called black (which is the topic at hand)

if i was the opposite of what i am, and i was "born uncomfortable" i still wouldn't have a problem being called black.( but thats me)

id have a problem with being poor, or uneducated, or having no goals in life. those are considerably bigger concerns than whether im called black or african american, so i figure those would account for the reason i wouldn't feel comfortable. idk, i don't see ur point still i guess. a white person in that situation wouldn't feel comfortable either, i don't see how any of it's related to a name.
if u want to be called african american thats ur personal preference, i understand that. i don't think where u live or how u live has anything to do with what u prefer as far as that goes, u just like prefer it because u prefer it. i know a lot of black people from both good and bad homes and none so far have a big problem with the term black.

fine then. i'm tired of going through the same thing again and again with you. if that's how u think then that's how u think. there's no point in trying to change ur point of view. you continue to talk about the people you know...what about the people you don't know, you should account for them too

[jesusisthebestth...]

white people aren't the color white
they too come in many different shades, but that doesn't prevent anyone from calling them white.

you're not hearing me, are you? the point is whites have always been called white. african american people have not always been called black or african american for that matter

[brooklyneast05]

fine then. i'm tired of going through the same thing again and again with you. if that's how u think then that's how u think. there's no point in trying to change ur point of view. you continue to talk about the people you know...what about the people you don't know, you should account for them too

i don't know who that would u be, u act like u know everyone i know, what kind of people do u think i know

you're not hearing me, are you? the point is whites have always been called white. african american people have not always been called black or african american for that matter

yea i get that, and i'm going with brownsugar and asking what they are called then. if u want to be called something that they have always been called, what is that

[jesusisthebestth...]

i don't know who that would u be, u act like u know everyone i know, what kind of people do u think i know

it doesnt matter, does it? be black and embrace black...i just don't think my ancestors, the ones from africa would like to know that i accepted black as my race

[brooklyneast05]

it doesnt matter, does it? be black and embrace black...i just don't think my ancestors, the ones from africa would like to know that i accepted black as my race

lol yea, it does matter, because ur trying to make my point invalid based on the people i know, and u don't have any clue what people i know. so ur just assuming

[jesusisthebestth...]

i no longer care about who you know, who u want to know, who knows you, etc...because for me, you're complacent. imagine if all of our ancestors were okay with separate but equal laws, if they were okay with not being allowed to vote, if they were okay with being in shakles. you wouldnt have your girlfriend, now would you? dont accept what there is for all there will always be. step out of the man made reality

[jesusisthebestth...]

i don't know who that would u be, u act like u know everyone i know, what kind of people do u think i know
yea i get that, and i'm going with brownsugar and asking what they are called then. if u want to be called something that they have always been called, what is that

i want to be called shanae...this is my name. and thats all i want to be called...we live in a country where race is everything and as a result millions of african americans suffer

[brooklyneast05]

i no longer care about who you know, who u want to know, who knows you, etc...because for me, you're complacent. imagine if all of our ancestors were okay with separate but equal laws, if they were okay with not being allowed to vote, if they were okay with being in shakles. you wouldnt have your girlfriend, now would you? dont accept what there is for all there will always be. step out of the man made reality

i'm glad u no longer care about those things because i'm tired of ur defense against me being ur judgment of who i know, and u repeatedly coming back with how i just can't understand because bla bla bla. u dont know what i can understand unless u know more about me, ur assuming who i know and don't know. being ok with being called black doesn't mean ur ok with slavery, not getting to vote, ect ect ect. there is a HUGE difference between being complacent with being called black, and being complacent with being considered less than human and not equal. they aren't anything the same, one is wrong and one is just personal preference about a name.

since ur so into assuming shit u should know my girlfriend is half black, so why don't u leave her out of this along with the rest of my personal life u know nothing about ok? her race (which u have wrongly assumed) doesn't matter at all to this argument, and since she isn't white, doesn't even make sense

i want to be called shanae...this is my name. and thats all i want to be called...we live in a country where race is everything and as a result millions of african americans suffer

i wanna be called jc
but we still all have a race and our name isn't our race
so that doesn't work
unless i tape a big sign on my face that says hi my name is jc, people who don't know me won't know my name, so i can't only be called that
we use race to identify people, identify doesnt equal judge (or shouldn't anyway), don't get those confused
we can't all go around acting as if we are the same race because we aren't

i don't think race is everything in america. i think it plays a factor a lot more than it should, but there are millions and millions of people who don't think twice about the race of someone. that's not to say i haven't run across a lot of racist people. but honestly financial status means more in america than race does, in my opinion.

when people call u black, they aren't saying that's all u are, they are just using it to identify u. if there was a group of people standing there, and i wanted to say something about the black dude specifically, i would call him black so that whoever i was talking to know who i was talking about.

if u personally want to be called african american that's fine. i don't mind being called that either, i'm just saying i don't have a problem with someone calling me black. and i personally don't feel someone should be offended by it. u can still prefer one without being offended by one. there's a lot more names that are way more offending than black.

[*ersatz*]

Erm, whites weren't always called white either. We're caucasian, but when we started using black, people starting using white. Just pointing that out.

[ClaudelGFX]

And NO, when i say Black i don't say in some "racist" way you are thinking of i'm just reffering to the color of your skin, no matter if its dark-black, light-black, browny or w/e you're saying.

SoEffinMajor there is a little button called Edit, try to use it more offten, yet again there is another thread about "African American" history and that's where you should talk about their history not here.

Another thing that i saw, is that you're mixing things alot and you endup confused but still you find alot of defesive things to point out even noone accused nor offended you in any way. And that's what i see at every "Afro-American", when someone starts talking about races, or just mentions "Black" they are all jumping with defensive words, or just call em racist, in more of the cases the persons involved didn't even TRY to offend those "Afo-Americans".

[bat19]

Jesus Jake, I cant believe out of all of us, you've had the most response on one topic, and such a simple topic too. Oh well, you win.

Black people are stupid, same as white people, same as all people. Also, blacks arent the only one's with the attachment of "american" on their race. There's Indian americans, asian americans, Mexican-Americans(Love education, so they go to night school and take spanish and get a B!!!). So I fully understand why they're called African americans.

[jesusisthebestth...]

And NO, when i say Black i don't say in some "racist" way you are thinking of i'm just reffering to the color of your skin, no matter if its dark-black, light-black, browny or w/e you're saying.

SoEffinMajor there is a little button called Edit, try to use it more offten, yet again there is another thread about "African American" history and that's where you should talk about their history not here.

Another thing that i saw, is that you're mixing things alot and you endup confused but still you find alot of defesive things to point out even noone accused nor offended you in any way. And that's what i see at every "Afro-American", when someone starts talking about races, or just mentions "Black" they are all jumping with defensive words, or just call em racist, in more of the cases the persons involved didn't even TRY to offend those "Afo-Americans".

u were trying to be funny when you wrote, have u ever thought you were called black because of ur skin color. all im saying is there is a difference...if i were white i wouldnt want to be called white. because white isn't a race.

i'm glad u no longer care about those things because i'm tired of ur defense against me being ur judgment of who i know, and u repeatedly coming back with how i just can't understand because bla bla bla. u dont know what i can understand unless u know more about me, ur assuming who i know and don't know. being ok with being called black doesn't mean ur ok with slavery, not getting to vote, ect ect ect. there is a HUGE difference between being complacent with being called black, and being complacent with being considered less than human and not equal. they aren't anything the same, one is wrong and one is just personal preference about a name.

since ur so into assuming shit u should know my girlfriend is half black, so why don't u leave her out of this along with the rest of my personal life u know nothing about ok? her race (which u have wrongly assumed) doesn't matter at all to this argument, and since she isn't white, doesn't even make sense
i wanna be called jc
but we still all have a race and our name isn't our race
so that doesn't work
unless i tape a big sign on my face that says hi my name is jc, people who don't know me won't know my name, so i can't only be called that
we use race to identify people, identify doesnt equal judge (or shouldn't anyway), don't get those confused
we can't all go around acting as if we are the same race because we aren't

i don't think race is everything in america. i think it plays a factor a lot more than it should, but there are millions and millions of people who don't think twice about the race of someone. that's not to say i haven't run across a lot of racist people. but honestly financial status means more in america than race does, in my opinion.

when people call u black, they aren't saying that's all u are, they are just using it to identify u. if there was a group of people standing there, and i wanted to say something about the black dude specifically, i would call him black so that whoever i was talking to know who i was talking about.

if u personally want to be called african american that's fine. i don't mind being called that either, i'm just saying i don't have a problem with someone calling me black. and i personally don't feel someone should be offended by it. u can still prefer one without being offended by one. there's a lot more names that are way more offending than black.

okay...u win.

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