Do other countries (outside of Africa, obviously) have an equivalent for the US term “African American?” That is, a term deemed more polite or politically correct than the more common (but not necessarily demeaning) “black?”
What do they call people of African descent in the UK, for example? When I lived in Ecuador, they were simply called negros, literally “blacks,” or morenos, literally “darks.”
In the UK it used to be Afro-Caribbean (most immigration was from the West Indies rather than Africa). I haven’t heard this used for quite a time and Black is more common now.
In much of Africa, blacks are called Africans.
This got one politician in trouble (ambassador, former governor Michigan G.Mennon Williams?) When he declared that US should foster “Africa for the Africans” meaning the local residents of all colors, not colonial rulers, but the local whites assumed he meant they should be stripped of rights.
Here in Panama there are two distinct groups of blacks, afrocoloniales (Afro-colonials), descended from slaves brought in during the colonial period, who speak Spanish as their first language; and afroantilianos (Afro-Antillians), descended from workers mainly from British islands of the West Indies, who came in to work on the Panama Railroad, Panama Canal, and banana plantations starting in the mid-1800s, and who mainly speak English as a first language (though most speak Spanish as well).
The general term for a black person is moreno/morena (“brown” or “dark”). My understanding is it is considered somewhat rude to refer to a person as negro (“black”), although the diminutive, negrito/negrita, is OK.
Some of the choices from the 2001 UK census:
Various terms you’re likely to encounter in PC-friendly environments include ‘African-Caribbean’ (not Afro-), ‘Black African’, ‘Black British’, ‘Dual or mixed heritage’.
Note the emphasis on differentiating between those with origins directly from Africa to Europe, and those of American heritage, because there’s significant populations of both, each with a particular history and particular cultural and social issues. Merely identifying the ‘black’ population doesn’t always help.
On the other hand, we’re not as scared of describing individuals as ‘black’ in the appropriate context, i.e. as part of a description of their appearance.
Moreno and negro seem to be racial terms, and they’re pretty self-explanatory if you’re in a country with little black immigration, chances are your blacks there are going to be locals and a racial term is sufficient for identification. They may have a specific ethnic identity separate from their racial identity, but the local variant of black is usually enough.
The U.S. is different. This is a land of many ethnicities; blacks are no exception; as such there are at least four distinct black populations here. “African-American” is just the largest ethnic group of blacks, the descendants of U.S. slaves. Every other black group came later.
African-Americans
subset: Gullah
subset: Creoles
subset: Tri-Racials
Afro-Caribbeans, or West Indians
subset: Trinis
subset: Haitians
subset: Barbados
African (naturalized immigrants)
subset: Ghanians
subset: Kenyans
subset: Ethiopians
Other blacks
New Zealanders, Brazilians, black Canadian immigrants, Indians, and, of course half of Spain