# African Americans in 19th Century London **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 23, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-in-19th-century-london/809434 "2018-02-23T21:18:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-in-19th-century-london/809434/21 "2018-02-26T01:05:50Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > Sorry everyone! I misspoke when I said African American. You know what I meant… We really didn’t. We thought you meant “African American”. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-in-19th-century-london/809434/22 "2018-02-26T15:16:00Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Did you even read the second post? Yes, I did! And I’m thankful for the straightforward answer. Then everyone latched onto “African American”. Geez… ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-in-19th-century-london/809434/23 "2018-02-26T19:19:06Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > Yes, I did! And I’m thankful for the straightforward answer. Then everyone latched onto “African American”. > > Geez… Because it was the question you asked in the OP? I mean, “How Did African Americans Fare Outside America In the 19th Century?” is a legitimate question, with some interesting answers: in early New Zealand before Europeans really got a toehold, American whaling ships used to call, and a number African American crew found that they were much more readily accepted into Maori society, and chose to jump ship and stay. I and probably most other readers assumed that that was the kind of information you were looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-in-19th-century-london/809434/24 "2018-02-26T19:28:21Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Because it was the question you asked in the OP? The OP acknowledged his error in post #8 several days ago. I don’t think it’s very productive to continue to harp on it. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-in-19th-century-london/809434/25 "2018-02-26T20:44:33Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Only by Americans. The Brits tend to find it a bit irritating, if you’re neither you really want to get out of the line of fire when it happens. I’m a white American and it drives me absolutely bonkers. It seems to be the epitome of American self centeredness and “lets not bother to think before we insert our foot firmly down our throat” However, what it really points to is a gap in American English. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-in-19th-century-london/809434/26 "2018-02-26T21:34:37Z")
It’s not a gap, we have a perfectly fine word for it: black. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-in-19th-century-london/809434/27 "2018-02-27T15:02:46Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The OP acknowledged his error in post #8 several days ago. I don’t think it’s very productive to continue to harp on it. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-in-19th-century-london/809434/28 "2018-02-27T17:16:43Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > Sorry everyone! I misspoke when I said African American. You know what I meant… AIUI the UK term today is “Afro-Caribbean”. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-in-19th-century-london/809434/29 "2018-02-27T17:27:41Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > AIUI the UK term today is “Afro-Caribbean”. That term exists, but refers only to black people from the Caribbean, or who can trace their recent ancestry there. It doesn’t refer to people of African descent in general. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-in-19th-century-london/809434/30 "2018-02-27T17:48:08Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > The subject came up in a Doctor Who thread a while back, when disbelief was expressed at the show depicting black people in t17th Century London, which was obviously just pandering to modern politically correct notions of diversity. [Except, y’know, not so much:](http://originalpeople.org/history-of-blacks-in-britain-elizabeth-i-kicks-moors-out-of-england/) > > eta [Found it.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=773446) Actually, you’re off a couple hundred years. it was 19th century. Long after Elizabeth kicked out the Moors. Of course, maybe you’re referring to a different episode. > **[Thin Ice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_Ice_(Doctor_Who))** > > Thin Ice may refer to: I’ll give it a pass though, because 1) it’s a fantasy show and 2) it’s not like they’re were NO blacks in 19th century London. Maybe they just all decided to show up that day. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-in-19th-century-london/809434/31 "2018-02-27T17:58:59Z")
No, it was the episode [“The Shakespeare Code”](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0974729/). London, 1599. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-in-19th-century-london/809434/32 "2018-02-27T18:24:23Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > No, it was the episode [“The Shakespeare Code”](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0974729/). London, 1599. Eh, my same pass would apply. Unless a show is really trying to sell itself as being historically accurate (which is laughable in the case of Doctor Who), I really don’t mind a cast’s racial composition. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-in-19th-century-london/809434/33 "2018-02-27T19:16:35Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > Actually, you’re off a couple hundred years. it was 19th century. Long after Elizabeth kicked out the Moors. Of course, maybe you’re referring to a different episode. [_Actually_ I was referring to the show I linked to in my post,](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=773446) of course. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2018, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-in-19th-century-london/809434/34 "2018-02-28T03:59:29Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > I’m a white American and it drives me absolutely bonkers. It seems to be the epitome of American self centeredness and “lets not bother to think before we insert our foot firmly down our throat” However, what it really points to is a gap in American English. Black Panther is great, I loved it, but a lot of the American coverage is “African-American views”… “African-American cast”… African-American this and African-American that. Fuck’s sake. One of the best things about that movie is, precisely, that it includes African-African views and actors, but the coverage apparently can’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2018, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-in-19th-century-london/809434/35 "2018-02-28T05:29:31Z")
Notice that not every single African is swarthy, even in countries where some might expect that. So, if one [I don’t mean the OP necessarily] is going to express a particular obsession with skin color, it is better to come out and use terms that say so. “African-American” is a special category that doesn’t even always overlap with blackness; see _Pudd’nhead Wilson._ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-americans-in-19th-century-london/809434.md?page=1)