# All black people are not African American. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 17, 2007, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396 "2007-06-17T23:23:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/1 "2007-06-17T23:23:17Z")
I first heard it during the 2000 Olympics, a black female sprinter from Great Britain is referred as an African American by Brent Musburger. A few years ago, a talking head from ESPN reports about a marathon race won by a white guy from New Zealand and it is the first time in 17 years that the race had not been won by an African American. The list of previous winners did not include one runner from the United States or any of the Americas. African yes, American no. Last week Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain wins the Canadien F1 Grand Prix race. Dave Despain reports that Hamilton is the first African American to win an F1 race. This also happens on ESPN radio not once but twice by two different people the next morning. At least my local paper got it right and called Hamilton a Euro-African, which is what I assume is the PC name for blacks from Europe. Today Hamilton wins the U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis. First rookie to win back to back races in F1 history. Then what do ESPN TV and radio, Fox TV and CBS all report? Yep, they all called Hamilton an African American. Am I being over critical or is this just a case of PC run amok? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/2 "2007-06-17T23:29:23Z")
Your point is absolutely valid. You shouldn’t call someone who isn’t an American an American. Period. Now, a case (not a great case, but a case neverless) can be made for black people from elsewhere in the Americas. I say not a great case, because in most of these places the term “African-American” isn’t in current usage. Otherwise, dead wrong, and the fact that this should be obvious but isn’t ought to be telling. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/3 "2007-06-17T23:34:48Z")
What about a white South African living in America? African American doesn’t really work either. Seems like African American is just used as a synonym for black. Seems like an innocent mistake by the ESPN people. ---
**Author:** ![Li\_l\_Pluck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ee59a6/32.png) [@Li\_l\_Pluck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Li_l_Pluck)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/4 "2007-06-17T23:40:55Z")
[QUOTE=askeptic] Seems like an innocent mistake by the ESPN people. [/QUOTE] Well, yeah, assuming that their socialization is American. But \*\*racer72 \*\* has a valid point (not that you were denying that, BTW)–they ought to think about this kind of stuff because at least some people do notice and go, “😕” . ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/5 "2007-06-17T23:42:07Z")
[QUOTE=askeptic] What about a white South African living in America? African American doesn’t really work either. Seems like African American is just used as a synonym for black. Seems like an innocent mistake by the ESPN people. [/QUOTE] We are now officially down the rabbit hole. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/6 "2007-06-17T23:46:03Z")
[QUOTE=racer72] At least my local paper got it right and called Hamilton a Euro-African, which is what I assume is the PC name for blacks from Europe. [/QUOTE] It is? Maybe it fits in well with the ‘xyz-American’ system’, but it sounds ridiculous and also has such an illogical construction that I’d be embarassed to read it in a publication. Current British PC terminology is quite happy with self-identification either as ‘African-Caribbean’ or as ‘Black British’ (the latter was on the 2001 census, imagine the equivalent in America!), and in terms of what he represents in the sport through no intention of his own, he’s black. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/7 "2007-06-17T23:48:20Z")
[QUOTE=askeptic] What about a white South African living in America? African American doesn’t really work either. Seems like African American is just used as a synonym for black. Seems like an innocent mistake by the ESPN people. [/QUOTE] Oh, for fuck’s sake, if I read or hear that bullshit one more time I’m going to explode! A white South African living in America is a South African, and not American in any way, shape or form. A white South African who becomes an American citizen is a European-American, just like all the rest of us Americans of Euro-fucking-pean descent. White South Africans ARE NOT ETHNICALLY AFRICAN!!! ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/8 "2007-06-17T23:50:13Z")
[QUOTE=Nametag] White South Africans ARE NOT ETHNICALLY AFRICAN!!! [/QUOTE] From Cairo to Capetown, what is ethnically African? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/9 "2007-06-17T23:55:47Z")
[QUOTE=Nametag] . White South Africans ARE NOT ETHNICALLY AFRICAN!!! [/QUOTE] If they move to America they are African Americans. That is, if anyone is. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/10 "2007-06-18T00:03:33Z")
[QUOTE=Nametag] Oh, for fuck’s sake, if I read or hear that bullshit one more time I’m going to explode! A white South African living in America is a South African, and not American in any way, shape or form. A white South African who becomes an American citizen is a European-American, just like all the rest of us Americans of Euro-fucking-pean descent. [/QUOTE] So, to recap: a white person born in the continent of Africa is African, as long as he remains there. If he leaves, he is no longer African but European, even if he doesn’t go (and has never seen) the continent of Europe. Yes. Odds are you will be exploding soon. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/11 "2007-06-18T00:04:00Z")
[QUOTE=Nametag] Oh, for fuck’s sake, if I read or hear that bullshit one more time I’m going to explode! A white South African living in America is a South African, and not American in any way, shape or form. A white South African who becomes an American citizen is a European-American, just like all the rest of us Americans of Euro-fucking-pean descent. White South Africans ARE NOT ETHNICALLY AFRICAN!!! [/QUOTE] So a white person whose family has been on the continent for several generations can’t consider himself or herself African? That seems wrong to me. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/12 "2007-06-18T00:15:35Z")
As long as we’re nitpicking, the thread title is incorrect. It should read “Not all black people are African-American”. As it stands, it’s stating that no black person is African-American, which is not true. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/13 "2007-06-18T00:20:15Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn] So a white person whose family has been on the continent for several generations can’t consider himself or herself African? That seems wrong to me. [/QUOTE] Me, too…it doesn’t make sense. If that is the case, then by the same logic, I (and probably about a billion or so other people who live in the Americas) can’t be American, because I am not “ethnically” American. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/14 "2007-06-18T00:30:12Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn] So a white person whose family has been on the continent for several generations can’t consider himself or herself African? That seems wrong to me. [/QUOTE] Particularly for Egyptians, Lybians and Morococans, who have lived for longer than recorded history on Africa’s north coastal zone and/or the northern Sahara. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/15 "2007-06-18T00:33:54Z")
[QUOTE=Nametag] White South Africans ARE NOT ETHNICALLY AFRICAN!!! [/QUOTE] [Try again](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrikaner). ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/16 "2007-06-18T00:38:40Z")
never mind the total hijack. The OP is right. I am sure that Lewis Hamilton would be offended to be called African American. Calling him so marks the person as a racist as it points out that he thinks that “black” is a bad word that must be avoided. ---
**Author:** ![carterba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85e7bf/32.png) [@carterba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carterba)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/17 "2007-06-18T00:42:56Z")
I have no trouble imagining that an American broadcaster could get so used to referring to American black people as “African American” that they automatically apply it to all black people without even thinking about what it means. I don’t think that’s “PC run amok”; I think it’s just a simple over-correction. It’s just like how all sodas are called “Coke” in certain Southern dialects. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/18 "2007-06-18T00:47:37Z")
[QUOTE=racer72] I first heard it during the 2000 Olympics, a black female sprinter from Great Britain is referred as an African American by Brent Musburger. [/QUOTE] Brent is such an idiot. Obviously, the sprinter was a British American. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/19 "2007-06-18T00:47:50Z")
[QUOTE=Sapo] Calling him so marks the person as a racist as it points out that he thinks that “black” is a bad word that must be avoided. [/QUOTE] I don’t recall the OP mentioning racism. But doesn’t it mark the person as ignorant, or slow-thinking, or anything other than you want from a sports commentator? ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396/20 "2007-06-18T00:47:51Z")
[QUOTE=Sapo] Calling him so marks the person as a racist as it points out that he thinks that “black” is a bad word that must be avoided. [/QUOTE] Hmmm, useing the term African American makes one a racist. Interesting theory you have there. Might you have a news letter I could subscribe to? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-black-people-are-not-african-american/408396.md?page=2)