So in the quest for self-identification, I have recently seen peoples newly describe themselves as Amerinds (American Indians) and also Amerasians (American Asians).
In an attempt to get ahead of the curve, I have considered the merits of the possible neologism "Amerafricans: as a possible new nomenclature for American blacks descended of slaves who (tend to) call themselves African-American. It currently only gets around thirty hits on Google.
It’s bound to happen. We black folks just keep-a-changing up our ethnic descriptors. Me, I was hoping for something edgy like Afrikans or Nubians this next go around, but FUBU hasn’t formally decided next year’s agenda yet, so i guess I’ll start here.
Dopers, how would you feel about American blacks using this descriptor?
Should black expatriates who become citizens here use the term, too?
Hmmm. This feels sorta like a poll. Mods, feel free to move this if there’s no actual debate.
Now that it is over in the polling section, I will note:
I will refer to any group in the way that they (collectively) prefer;
I notice that among real live people whom I know, the people whose ancestors were imported from Africa tend to prefer the word “black” and the people whose ancestors were in the Western Hemisphere prior to the arrival of Columbus tend to prefer the word “Indian,” so I suspect that I will not be changing the nomenclature I use any time soon.
Now that tomndebb’s gone and went all grownup and serious, I’ll answer again.
I agree with tomndebb.
But if I DO get a vote . . . I vote against “Amerafrican.” It’s inelegant, clunky, manufactured, not a naturally arrived at term. In a word, it’s a word medley. Which I hate.
But if it gains currency, I’ll use it. I use African American now, when in doubt, but like tomndebb, most of the African American people in my sphere just say “black.”
(Personally, I like this; it emphasizes that the distinction is only skin deep.)
So . . . that would make me an Americzech. And Amerinorsk. And Ameribrit. And Amerideutsch. Just, I guess, Amerimutt. Will there be checkboxes? I love checkboxes.
I agree with what has already been said, including that “Black” seems to be perfectly fine. But IF there is a need to invent a new descriptor, I’d say that “Afromerican” would be way less clunky than what is proposed. It even rounds out the corners on the accepted “African American”.
But I vote “Black”, “American”, or “Black American”, as the case may merit.
I was certainly never called an Asian-American growing up.
I grew up an Amerasian. This usage goes back decades. It’s nothing new. To the best of my knowledge it pre-dates the current usage of “Asian American.” (I don’t know if the term Eurasian predates Amerasian or if they were developed simultaneously.)
To me there is a distinction between Asian-American and Amerasian. Amerasian is a term that is only applied to people of mixed American and Asian heritage. My mother would have been an Asian-American – an Asian who moved to this country. It also applies to people who were born in this country but are not from a mixed ethnic heritage. I’m an Amerasian – the product of a German-Irish American father and Japanese mother. I have never heard Amerasian used any other way.
I don’t know how these changes come about. One day I’m an Amerasian, the next I’m an Asian-American. I think not.
No one consulted me about switching from Amerasian to Asian American. If they had, I would have vetoed it. In continuing to use the term Amerasian I am trying to do my part to veto it.
I also know of Black people who hate the term “African-American.” Their reaction is that they’re Black and that’s what they’re sticking with. What they’d make of Amerafricans I shudder to think.
Man, I’d do an out and out blitz for Nubian. There is absultely nothing cooler than Nubian. Amerafrican is an assault on the ears compared to the poetry that is Nubian.
I tend to think all terms defining a particular race sound…well…racist. I feel uncomfortable referring to any one of my friends using the term that describes their particular race, so I tend to go with their first name. As our world becomes more and more geographically and culturally integrated, generalizations lose their meaning and our terminology can only become more object/person specfic.
Here is what I mean: When going out for “Indian food” I dont really call it that anymore because I am so familiar with it, I rather say I’m going out for “Tandoori” or some curry.
When referring to my friends, I use their individual name, or I identify a group by their actual geographic location, and I think the need for racial generalizations will slowly go away.
Black’s just fine for me. In normal, everyday conversation, when applicable, I refer to myself or other blacks as black. I didn’t/won’t use African American and I’m sure as hell not going to start saying Amerafricans.
:dubious:
You want to be named after a goat?
:smack:
How about “human”
Id bet that if everybody scritched out all the racial boxes and in “other” wrote in human after driving the bean-counters insane people might come to realize that most people don’t want to be quantified on the basis of skin color and accident of birth but by who they are and their ability to do a job.
I am of the opinion that it is unrealistic–and slightly immature–to want to see just about all references to race, color or ethnicity wiped out. Such data are useful and, in many cases, necessary.
