# I pit the phrase "African American" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 31, 2010, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095 "2010-01-31T07:43:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/1 "2010-01-31T07:43:54Z")
This isn’t really a rant about political correctness, it’s about that stupid goddamn descriptor “African American” I have a B.S. in molecular biology. It’s out dated, so I went back to school and decided to study Nursing. My Psych 2 textbook has this: > [@](#): > > Sickle-Cell anemia, which occurs most often in African Americans, is a genetic disorder.. Fucking please. I don’t think “American” has a damn thing to do with genetics. Using that stupid fucking phrase implies that sickle cell is a condition mainly found in _American_ blacks. It’s stupid; the phrase is too specific and need to die. When talking about genetic descent, or hell.. I’ll say it . When talking about race, refering to the nationality is just fucking stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/2 "2010-01-31T08:09:29Z")
That is pretty lame. If they were talking about diseases common among the other races, they’d use the race descriptor, like “Asian” or “Caucasian” or “Latino.” ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/3 "2010-01-31T08:37:08Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > I don’t think “American” has a damn thing to do with genetics. Using that stupid fucking phrase implies that sickle cell is a condition mainly found in American blacks. It’s stupid; the phrase is too specific and need to die. Sounds like what you’re really pitting is the _misuse_ of the phrase “African American” in contexts where it isn’t appropriate, such as textbooks talking about people of African descent in general. “African American”, correctly used, seems to be an adequately descriptive and generally understood way to refer to American blacks. I don’t see why we should throw out the term entirely just because some textbook authors are too dumb to use it properly. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/4 "2010-01-31T08:42:19Z")
Well what else are we going to call Kofi Annan, Lennox Lewis, and Dave Matthews? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/5 "2010-01-31T08:45:07Z")
I hate it too. What is my American friend who is originally from Barbados? Most, if not all, of my black friends refer to themselves as black, not African-American. If I’m referring to blacks in another country, I wouldn’t think to call them African-Canadians, or African-Europeans. What do blacks in other countries refer to themselves as? ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/6 "2010-01-31T09:06:10Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Sounds like what you’re really pitting is the _misuse_ of the phrase “African American” in contexts where it isn’t appropriate, such as textbooks talking about people of African descent in general. > > “African American”, correctly used, seems to be an adequately descriptive and generally understood way to refer to American blacks. I don’t see why we should throw out the term entirely just because some textbook authors are too dumb to use it properly. Screw “misuse”, it’s a bad descriptor, plain and simple. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2010, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/7 "2010-01-31T10:16:51Z")
Reminds me of one magazine’s coverage of the launch of _Star Trek: Voyager_, where they referred to the character of Tuvok as “Star Trek’s first African-American Vulcan.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![BottledBlondJeanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/0ea827/32.png) [@BottledBlondJeanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BottledBlondJeanie)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/8 "2010-01-31T10:39:16Z")
Needscoffee, one of my black friends gets peeved if called African American. I wish it were clearer too. A Monkey With A Gun, I hope I am not repeating urban legend but isn’t one form of sickle cell or a single gene from 1 parent supposed to assist or hypothesized to assist with malaria resistance? Because if so I get how odd that quote is and want a pat on the head or something. If not I’ll just slink away… ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/9 "2010-01-31T11:11:12Z")
> [@BottledBlondJeanie](#): > > A Monkey With A Gun, I hope I am not repeating urban legend but isn’t one form of sickle cell or a single gene from 1 parent supposed to assist or hypothesized to assist with malaria resistance? . Not an urban legend. The the sickle cell gene is a “partial dominant” . Genes aren’t always either / or and I’m going to try to explain this simply, and not completely correct, but give me license for protein mechanics. The sickle cell gene is a mutation that produces odd proteins shaped like internal barbed spears that jut inward on the red blood cells, which is where the parasite that causes malaria likes to live (it’s not a virus or bacteria - it’s a small eukaryotic parasite.) If you have one of the copies of this gene (sickle cell trait) you have marginal loss in O2 transport, but one hell of a resistance to malaria. If you have two copies, then you have too internal barbs in your red blood cells, they lock together, hemoglobin can’t bind to Oxygen worth a damn, and no O2 flows. Anemia means no O2 flow. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/10 "2010-01-31T11:30:12Z")
Addendum to above: the internal protein barbs are what makes the parasite have a hard time to breed in people with sickle cell trait. The evil bastard can’t get it’s groove on when it’s in a room full of knives. But the knives are serrated, and will lock together if there’s too many of them - then _nobody’s_ happy. ---
**Author:** ![BottledBlondJeanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/0ea827/32.png) [@BottledBlondJeanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BottledBlondJeanie)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/11 "2010-01-31T11:39:12Z")
Partial pat on the head? Thanks for explaining! Also you spawned a question in GQ if you want to play. I’d link but this connection sucks. End hijack. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/12 "2010-01-31T13:16:41Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I hate it too. What is my American friend who is originally from Barbados? Most, if not all, of my black friends refer to themselves as black, not African-American. If I’m referring to blacks in another country, I wouldn’t think to call them African-Canadians, or African-Europeans. > > What do blacks in other countries refer to themselves as? Here in the UK, everyone I know who is black refers to themselves as black. It’s certainly not impolite. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/13 "2010-01-31T13:55:13Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > “African American”, correctly used, seems to be an adequately descriptive and generally understood way to refer to American blacks. I agree. But it’s less ambiguous to simply say “black.” ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/14 "2010-01-31T14:01:15Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > I have a B.S. in molecular biology. It’s out dated, so I went back to school and decided to study Nursing. If you’re white and going into nursing, you absolutely must not bring any issues, or perceivalbe issues, that may cause racial conflict. This isn’t because you’ll be working with African Americans, but because you’ll be working with _nurses,_ a bunch of twisted bitches who eat each other alive. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/15 "2010-01-31T15:25:25Z")
nvm ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/16 "2010-01-31T15:30:46Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > Here in the UK, everyone I know who is black refers to themselves as black. It’s certainly not impolite. On the other hand, the term Oriental in reference to East Asians is considered horribly dated in the US. > [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > If you’re white and going into nursing, you absolutely must not bring any issues, or perceivalbe issues, that may cause racial conflict. > > This isn’t because you’ll be working with African Americans, but because you’ll be working with _nurses,_ a bunch of twisted bitches who eat each other alive. There are nurses who aren’t Filipina or Russian? ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/17 "2010-01-31T15:40:59Z")
How about “melanin enhanced”? ---
**Author:** ![BottledBlondJeanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/0ea827/32.png) [@BottledBlondJeanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BottledBlondJeanie)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/18 "2010-01-31T16:00:20Z")
If I may be so bold as to hijack and ask a semi-related question, if you are trying to describe someone is it OK to identify them by skin color? For instance room full of people and you point Kevin out to some people you are speaking with by saying Kevin is the black man in the blue suit by the punchbowl if there is more than one man by the punchbowl but only one black man? Vice versa where Kevin is the only white guy by the punch bowl. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/19 "2010-01-31T16:07:50Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Well what else are we going to call Kofi Annan, Lennox Lewis, and Dave Matthews? I don’t know about you, but I call Kofi “_Giggle giggle his name means ‘monkey’ in Hebrew giggle giggle_”. I am easily amused. (And for the record, Annan means ‘cloud’). ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095/20 "2010-01-31T16:21:39Z")
I’m old enough to have gone through Negro, Colored, Afro American, Black, people of color, African American, and then back to black. It’s tiresome, especially when people who use the old term are deemed insensitive. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-phrase-african-american/527095.md?page=2)