# The term "African-American" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 15, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-african-american/259955 "2004-08-15T16:41:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-african-american/259955/61 "2004-08-25T04:26:10Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > There was never a legal or poltical “mulatto” status. Did you read my previous post as to why “black” being an invented political descriptor? I didn’t just make that up, you know. Never said you did. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-african-american/259955/62 "2004-08-25T04:39:47Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m not saying black is an ethnicity. I’m saying “African-American” is an ethnicity, and black is a physical description. I was speaking as if the two were interchangable. Blacks/African-Amercians/Negros/coloreds were invented for sinister reasons. > [@](#): > > Just like white isn’t an ethnicity. Or am I still missing your point? Are you saying it’s not valid for African-Americans to celebrate their African heritage. I think it’d be misguided, as “African-Americans” have literally only a superficial connection to Africa. > [@](#): > > 😕 I really don’t think that’s what you’re saying, but your comment about immigrants having to pick a nationality makes no sense to me in context. That was a tangent about my contempt towards some immigrants’ (immigrant’s sons, actually - that’s usually the case) attempts to maintain a foreign nationality while adopting ours. > [@Master Control](#): > > Never said you did. I know. Sorry for being so defensive… ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-african-american/259955/63 "2004-08-25T04:44:53Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > I was speaking as if the two were interchangable. Blacks/African-Amercians/Negros/coloreds were invented for sinister reasons. Eee! I’m just begging to be misunderstood. I mean the designation was invented, not the actual people. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-african-american/259955/64 "2004-08-25T07:48:00Z")
> [@Waenara](#): > > “Native Americans” are native solely to the Americas. Whereas “African-American” is used by many to describe _all_ black people of sub-Saharan descent. This is clearly wrong. Someone always makes this “many people use the term to refer to all black people” claim in threads like this. Well, I have never, ever, not once, heard anyone use the term “African-American” to refer to a black person who was not an American. I can buy that some people have made this mistake, but don’t tell me that “many” do. And if some stupid people don’t realize that the term should only apply to Americans it’s hardly due to any ambiguity in the expression, which clearly contains the word “American”. And for the record, in Japan at least the term “Native American” is generally taken to mean anyone born in America (as opposed to an immigrant). It’s sometimes conflated with “native English-speaker”, to the annoyance of resident Canadians/Brits/Australians/New Zealanders. > [@Master Control](#): > > As far as an ethnic label goes, some people don’t like the term Mulatto since it literally meant mule. Is there a PC term for it? I know that there’s biracial, but that’s non specific and could technically mean a person of any two ethnicity’s. I think most people favor “biracial” or “mixed”, and then specify if necessary. I’m unaware of any currently accepted term to designate someone who is half white and half black. Then again, there’s not to my knowledge ever been any English word that means “half white, half Asian”, or that specifies any other precise ethnic mix. A black/white biracial friend of mine coined the term “ **Half** rican-American” to refer to herself, which I always thought was rather clever. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-african-american/259955/65 "2004-08-25T14:51:23Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > I was speaking as if the two were interchangable. Blacks/African-Amercians/Negros/coloreds were invented for sinister reasons. I don’t see any evidence that “African-American” was created for sinister reasons. In fact, I thought it was created by blacks in order to have a culture and heritage to celebrate, much like the rest of America. > [@](#): > > That was a tangent about my contempt towards some immigrants’ (immigrant’s sons, actually - that’s usually the case) attempts to maintain a foreign nationality while adopting ours. And what is the problem with this? ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-african-american/259955/66 "2004-08-25T15:05:09Z")
by **Waenara** > [@](#): > > Native Americans" are native solely to the Americas. Whereas “African-American” is used by many to describe all black people of sub-Saharan descent. This is clearly wrong. This misusage reflects on the ignorance of some people, and does not indicate that the term “African-American” is faulty. I think A-A is overused mostly because some unfortunates are under the impression that it is wrong to call someone black. Where they got that idea, I don’t know. Most black people (including myself) have no problem with being called black. Obama calling himself a A-A is not anything to lose sleep over. He probably identifies with the culture and background of A-As, and therefore uses the term to describe himself. by **Master Control** > [@](#): > > Also, since realistically we’ll never be free of ethnic labels, and a lot of people have no problems labeling themselves, how come mulattos (or biracial people if you prefer), especially famous ones, don’t usually identify as such? They usually just identify as black, or African American (Yes, there’s some exceptions, like Tiger Woods who identifies as Cablasian - [Ca]ucasion, [Bl]ack and [Asian]). In the US, if you look undeniably as if you have “black in you”, then you are black. This thinking stems from the one-drop rule. Have you ever heard of a “high yellow” black person? This is a black person who has many typical European features like wavy/curly hair and light skin. There is no such counterpart for white people; i.e. a white person with distinctively African features. Such a person would automatically be considered black (or mixed, which is really the same thing…most American blacks are “mixed”). Most Americans have been conditioned to perceive black/white biracials as being more black than white, except when the Europeanesque features are extra extra prominent. For instance, if it wasn’t common knowledge that Halle Berry was biracial, most people would just call her black. Mariah Carey also is biracial, but looks more Euro than Afro, so most people see her as white. My point is, the threshold for whiteness is higher than the threshold for blackness, in terms of perception. This is not to say that a white-looking person can never _call_ themselves black. I’m talking about perception. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-african-american/259955.md?page=3)