I’m not for or against the ‘black,’ I don’t care either way. I just think it’s annoying when the two are conflated, because they mean different things. Or should, anyway.
I don’t really “care” either, in that I don’t have an agenda with it. I find “African-American” to be very PC and contrived, and “black” just seems to be a sensible word used to describe somebody, just as “tall”, “fat”, "man, “woman”, “kid”, etc. If you are describing a stranger in the street, this is plenty adequate. If you need to specify ethnic origin, then it’d be a more specialised situation, and you could be a bit more verbose: “a black male, possibly of Pacific Island origin” etc… For most of us, “black” and “white” are inoffensive and practical.
On a serious note, at least where I’ve lived in the US, “black” is synonymous with “african descent.” Everyone else is ‘white’ or ‘asian’ with qualifiers, or is specified: Indian (from India), Mongolian, Hispanic, etc. It is true, MJ aside, that there are some people of part African heritage who look light enough to be a tanned “Caucasian.” Not many “C’s” are dark enough (and lack other physical characteristics) to call them ‘black.’
I might, in being descriptive, use, "A dark-skinned male, possibly of _____ ____ origin. If I said “black” I would mean African heritage. Not that I think it’s fair…
In Hawaii, almost everyone is labeled. Blacks are 'popolo,' whites are 'haole,’ and orientals are divided into several sub-groups based on nationality. People of mixed descent who grew up here are ‘locals,’ and Hawaiians are (surprise) Hawaiians!
Personally, I don’t see what’s wrong with simple words like “black” and “white”. It’s not so much of a hot-button issue here. Now, calling a Surinamer an Antillian, that’s just cruisin’ for a bruisin’.
Um, no it isn’t. As a political label, black is very specific. Using it we can understand how Julian Bond, Will Smith, Oprah Winfrey, and Halle Berry can all be lumped together. As a physical descriptor, this “unity” breaks down. This definition of “black” is much more arbitrary and subjective than the current definition.
There are still people that think that blacks should go “back to where they came from”. The term “African-American” includes them as citizens who have just as much right to be here as anyone else, yet still allows them to identify with their heritage.
I haven’t read his autobiography, but he did use the term “African-American” often while being interviewed on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, although not necessary in reference to himself (mostly in reference to some voters). Perhaps he is careful enough not to use that word in reference to himself, but I suspect others are not. The quote I provided was from the biography of him on his website, so perhaps he didn’t write it, but he should have reviewed it.
I agree that we’re all members of the human race, and that terms like black, white, etc. are social constructs, but they do exist. I’m just amused when people seem to use “African-American” instead of “black” without considering context. If anyone has any other amusing examples, I’d like to hear them.
I don’t have any problem with calling someone “black”, just as I don’t have any problem with someone referring to me as “white.”
On a related note, my Japanese and black coworkers just informed me that I’ll be in an interracial marriage, since I’m a white guy (Irish/German) marrying an Armenian woman from Iran. So our kids will apparently be Asian-American. I guess I assumed we’d be intercultural but I didn’t really consider any sort of racial divisions between us. Oh well They’ll be able to check that box on any sort of forms asking for Race in the future.
“African-American”, whatever its merits, works for people within the United States of America.
But what about the rest of the world? Here in the UK there is a widely-used term “Afro Caribbean” which describes “black” people from the West Indies (generally the former Commonwealth ones such as Jamaica, Barbados, Montserrat, St Lucia).
It just occured to me that I have seen dozens of threads complaining about the term “African-American”, but never a one about “Asian-American”. So to those of you bothered by “African-American”, do you feel the same way about “Asian-American”? If not, why?
Personally, I think it’s silly to get all worked up about the “African” part of “African-American” if one lets the “American” part slide by without any scrutiny.
One can dissect the word “American” until the cows come home, too. There’s North America, South America, Central America… oh, and the United States of America, which clearly references the large landmass that most Dopers live on. So, why is it that Canadians, Mexicans, and Panamanians are not also called Americans?
In my view, we do not call them Americans because we all know that Americans refers to United Statesians. It doesn’t matter a single bit what the dictionary definition of American is now or used to be; sometimes a new, common use of a word ends up in the dictionary. We are not slaves to Webster.
Similarly, we all know what African-American means, regardless of where the term comes from or how awkward it might be. Personally, if a large number of black people in the US want to be called African-American, I’m inclined to oblige them.