# What do you call "African Americans" in other countries? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2003, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-african-americans-in-other-countries/195415 "2003-08-15T17:02:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-african-americans-in-other-countries/195415/61 "2003-08-18T19:15:05Z")
**jjimm.** This is probably a subject best suited for a whole 'nother thread, and possibly the GD forum. Not gonna make any promises. My thinking on the matter is probably flawed and provincial. ---
**Author:** ![BooksWoods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e0b2c6/32.png) [@BooksWoods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BooksWoods)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-african-americans-in-other-countries/195415/62 "2003-08-18T19:19:34Z")
> [@](#): > > Bookwoods. Yup. You’re hearing it from me: African slave ancestry in America is a primary criteria to be called African American. And I never said Egyptians weren’t Africans. I re-read your post and see I was mistaken about what you said about Egyptians and other visitors or recent immigrants to the US. I agree with you there. I guess my next request is a cite that anyone but you has ever used the slave-history criteria for the term “African American,” though. The fact is that many people who call themselves African Americans are descended from ancestors who came west as free immigrants. I was reading about this recently and was surprised at how many came after slavery was outlawed, especially to the Caribbean (and then on to the US). You are suggesting that we would have to trace a person’s family tree in order to know whether this term can be accurately used. Those of you who consider yourselves to be African American reading this; how many of you know exactly how and when your ancestors came to North America? My point is that it is a term referring to Americans of African ancestry who do not consider themselves to be from any other country. For our foreign friends, the reason I think that Americans feel the need to identify each other and themselves by race - especially black and white ones - is because their cultures differ, their realities differ, they see the world and the world sees them differently in America still. This is not all bad - there are great things about having different cultures. But the fact is that, if you’re white, you’re still much more likely to be approved for a bank loan in America than if you are black. (My guess is that this is probably true in some European countries, too. Not sure about Australia…) ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-african-americans-in-other-countries/195415/63 "2003-08-18T22:15:45Z")
**BookWoods.** Well, I looked around… you’re right. I don’t see the slavery thing spelled out as explicitedly as I’m saying. Even [hyperdictionary](http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/African-American) failed me. But it’s nice to know, upon review, I didn’t pluck this notion out of thin air. In the softcover version of _Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal_ (1995), author Andrew Hacker writes, on pages 14-15: \*\* > [@](#): > > For most black Americans, to be an African-American means literally that in that continent lies the primal origin of your people. The experiences of capture and transportation, of slavery and segregation, never diminished or erased the basic culture of tribal ancestries. Yet it is instructive that blacks from the West Indies and other islands of the Caribbean _seek to retain an independent history._\*\* [Italics mine – Askia.] \*\*Their forebears also originate in Africa and served as slaves, but blacks born in Barbados and Jamaica, or Haiti and Martinique, make clear the British or French connections that distinguish them from others of their race. \*\* Hacker goes on to write: \*\* > [@](#): > > But as much as anything, _being “black” in America bears the mark of slavery._ Even after emanicipation, citizens who had been slaves still found themselves consigned to a subordinate status. \*\* I’ll note that this subordinate class has been called chattel, slaves, coloreds, negroes, mestizoes, mulattoes, quadroons, octoroons and more recently, Negroes, Blacks, Afro-Americans, and African-Americans. You don’t have to trace a person’s family tree far. If you’re black, living in America, and none of your immediate family emigrated from anywhere else in the last two generations or so, you’re probrably directly descended from the millions of emancipated American slaves freed 138 years ago. My experience is that most immigrant first-second-third generation blacks families emigrating from outside the U.S. know they aren’t descendants of American slaves, have taught their children that, and object to being called, “African-American”-- 'cus they aren’t. But all my “evidence”, like **Lamia’s** example, is anectdotal. So, sorry, there’s no web-friendly link. Of course, I might be looking in the wrong places. Maybe I’m just dead wrong and there’s lots of Trini and Tobago immigrants out there who happily call themselves African-Americans. But let’s not discount the distinct possibility I’m ahead of the curve. ---
**Author:** ![Motog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@Motog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motog)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-african-americans-in-other-countries/195415/64 "2003-08-19T03:10:23Z")
A slight diversion: is the term “negro” considered offensive by many people in the US? My apologies if it is, I’m trying to relieve my own ignorance and save myself from being unintentionally offensive in the future. I ask because my wife was recently in conversation with one of our friends who happens to be a Pacific Islander. They were talking about another friend of ours who happens to be African American and, because it was relevant to the conversation, my wife mentioned that the gentleman in question was negro. She was promptly told that she shouldn’t use that term as it was offensive both to the gentleman being discussed and our Pacific Islander friend. My wife wasn’t trying to be offensive and she wasn’t aware that she had been. She told me about the conversation and I was a bit surprised. I always thought that the term was a bit anachronistic and I can’t recall ever using it myself, but I wasn’t aware that it was offensive. So I looked up negro in both Australian and American dictionaries (Macquarie and Merriam-Webster) and both noted that the term might be considered offensive by some. Obviously we won’t be using the word in the future but now I’m curious: Is it a generally offensive term? How did it become so? Is it just that the word has been misused so often in the past that it is viewed with some distaste? The only time most people in Australia would see an African American person is on an American tv program. If we did feel a need to describe their ethnicity we’d probably say that they were black (I’ve also heard the term Black American). The same term would probably be used to describe most people who have very dark skin (if it was necessary to describe them by such a descriptor). That’s not to say that there aren’t racist people who wouldn’t use more offensive terms. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-african-americans-in-other-countries/195415/65 "2003-08-19T03:45:09Z")
In Khartoum, Sudan, where there’s a wide range of skin tones, the usual expression for a black man is _rajul akhdar_ — which means, literally, **‘green man’**. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-african-americans-in-other-countries/195415/66 "2003-08-19T22:30:13Z")
**Motog.** “Negro” is considered PC-offensive _because_ it’s anachronistic. Meet [Steve Dallas’](http://defiant.yk.psu.edu/~kdm101/opus/cast/steve.gif) mom. Mom: That’s the most adorable little colored girl playing outside. Steve: “Colored”? You’re saying “colored people” in 1988? You know better, Ma. Mom: Then why the "National Association for Colored People? I don’t think Negroes mind at all. Steve: Don’t say “Negroes,” Ma! You can’t say “Negroes”! Mom: Can I say “United Negro College Fund”? Steve: You are baiting me, Ma! Dad: That’s it. We’re leaving. Mom: Stay put, Reginald. "Mister Socially Sensitive"isn’t finished shaming his parents into enlightenment. Steve: Everybody just calm down. Let’s agree to use the the New-Age term “People of Color.” Mom: People of Color. Steve: People of Color. Mom: Colored people. Steve: NO!! Dad: We’re leaving. ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-african-americans-in-other-countries/195415/67 "2003-08-20T00:03:10Z")
Here in Colombia we do not have African Americans. They are called Negros here. Negro in Spanish is Black in English. They have always been called that here. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-african-americans-in-other-countries/195415/68 "2003-08-20T00:16:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BooksWoods \* > **Those of you who consider yourselves to be African American reading this; how many of you know exactly how and when your ancestors came to North America?** Certainly before 1865 (which was not that long ago) - however, there’s some fuzziness in the records before that - so, no. I’ll never know “exactly.” ([slightly relevant article from sunday’s paper](http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=pitts17&date=20030817)) ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-african-americans-in-other-countries/195415/69 "2003-08-20T00:43:19Z")
**robcaro.** Right. But in the States, “negro” is pronounced NEE-gro, not the Spanish NEH-gro. Its outdated sound has a negative connotation among blacks here, especially when used by whites, even innocuously. **amarinth** Wow. VERY interesting link. But damn, $700 is steep! (Of course I would want BOTH DNA traces done.) I am curious. Is a 10,000 African DNA database large to accurately name my likely ancestors? How would they determine the European ancestry of my maternal great-great-grandfather who was almost certainly white, but no one is sure of his ethnicity? Almost make me wonder if this is a scam. (Hijack alert) ---
**Author:** ![Mdm.President](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@Mdm.President](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdm.President)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-african-americans-in-other-countries/195415/70 "2003-08-20T00:51:15Z")
**MDM.President** Cute. But what if it’s WHITE chocolate, hah? HAH? What then? This is way too easy. Forgive me. Michael Jackson Seriously, it still applies to ‘black’ folk with that disease that ol’ Michael claims to have… maybe… yeah?? ---
**Author:** ![Kenshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenshi)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-african-americans-in-other-countries/195415/71 "2003-08-20T01:20:06Z")
The suprising thing is that Africans dont consider Black Americans or any other kind of Blacks from other countrys African anything. The reason being there not born in Africa. Im black and I hate being called African American. ``` All blacks in America and maybe some other countrys are not fully black. We have been mixed with White and other races during time of slavery and through mixed marriages. It is very rare that you will find a black person who has a 100% African background and is not from Africa. When ever I fill out a form and it says race I check other because I am 25% Irish even though I look black. If you call blacks " African American" then you should call whites " European American" and hispanics " Spanish - Indian - Asian Americans". ``` I feel that its unfair for me to be called African American do to the fact I have ancestors from all over the world. I dont care if my hair is nappy and my skin is darker then a white persons I will never be African American do to the fact that im not African!!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-african-americans-in-other-countries/195415.md?page=3)