+289 If you think about it, the term African-American is racist. Why are they not just Americans, no-one from America was here to start, except for the Native-Americans, who are more American than anyone else, but still not called Americans. If black people are Afrian-Americans, shouldn't white people be European-Americans, because thats where they originated from, amirite?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I feel like they're trying to be more anti-racist than anything. I mean, everyone calls people not of colour "white" without even thinking about it. But so many people are scared to call someone "black" for fear of being racist, and since "African-American" is generally a more politically correct term, that's what they call blacks. I doubt anyone is saying that to be racist, they're probably saying it to avoid being accused of being racist.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

True, but i feel like we are only considering them not full americans? But I'm not really saying it is or isn't just a different perspective to look at the term. Sorry about my terrible grammar.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Hmm...I'm not quite sure if I agree with this or not... *Neutral vote*

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I don't understand why people are so afraid of calling a black person black. I'm pretty sure a good percentage of "African Americans" in the US have never been to Africa, know someone from Africa, or even have family in Africa. And besides, if someone is from Africa, there are specific countries in Africa. They could be referred to as Nigerian American, or South African American, or what ever country they are from.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

And a white person can be called African American. They just have to be from Africa, right?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I personally much prefer to be called black than African-American. Only people who immigrated here from Africa should be called African-American. I often find people who try so hard not to seem racist are in a way quite racist, just treat people like there is no difference. And fuck political correctness.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Where did this idea come from that "African American" is meant to be politically correct? It's just another way of saying "black", which is also politically correct.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I have a friend who hates being called African-American because people think he's just a black guy that was born in America. He rathers be called African even if he is legally African and American.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Fucking goddammit shit. Racist means that something is specifically meant to be offensive to somebody of that race, not just something that refers to the fact that they are that race.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

That is not what racist means at all.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

If you're disagreeing with the fact that it's only racist if it's offensive, I suggest you go purchase a dictionary.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Lol "offensive" is a completely subjective term. I promise you no dictionary will say that racism is "something offensive to people of certain races." Usually, at least one group benefits from racism, so to call racism merely offensive doesn't really do the term justice. Anywayz this post dumb because "African American" is a term used to distinguish Americans who have African descent. It doesn't imply that black people have inherent qualities that differentiate them from people from other racial groups, as would be required for it to be a racist term.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

...why are you voting me down?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

...because I disagree with you?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I'd love to hear your reasons why. Just clicking the down button doesn't really foster much discussion. As it stands, I hope you now see that racism has a lot more to do than just being "offensive."

by Anonymous 12 years ago

If I made a reply every time I disagreed with something on this site, I'd never be able to leave my computer. And I'm pretty sure that's why the up and down buttons are there; to show that you agree/disagree with a comment without actually having to reply to it.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

lol, political correctness.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I agree with you. The term is a form of indirect racism because it has the hidden assumption behind it that these particular people need to be differentiated from other Americans. However, it's so commonly used now that I think the inherent racism in the word has lost its meaning. So it's not really a big deal to use it

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Sometimes, it is helpful to differentiate African Americans (or European Americans, or Mexican Americans, etc) from the rest of the population. It's not racist to do so, it's a necessary epidemiological application.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Not mention that not all Africans are black >.>

by Anonymous 12 years ago

99.9% of African Americans are. It's accurate enough.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Not actually. Some countries with middle east cultures(north Africa) don't have people that look like the west Africans that got captured and put on slave ships. A lot of Egyptians look very middle eastern: http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_full_width_scaled/hash/c0/84/EgyptNew38.jpg

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I said that most African Americans are black, I didn't say anything about native Africans.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I know a white African American :D

by Anonymous 12 years ago

My friend who moved from South Africa is white, but I guess technically speaking, he would be an African American. My friend who was born in Haiti (but adopted at birth) is black, and she's never even considered going to Africa, nor does she remember anything about Haiti, although people refer to her as African American. Just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents...

by Anonymous 12 years ago

African American only means people who are Americans who have African descent. Your friend would be a South African American, but not an African American.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Yea and all the black people I know are Haitian or Jamaican anyways, because I live in Florida, the general term really should be black.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Haitians and Jamaicans have African descent, therefore African American works.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Yea and I have native American descent but I'm white as rice, they're still not African

by Anonymous 12 years ago

If you really think about it, everyone is African because that's where we all originated from.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

You're right, according to the leading hypothesis of human evolution, we all have distant African descent. But terms like "white" and "Asian" refer to racial groups that formed afterwards. It's not incorrect to say that humans have branched out into racial groups; that much is a fact.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Racism is the belief that one race is better than another. It may not be the best wording, but it's certainly not racist.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

nah, cause people call them americans unless whatever they're referring too specifically has to do with them being black, which is when they're called african-americans

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I agree with everything except that it's racist. Calling someone African American is not meant to be racist nor is it taken as so. But I agree with the rest of what you said. People need to stop trying to be so politically correct.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

If i could change that word i would, i don't believe it is racist. I just believe its politically wrong because we don't consider them full Americans.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I have a friend who crosses out african-american and puts Brown under other. He says he's not black, and he's never been to Africa.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I know this girl who received affirmative action for being African American. She's white with blonde hair but she qualifies as African American because she's a dual-citizen of South Africa and America. This is one of the many reasons I think Affirmative action is stupid.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

They are. There are Chinese-Americans, Italian-Americans, Russian-Americans- whatever region of origin can be correctly added to "-American".

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I don't think it's necessarily racist, however I do believe it could be construed as insulting as you are automatically giving the assumption that the person is of African ethnicity. If you were born in America, you are an American, simple as that, unless of course you want to get into ancestry, which is ultimately unnecessary. I believe it's more a way to come off as being politically correct, racism is beside the point. The real tragedy is that some people still believe that referring to a black person as "black" is offensive/racist.

by Anonymous 11 years ago