Why are MIXED people (Black & White) called black???
344273
It's because of racism.  White Americans used to think that if you had any "colored" blood then you were contaminated and impure.  They had terms like octoroon, which meant that you had one-eighth part "colored" blood.  That means that one of your great-grandparents were "colored" so you were "colored".  It would effect your legal rights, so if you were "colored" then you had to ride on different train cars, and all that other horrible stuff.  Sadly a lot of people still discriminate based on the color of our skin.
376467
ya know that is kinda racist - everyone is somehow mixed with another group of peoples - such as my grand grandmother was a native amercain - and my great grandfather was a scott.  Doesn't really mean anything what "race" you are.. it doesn't affect your abilities or anything.."All people are created equal"
107205
black buddha is call black because he is. Look at the old pictires of him their are some from india. Also notice his hair.
959259
Very good question, I don't know why black people are called African Americans. Some black people have never even been to Africa. But it everyone wants to get technical we are all African Americans. when life frist started we all came from Africa. When all the contenients were together it was call something like( shit I forgot the name ) but africa was the center of it all . even in biblicul times, it said we all came from that region. So again we are all African american in a way
533539
The real question is why are white people white.  Most of the world’s people are “black”. The earliest humans were presumably “black”. Only people from North-Western Europe have “white” skin. White people are the mutant  form of humanity, so the real question is why.\n\n\nWhat it seems to come down to is that white people are white because there is no reason why they can’t be. There is all sorts of speculation that white skin serves to aid in vitamin syntheis and so forth, but that makes little sense since people in Tierra del Fuego, Tasmania, Siberia or Alaska do not have white skins despite living at much higher attitudes than most white Europeans.\n\n\nBasically once people left the low latitudes they no longer relied on dark pigments to protect the skin.  Those mutants born with paler skin survived and the genes gradually spread, possibly aided by sexual selection.\n\nThere doesn’t appear to be any real benefit in having white skin since people have survived perfectly well in all environments with black, brown and yellow skin.
230587
The term "Black Irish" is sometimes used in the United States to refer to Irish people possessing dark skin and hair, purportedly due to Iberian ancestry. Numerous popular theories have been devised to explain the provenance and historical background of the "Black Irish."\n\nThe term is used differently in different places.
378841
I actually prefer women of color because we have many variation to our heritage.  I find it ironic that "black " is a color and word historically associated with evil, the dark side and anything negative and we as a race have accepted the term as a reference to our heritage.  As to the "white" race, you can not begin to understand why any minority group has a need to identify their race.  This is a "unseen" privilage that you have been entitled to from birth with no questions as to what you would like to be preferred to as a race.  No negative labels were ever given to your race by another cultural or race for the purpose of making them submissive or to feel inadquate.    This is why it is so very easy for "whites" to say, just call yourselves Americans, or why do you have to use the term "African" etc.  There are just a few "whites" that can understand the depth of such an effect on minorities.  It is area of history that should be studied by "Whites" so they can understand why these issues are weigh in minority communities.\n\nIt has nothing to do with being insecure.  Our society changes references to words to fit into the cultural of society.  Just like the "n" word.  Historically it is and will always be a negative term and being directed to African Americans.  It has to due this history.  I don't like being referred by either term.   Our heritage has enough negative terms related to our race, habits, etc.
637988
You're talking two different things.  When we call people black, we're really referring to their ethnicity, not their skin color.  Black people are of African descent so they would be referred to as black no matter how dark or light their skin is.\nI have seen an albino black person and you can definately tell that person is of African descent even though they have no skin pigment.\nSo, yes, a black person can be classified as an albino if they don't have the melatonin necessary to make skin pigment.  \nWhat I don't understand about albinos is that even their hair and eye color are affected.  I'm not sure if melatonin is responsible for that as well. \nThe black albino I knew had blondish yellow hair.
644755
Ive wondered thatt.  how come if a white person calls a blackman a nigger its racist even though black people call other black people niggers all the time
880543
First of all how did you go from An African to Negro?  This makes me wonder if you are a racist.  African is a name given to a persons that live in Africa ( America--Americans).  Negro is a racist name given to persons of color in the United States for reason of making one feel more inferior to another.  Now that I finished with that.  If one has a bigger jaw, I guess it is used for chewing like everyone else jaw is used for.   Duh!
606218
It came from the word "Negro" which is Spanish (I think) for the word black. In slavery times and for a while afterword, it was a more polite way to refer to black people (if polite can be used in this context at all). The 'n' word was a more derogatory, more crass derivative of the word "Negro".
156666
I think the majority of the people (including African-Americans) use the words "white" and "black" as a simplifier.  It is the same principle that an official in a basketball game uses to describe to the score keeper the player who committed the foul.  He commonly will say, for example, "push on number 11, blue team" when the color of uniform he is alluding to is actually purple or another odd darker color.  The same if the player is wearing grey.  The official will refer to it as white.  It is just easier for clarification.\n\nThere may be some hidden motivation for some people in the past (or possibly the present) concerning good/bad, black/white, but I doubt that most people get that from it.\n\nAs a matter of fact, I would guess that most people would rather have a black car than a white one.  White is plain (and usually less expensive).\n\nPeople will see what they want to see, I guess.
748102
"Natives" of this country refer to themselves as OP's (original people). This country wasn't named America by them. They are labeled by their being here first. As far as the descriptions that you gave you used Asian as an ethnic description but used a color as a description for African American. Why? Also the Op's have different genetic makeups just like every other ethnic group. I know African Americans who have slanted eyes and they are not mixed race. The darker skinned Natives are obviously from the hotter regions just like darker skinned caucasians and African Americans and any other race who live there. The colder the climate year round the paler the skin tone.
613940
Ask the government people who created the labels to put on all the forms you have to fill out. Historically, African Americans did not chose that lable for themselves, it was given to us by the government. Same way they give everyone else a label because categories make people comfortable. Are white people really white? It's a color right? Not a nationality, so why is white on the forms, same reason African American, Asian, etc. is - because we hate ambuguity! And becuz we like to divide and categorize.
1152635
People use the word racism/racist too freely. Classifying people by race itself isn't racist. African-American, in terms of darker skin or "black", is really the most politically correct term you could use. The same goes for those who are termed Caucasian or "white". Generally, some people are never satisified, but that's probably the best it's going to get. You can't expect people who don't know you well to know your ancestry. People who do not know you can only really guess your race by what they see (I don't see why they would even be talking about that in the first place). If they are incorrect, politely correct them. There's no need to get yourself all worked up. If they're using a derogatory term, that's a different conversation all together.
1054552
It wold take away from the knowledge of knowing other things in life.It would be so confusing because you would really think all black people look alike and all white people can't dance.Which neither are true.But exploring and coming in contact with different cultures and races,teaches how to love each other no matter what we look like.Plus it makes the world much more interesting.i am glad its not defined into one of either race.I love them all.
365378
Lets break down the words "white people" and "black people" take out the colour what do u have PEOPLE IT DOESNT MATTER THE COLOUR OF YOUR SKIN IT JUST MATTERS OF WHAT KIND OF PERSON U ARE! WE ARE ALL PEOPLE. In this world we are all brothers and sisters nomatter what the colour