How long will a descendent of an African person be called an African -American?
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
185968
OK, see the confusion begins...!\n\nFirst of all, there is no such place as "Africa America".  \n\nSecondly, Black people were given the "politically correct" name "AfricaN AmericaN" by Jesse Jackson less than (or about) 20 years ago.  Non-Black people (especially those in high positions) and some Black people, prefer it because the word "black" was given negative perceptions ("Black" is bad, based on the meanings of certain words, like "black-listed", "black-balled", "blackmailed"...).  I have even heard of some silly Black people saying "Well coal is BLACK. So since I'm not that color, I can't be "Black".)  Crazy.\n\nWhat you teacher probably said was "African American" (listen in class!).  It is seen as OK, because Black people in american can find their origins in Africa, for the most part (some, from the Carribean).  Like "Arab-american", or "Irish-american", and so on and so forth.\n\nToo much denial for ME.  I prefer to be called what we have always been: BLACK.\n\nLM
228595
We have been working on our "Roots" for years.  My great grandfather came from Alabama and his sisters and brothers scattered throughout the US.  We found out the slavemaster's name for our ancestor's but haven't been successful in tracking his ancester's yet.  We were told that The Mormon's kept records from slavery days so now we're concentrating on finding records at The Mormon's Church.  \n\nKeep in mind, that hte slaves were not educated and they did not spell last names the same.  They would spell and write the way it sound.  That only means that some of the ancester's surnames may have had an "A" when others may have had an "O".  Could all be sisters and brothers.\n\nSometimes the slavemasters chose to change the last names of some and some may have had the slavemaster's last name.  It's all so complicated.  \n\nI will continue searching. Maybe we can help each other.  gl
362829
Yes, if you're born in Africa you're African American. That's why some people prefer to be called black because African American classifies anyone born in Africa.
413223
It's a club mentality.  As we all should know, American black slaves were tragically persecuted and this name was used with vicious slander to degrade their existence to a level of inequality.  As the slaves gained freedom and modern society has evolved, the term is an insider way of being one of the club and a cultural reminder.  A person of different race, using the same term, even if attempted to be used in the same inclusive, brotherly manner, cannot expect to be recognized as one who could possibly relate, thus there is most often resentment and feelings of hostility.  It's one thing to tell people I'm a dirt bag, it's another to have someone else call me one...them's fightn' words.  Think it's a double standard?  Maybe, because it is discriminatory in its own way, excluding outsiders and promotes a negative sense of separation, holding on to a victimized past.  Then again, who didn't come from a victimized past?  If you live in America, most of our ancestors didn't come here because things were so wonderful in the old country.  They left because anything was going to be better than the life they had.  The sad difference for the blacks Africans is that they were kidnapped, forced into ships, and treated like livestock.  Most others had at least some limited choices.
419192
do your own homework.\nalso... you might get docked for not calling them native americans.
568618
I agree that it sounds kind of racist...as does the census.  I think that we should break down racial barriers and stop identifying people on the basis of their skin color.  Granted, having a heritage is important, but when it comes right down to it, would you not rather simply say that you are an American, instead of trying to separate yourself from the country that you inhabit?  I also believe that calling people [or yourself] "African-American" is designed as a racist term, as about half of the people that I know who came to the U.S. directly from Africa are white and from South Africa.  Yet, this term is generally used to refer to skin color and a history of slavery [which ended about 140 years ago].  In short, multiculturalism is not bad, as long as people remember where it is that they live, and the freedoms granted to them by the government where they live.  Although heritage is important, you should always remember that you define who you are, not whether your ancestors were refugees from Russia, or slaves from Sierra Leon, or immigrants from Italy.  So, perhaps the next time someone asks you what you are, if you have dual citizenship, then say both country names.  But, if you are American, then answer with "I am American."  If they want more details, then say "I am of ____ heritage."
1010463
Certainly, but then all the people of african decent that were born in this country could not.  \n\nBut good question, it shows how silly this naming thing really is.
563891
Between 10 & 15 generations on my moms side and 4 on my fathers.\n\nOn my moms side we have been traced back to England and coming over during the first settlement here in America.  We have recoreds prior to that in England and Germany.  My father side we can trace back to my great grandmother who was a slave in Kingston, Jamacia.  She was freed in the 1920's and came to America where my grandfather was born.
764884
Blacks do not call themselves Afro-Americans. That's what white people started putting on apps. I don't consider myself an Afro-American nor do I consider myself and African- American. I was not born or raised in Africa nor have I ever been. My mother or father has never been nor have their parents or the ones before them. That's just another way to let others know  they are referring to a dark skinned person.
1017606
1. Slang for "my close acquaintance of an African-American ethnic background"\n\n2. Word to be used in place of a name, or other personal noun or pronoun to be used in place of a name.
296560
Some un-american african.
140503
they should drop the "African-American" because I'm just American, but if you must use, then say Black., but for the people who are actually African and came to America to be citizens should keep the name...  same should apply to everyone...
501876
The term "African American" has been in common usage in the United States since the late 1980s, when greater numbers of African Americans began to adopt the term self-referentially. Malcolm X favored the term "African American" over "Negro" or "Black" and used the term at an OAAU (Organization of Afro American Unity) meeting in the early 1960s, saying, "Twenty-two million African-Americans – that's what we are – Africans who are in America."\n\nBeginning in the 1980s, many blacks began to abandon the term "Afro-American", which had become popular in the 1960s and '70s, for "African-American," because they desired an unabbreviated expression of their African heritage that could not be mistaken or derided as an allusion to the afro hairstyle. The term became increasingly popular, and by the 1980s, Jesse Jackson and others pressed for its adoption and acceptance. Users of the term argued that "African-American" was more in keeping with the nation's immigrant tradition of so-called "hyphenated Americans", who were known by terms like "Irish-American", "Chinese-American", or "Polish-American"), which link people with their, or their ancestors', geographic points of origin.\n\nOther terms used at various points in American history include Negro, colored, and black. Negro and colored were common until the late 1960s, but are now less commonly used and considered derogatory. African American, black and, to a lesser extent, Afro-American are used interchangeably today, but their precise meanings and connotations are in dispute.\n\nThe term African American is sometimes problematic because of its imprecise cultural and geographic meaning. The term as originally applied refers to only those descended from a small number of colonial indentured servants and the estimated 500,000 Africans taken to the U.S. as slaves (of approximately 11 million Africans taken to the western hemisphere in general).\n\nIn slightly broader usage, the term can include Afro-Latino immigrants whose African ancestors also survived the Middle Passage, recent African immigrants and their children, with or without American citizenship, but these groups tend to use the ethnic terms Latino or Hispanic, or even Afro-Latino to identify themselves by their countries of origin (i.e., as Dominican or Jamaican instead of African American).\n\nThe term does not include European-African, Indian, Berber or Arab immigrants from the African continent.Thus, even though people like Charlize Theron or Teresa Kerry were born in Africa and became Americans by naturalization, they are not termed as African-American.
631419
I prefer to be called Black. I am not African. I have traces of African in me, but that does not mean that I am of African nationality. People who are from Africa who become American citizens should be called African-American. I don't care to be called a Black-American because (and don't take this the wrong way) I am not exactly WANTED here in America (or anywhere else for that matter). Afro American is dated and Negro is just unnecessary given the Latin meaning of the term. I think the term Black American is a little offensive. Black is the least offensive to me.\n\nAt this point, there is no appropriate way to describe what I am. My great-great-great Grandmother passed for white for many years (she was the descendant of slaves). There are some Mexicans in the blood-line as well. Since the blood-line is no longer purely African, I cannot associate myself with a race of people. I am nothing but a Black person in America.
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.
984029
G'day Ned B,\n\nThank you for your question.\n\nHis surname is African from Kenya where his Dad was born.  He was raised by his white mother in Kansas. He and his wife are members of the Trinity United Church of Christ.\n\nI have attached sources for your reference.\n\nRegards