A rather inaccurate term, used to describe a black American. On paper, it seems fairly sensible as British- Asian would be used as an ethnic description of Olympic boxer Amir Khan, as he is British but has parents from Asia (Pakistan).
However, I don't need to tell anyone with half a brain there have been black people in the USA for hundreds of years who have about as much connection to Africa as I do to Bill Clinton just because I'm white.
Think: could you see 50 Cent playing Senegalese folk music, phoning a witch doctor or conducting a "rain dance" with his (mostly black, I presume) G-Unit rapper mates? Nah!!
No, so shut the hell up, Mr Politically Correct - you're playing into the racists' hands by using this definition! (See go back to Africa.)
Another result of the political correctness, which seems to have made about as useful a contribution to Western society as AIDS.
D'oh!!
However, I don't need to tell anyone with half a brain there have been black people in the USA for hundreds of years who have about as much connection to Africa as I do to Bill Clinton just because I'm white.
Think: could you see 50 Cent playing Senegalese folk music, phoning a witch doctor or conducting a "rain dance" with his (mostly black, I presume) G-Unit rapper mates? Nah!!
No, so shut the hell up, Mr Politically Correct - you're playing into the racists' hands by using this definition! (See go back to Africa.)
Another result of the political correctness, which seems to have made about as useful a contribution to Western society as AIDS.
D'oh!!
"Sorry, you can't say black, how about African-American?" - True statement made by a cop to a teenage friend of mine reporting a crime in the USA.
by SQUID May 8, 2005
Get the African-American mug.The current politically correct term to describe black people.The term for black people has evolved from "nigger" to "negro" to "colored" to "black" to "african-american",and as offensive as some of these terms are today,they were once widely used and accepted.
Thomas is an English guy,Marcy is an Irish chick,Manuel is a mexican dude,and Tyrone is an african-american dude.
by jaypers April 30, 2005
Get the african-american mug.noun : an American of African and especially of black African descent;
A Black American of African ancestry;
an American whose ancestors were born in Africa
adjective :used to describe African-Americans; pertaining to or characteristic of Americans of African ancestry
Usage Note: The Oxford English Dictionary contains evidence of the use of black with reference to African peoples as early as 1400, and certainly the word has been in wide use in racial and ethnic contexts ever since. However, it was not until the late 1960s that black (or Black) gained its present status as a self-chosen ethnonym with strong connotations of racial pride, replacing the then-current Negro among Blacks and non-Blacks alike with remarkable speed. Equally significant is the degree to which Negro became discredited in the process, reflecting the profound changes taking place in the Black community during the tumultuous years of the civil rights and Black Power movements. The recent success of African American offers an interesting contrast in this regard. Though by no means a modern coinage, African American achieved sudden prominence at the end of the 1980s when several Black leaders, including Jesse Jackson, championed it as an alternative ethnonym for Americans of African descent. The appeal of this term is obvious, alluding as it does not to skin color but to an ethnicity constructed of geography, history, and culture, and it won rapid acceptance in the media alongside similar forms such as Asian American, Hispanic American, and Italian American. But unlike what happened a generation earlier, African American has shown little sign of displacing or discrediting black, which remains both popular and positive. The difference may well lie in the fact that the campaign for African American came at a time of relative social and political stability, when Americans in general and Black Americans in particular were less caught up in issues involving radical change than they were in the 1960s. ·Black is sometimes capitalized in its racial sense, especially in the African-American press, though the lowercase form is still widely used by authors of all races. The capitalization of Black does raise ancillary problems for the treatment of the term white. Orthographic evenhandedness would seem to require the use of uppercase White, but this form might be taken to imply that whites constitute a single ethnic group, an issue that is certainly debatable. Uppercase White is also sometimes associated with the writings of white supremacist groups, a sufficient reason of itself for many to dismiss it. On the other hand, the use of lowercase white in the same context as uppercase Black will obviously raise questions as to how and why the writer has distinguished between the two groups. There is no entirely happy solution to this problem. In all likelihood, uncertainty as to the mode of styling of white has dissuaded many publications from adopting the capitalized form Black.
A Black American of African ancestry;
an American whose ancestors were born in Africa
adjective :used to describe African-Americans; pertaining to or characteristic of Americans of African ancestry
Usage Note: The Oxford English Dictionary contains evidence of the use of black with reference to African peoples as early as 1400, and certainly the word has been in wide use in racial and ethnic contexts ever since. However, it was not until the late 1960s that black (or Black) gained its present status as a self-chosen ethnonym with strong connotations of racial pride, replacing the then-current Negro among Blacks and non-Blacks alike with remarkable speed. Equally significant is the degree to which Negro became discredited in the process, reflecting the profound changes taking place in the Black community during the tumultuous years of the civil rights and Black Power movements. The recent success of African American offers an interesting contrast in this regard. Though by no means a modern coinage, African American achieved sudden prominence at the end of the 1980s when several Black leaders, including Jesse Jackson, championed it as an alternative ethnonym for Americans of African descent. The appeal of this term is obvious, alluding as it does not to skin color but to an ethnicity constructed of geography, history, and culture, and it won rapid acceptance in the media alongside similar forms such as Asian American, Hispanic American, and Italian American. But unlike what happened a generation earlier, African American has shown little sign of displacing or discrediting black, which remains both popular and positive. The difference may well lie in the fact that the campaign for African American came at a time of relative social and political stability, when Americans in general and Black Americans in particular were less caught up in issues involving radical change than they were in the 1960s. ·Black is sometimes capitalized in its racial sense, especially in the African-American press, though the lowercase form is still widely used by authors of all races. The capitalization of Black does raise ancillary problems for the treatment of the term white. Orthographic evenhandedness would seem to require the use of uppercase White, but this form might be taken to imply that whites constitute a single ethnic group, an issue that is certainly debatable. Uppercase White is also sometimes associated with the writings of white supremacist groups, a sufficient reason of itself for many to dismiss it. On the other hand, the use of lowercase white in the same context as uppercase Black will obviously raise questions as to how and why the writer has distinguished between the two groups. There is no entirely happy solution to this problem. In all likelihood, uncertainty as to the mode of styling of white has dissuaded many publications from adopting the capitalized form Black.
by Docta Peppa Gangsta Chimp4Life December 26, 2004
Get the african-american mug.An African-American is a “black” person that was born in America with an African descent. As an African-American I don’t really care about being called “black” or “African- American” even though some people do, and probably most of the people with this descent do. Just because we’re a different race doesn’t mean we’re not human, whether you’re “white” or “black” we’re all still American
by Howdidigethere? July 8, 2019
Get the African-American mug.African-American is an (ETHNICITY), just as valid as Italian-American, German-American, Japanese-American Kenyan-American, Nigerian-American, Egyptian-America etc.
The Black Americans that are *descendants* of African slaves that were FORCED to come to America, NOT to be confused with Africans that (VOLUNTARILY) *immigrated* to America AFTER slavery ended.
The Black Americans that are *descendants* of African slaves that were FORCED to come to America, NOT to be confused with Africans that (VOLUNTARILY) *immigrated* to America AFTER slavery ended.
Not all Blacks in America are African-American.
President Barack Obama is NOT an African-American, he knows that his father is from Kenya and that his mom is American thus he is *Kenyan-American* his wife is African-American. Also American Blacks are called BLACK for 'general purposes' however, "African-American" for FORMAL purposes ie, job applications, legal documentation etc.
President Barack Obama is NOT an African-American, he knows that his father is from Kenya and that his mom is American thus he is *Kenyan-American* his wife is African-American. Also American Blacks are called BLACK for 'general purposes' however, "African-American" for FORMAL purposes ie, job applications, legal documentation etc.
by Ashcan May 9, 2010
Get the African-American mug.1. A outdated problematic, non-universal racial term used to describe anyone of sub-saharan african descent residing in the united states. That doubles as a ethnic term describing people who descended from the slave trade in america or, identify with black american cultural ethnic identity residing in the u.s, whilst obscuring the ethnic identities of non-ethnic african-american blacks because of its dual use nature. Used interchangeably with the word "black" further exacerbating and creating social/racial/ethnic issues and tension.
A african-american in america may say describing their ethnicity may say "im half black and half brazilian" which really means im half african-american and half brazilian in describing ethnicity rather than race.
A person may choose to hire a afro-trinidadian person over the african-american black person due to stereotypes of african-americans which is a case of ethnic discrimination rather than racial discrimination.
A afro-jamaican or afro-latino from cuba may say he or she isn't "black" meaning he or she isn't african-american because the term is used interchangeably with the more popularly used term black to describe ethnicity.
A company may have a black history month lunch with "Soul food" widely regarded as Ethnic African-American Cuisine. However since it is usually interpreted as a play on a negative racial stereotype rather than a good will toward an ethnicity I.E "not all black people eat fried chicken!!!"
A gesture of goodwill misinterpreted, not necessarily because of ignorance but because of the constant confusion based on current terminology.
"African-American history" does not include the history of Haiti however a person of Haitian decent residing in America is labelled African-American.
A Afro-Barbadian is labelled a African-American in America even if he or she is not a citizen of the U.S
black black american negro negroe black people
A person may choose to hire a afro-trinidadian person over the african-american black person due to stereotypes of african-americans which is a case of ethnic discrimination rather than racial discrimination.
A afro-jamaican or afro-latino from cuba may say he or she isn't "black" meaning he or she isn't african-american because the term is used interchangeably with the more popularly used term black to describe ethnicity.
A company may have a black history month lunch with "Soul food" widely regarded as Ethnic African-American Cuisine. However since it is usually interpreted as a play on a negative racial stereotype rather than a good will toward an ethnicity I.E "not all black people eat fried chicken!!!"
A gesture of goodwill misinterpreted, not necessarily because of ignorance but because of the constant confusion based on current terminology.
"African-American history" does not include the history of Haiti however a person of Haitian decent residing in America is labelled African-American.
A Afro-Barbadian is labelled a African-American in America even if he or she is not a citizen of the U.S
black black american negro negroe black people
by Maurice Caldeira November 6, 2012
Get the African-American mug.According to the United States government, African-Americans (Black Americans) are:
"Residents or citizens of the United States, who have biological origins in any black ethnic group on the continent of Africa"
What African-American does not mean:
1) It does not mean that blacks born in the U.S. are African. It means that these Americans are of African descent. A specific country of origin cannot be named because enslaved Africans were stripped of their culture.
2) It does not apply to people who come from Africa, unless they are biologically African (i.e. Black)
3) Legally it does apply to blacks from Africa, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.....as long as they reside within the borders of the United States.
"Residents or citizens of the United States, who have biological origins in any black ethnic group on the continent of Africa"
What African-American does not mean:
1) It does not mean that blacks born in the U.S. are African. It means that these Americans are of African descent. A specific country of origin cannot be named because enslaved Africans were stripped of their culture.
2) It does not apply to people who come from Africa, unless they are biologically African (i.e. Black)
3) Legally it does apply to blacks from Africa, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.....as long as they reside within the borders of the United States.
Notable African-Americans include Bill Cosby, El Haji Malik El Shabbaz, Martin Luther King, and Medgar Evers
Person #1 - Is a white person from Nigeria, who lives in the U.S., an African-American?
Me- Legally no they are not. That person would be considered a White Nigerian-American.
Person #1 - Is a white person from Nigeria, who lives in the U.S., an African-American?
Me- Legally no they are not. That person would be considered a White Nigerian-American.
by Amaru1971 March 10, 2008
Get the African-American mug.