Black People Politics : Why the term African American is mostly offensive


...I disagree with you...If we are born in the U.S. we are African American or people of the African Diaspora. America was founded as a free White Society, so we still don't have American citizenship with the same weight as individual White people. A look at Police Brutality or the unprecedented disrespectful presidential treatment that Mr. Obama receives everyday, are clearly 2 examples that illustrate the degree of Racist practice in America.

...If you have to fight ( for equality ) as a diverse group of ethnicities, who is seen and treated as one monolithic community, then your true "American" citizenship is in question. We have it in name or on paper only. It makes no sense to identify as just American and divorce ourselves from our genetics and our rich cultural legacy that defines us so accurately and is ours without a fight. So much of what we did here is forever buried, destroyed or not recorded. We invented much that Whites took credit for or appropriated and changed to fit Americana..

...People with your complexion have always been rooted in the African American experience. You can call yourself what ever you want, because it's your right constitutionally, but as a group, Pure Blooded African people here as well as mixed European / Africans like Mr. Obama are considered rightly to be African American. Back in the days of Slavery, you would be Black or African like the rest, you wouldn't have a choice...we fought for that right! African American is a term that has a historical context that is unquestionably correct, regardless of the "cultural clothing" that we wear in spirit today.

...the issue is that our terms like Black have no context except color ID ( color casting ) which we are against in racial terms. American as a sole ethnic reference has a context for us that originates in Slavery. Thankfully most of us are not with that theory. We are American only in contexts which are language and culture. These Americanisms are obvious and not escapable since we are also citizens on paper.All of us here are hyphenated Americans, including the Native Americans. They were here the longest, but they are Asiatic people originally!

...Genetically, we are African people or African descendants, born in America...hence African American! We are in a Global Culture now, very much different than the old days when we were depicted across the world as monkeys or buffoons! We can show who we are now and we are no different than any other person on a level of human achievement. As African Americans, included in the Global culture, we are connected to our native continent by the educated and culturally aware. The ethnic diversity that we have as a people means that neither all of us nor some Africans will see us as interrelated, but it matters whether a person is referring to culture, tribe, ethnicity, nationality or genetics when they consider or argue Black or African American as ethnic identification examples.
 
...Bro you should be clear on the term Black. It is a term that was adopted by us as a primary reference during the 60's Civil rights struggle.
The term "black" goes back before the Old Testament in the Bible when one of King Solomon's wives described herself as "black but comely"(Song of Solomon 1:5).

Don't try to tell me what I "should be clear on"!

Intelligent people know what I mean when I say I am black.
 
[QUOTE="Broham, post: 911305, member: 55464" I disagree. I do not find the term offensive...I don't care what Caucasians or others do; that is their affair. I would prefer the term "Black" because it unites all who are so-called Negroid regardless of what land we live in or are from.

I like the fact that things are different for us than Whites (they just call themselves "Americans.") I do not want to be like Whites.

Peace. /QUOTE]
What on Earth is going on when so many of the prominent people in our community so publicly highlight just how genuinely lost and totally confused they are, as very very spectacularly highlighted by the MOBO awards here in the UK [I’ve never been a fan because the concept is fundamentally flawed, isn't it] though I must concede that MUSIC OF AFRICAN ORIGIN awards doesn’t have the same ring [but do you get my point]?


Would you believe that even that even within the very organizations/ groups and individuals aspiring to lead our communities and countries forward in the 21st century, my personal experience [and glaring omissions like no Soul category] highlights that our alleged luminaries /intelligentsia, are STILL very obviously trapped in their alleged “BLACKNESS” as opposed to being spiritually and intellectually agile enough to be consciously embracing their African ethnicity?

Isn’t the truly critical factor here how WE consciously discern/view and label ourselves as opposed to how the rest of Humanity generally, the so consistently maliciously hostile European [allegedly CHRISTIAN] collective [and their lackeys cohorts of varying ethnic origins/hues] specifically, [who continue to delude themselves that only they KNOW the WAY Humanity is meant to GO/GROW] who have been very very consistently decimating this planet and everyone and thing on it, for over 2000 years now, choose to tag us?

When WE don't educate/rationally program ANY/ALL of our people to consciously acknowledge our African ethnicity [as opposed to alleged Blackness/how BLACK is Halle, Barack and many of the so diversely mixed peoples of African ethnicity] as a blessing as opposed to a curse; aren't we extremely unlikely to even begin to fulfil our main responsibility; to deduce and construct the socio-economic vehicles that will initially adequately secure, sustain and nurture our communities and countries, creating the possibility of us eventually collectively advancing and competing with the rest of Humanity in the 21st century?

Why are we the only ethnic group on the planet using a colour [Black as opposed to our original source, the African continent] to label our activities in every area of human activity as opposed to getting rid of one of the more obvious chains put in place over the last 500 years [as underlined by their being more than twice the number of USA citizens TODAY who label themselves as Irish and Swedish Americans, than the current population of Ireland or Sweden] whereas shouldn’t we be consciously focusing on embracing our African ethnicity?

What about the fact that in every census to date of our community in the USA with regard to how we would like to label ourselves, African has beaten Coloured, Negro [why are the Rap artists not only keeping the Nword alive/constantly bringing it back to the fore in the 21st century] and Black by a considerable margin as a rationalization of the fact that we cannot be as specific as the Italians, Greeks and Germans etc with regard to which part of our original home continent {Africa], we’re from?

What use are the majority of “Black Studies/Black History/Black Culture courses if the people constructing them are genuinely unaware of the fact that language is the operating system of the human brain/CPU in a similar manner to Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8 is for computers; which is why one has to be consciously selective with regard to how it is used to disseminate uplifting TRUTHS/ KNOWLEDGE as opposed to the current onslaught of very poisonous negativity to all of our people in general, our youth/future/specifically?

For example being Africanlisted, being Africanballed out of a clique, losing all power [especially electrically] for whatever reason isn’t an Africanout, nor does anyone state that they’re not wearing a piece of clothing because it is African with dirt, it isn’t standard practice to lament when things have gone horribly wrong that it is a really African Day and no one has ever been jailed because there has been conclusive proof that they are an Africanmailer, whereas doesn’t substituting the word BLACK into all of these contexts place one on a sliding/increasing constantly scale of very very inconvenient GRIEF?

It is not too late, is it, for both prominent individuals and the African collective with regard to being far more carefully selective with regard to the language we utilize to describe ourselves with ALL of our programmes going out as African Studies/ History /Culture Lecture Series etc, with regard to the African experience from an African perspective, thus at least starting out on the right foot as opposed to continuing to inject very easily avoidable negativity/rubbish as standard, into the minds of the people we’re aspiring to uplift?

I am not just being pedantic, this is very important as underlined by the glitzy looking Black Cultural Archive whch opened in Brixton/South London [June 2014] not being the African Cultural Archive [THEY must just be laughing at us when even our alleged intelligentsia/elite are genuinely so totally baffled and confused]; in that my/this rationale/ perspective isn’t ROCKET SCIENCE, is it?

Isn’t ANYONE who genuinely believes they are not programmed
graphically illustrating that their programming is COMPLETE?
 
A TRULY SUPERB/ very WELL written post!

[QUOTE="Storymaster, post: 911623, member: 55468" ...I disagree with you...If we are born in the U.S. we are African American or people of the African Diaspora. America was founded as a free White Society, so we still don't have American citizenship with the same weight as individual White people. A look at Police Brutality or the unprecedented disrespectful presidential treatment that Mr. Obama receives everyday, are clearly 2 examples that illustrate the degree of Racist practice in America.

...If you have to fight ( for equality ) as a diverse group of ethnicities, who is seen and treated as one monolithic community, then your true "American" citizenship is in question. We have it in name or on paper only. It makes no sense to identify as just American and divorce ourselves from our genetics and our rich cultural legacy that defines us so accurately and is ours without a fight. So much of what we did here is forever buried, destroyed or not recorded. We invented much that Whites took credit for or appropriated and changed to fit Americana..

...People with your complexion have always been rooted in the African American experience. You can call yourself what ever you want, because it's your right constitutionally, but as a group, Pure Blooded African people here as well as mixed European / Africans like Mr. Obama are considered rightly to be African American. Back in the days of Slavery, you would be Black or African like the rest, you wouldn't have a choice...we fought for that right! African American is a term that has a historical context that is unquestionably correct, regardless of the "cultural clothing" that we wear in spirit today.

...the issue is that our terms like Black have no context except color ID ( color casting ) which we are against in racial terms. American as a sole ethnic reference has a context for us that originates in Slavery. Thankfully most of us are not with that theory. We are American only in contexts which are language and culture. These Americanisms are obvious and not escapable since we are also citizens on paper.All of us here are hyphenated Americans, including the Native Americans. They were here the longest, but they are Asiatic people originally!

...Genetically, we are African people or African descendants, born in America...hence African American! We are in a Global Culture now, very much different than the old days when we were depicted across the world as monkeys or buffoons! We can show who we are now and we are no different than any other person on a level of human achievement.

As African Americans, included in the Global culture, we are connected to our native continent by the educated and culturally aware. The ethnic diversity that we have as a people means that neither all of us nor some Africans will see us as interrelated, but it matters whether a person is referring to culture, tribe, ethnicity, nationality or genetics when they consider or argue Black or African American as ethnic identification examples. /QUOTE]


Isn’t ANYONE who genuinely believes they are not programmed
graphically illustrating that their programming is COMPLETE?
 
The term "black" goes back before the Old Testament in the Bible when one of King Solomon's wives described herself as "black but comely"(Song of Solomon 1:5).
...don't pop corpuscle...I am not saying that the term Black was invented in the 60's. Black has always in existence in a general way by Africans as well as White anthropologists. I am referring to America's history specifically, where I quoted the word as being "ADOPTED" as a "primary" ethnic reference in opposition to White in this country. We are not Black people, we are Yellow - Brown and color negativity is a serious issue in our struggle. Intelligent people know that too. What "you" mean is irrelevant to what "WE" need to express with clarity rather than ambiguity!

...if we are against the color negativity of White and all it's implications, then we have to consider ( those of us who want to be reasonable and non hypocritical ) that our use of a color ID is questionable, even if it is a counter measure. Black as it is used implies a personal two way Racial battle and we are not alone in it. Many of our people who say they are Black can pass for White today...I'm glad to have them, but we cannot say that we are against racism which is color negativity and then use it in reverse ( for our own reasons of struggle ) without ridicule.

...Ever wonder why White people never question the use of Black? It's because they need the opposite example to support their exclusive race term. They know that theirs is accepted as beneficial and ours is laden with negative baggage that continues to cloud a clear reference to our history ad struggle.

...We all know that we care as prideful as any other Race and we can play into color superiority just as Whites do. When our people speak publicly about "Blackness"...our Black thing that no one else understands, we are victimized by the same institutional Indoctrination that Whites delude themselves with. The fact is that we all came from somewhere else and We are African Americans which is a proper double geographical reference that puts us as African diaspora people in our proper perspective historically.

...your Bible reference is a weak one. Especially considering that I was specifically speaking to today's reality in America. Color ( ID ) reference is a negative, limiting and exclusive form of ethnic identification that plays into modern notions of racial superiority. We are not the majority so we have limited power to level the color playing field that we entered with the use of Black. Ours is personal so we should keep it personal and not put extra struggles on the weakest of us who have no personal or financial power and who use the term rebelliously.

...Black, ******, thug...all baggage that clouds our day with Racial BS that only some of us are prepared to address when we are called on it!
I don't see the term working for the weakest of us. We don't need to continue reducing our ancestry to a single ambiguously used term that ladens us with the excess Racial baggage of centuries.

...in your quote...she says..."I am Black "BUT" comely"...which clearly says that there was color negativity there too. I mean, if you are beautiful, you're beautiful. The quote implies that she is speaking to herself too, struggling with being Black yet comely...lets move on and evolve above the smallness.

Don't try to tell me what I "should be clear on"!

Intelligent people know what I mean when I say I am black.
...don't pop corpuscle...I am not saying that the term Black was invented in the 60's. Black has always in existence in a general way by Africans as well as White anthropologists. I am referring to America's history specifically, where I quoted the word as being "ADOPTED" as a "primary" ethnic reference in opposition to White in this country. We are not Black people, we are Yellow - Brown and color negativity is a serious issue in our struggle. Intelligent people know that too. What "you" mean is irrelevant to what "WE" need to express with clarity rather than ambiguity!

...if we are against the color negativity of White and all it's implications, then we have to consider ( those of us who want to be reasonable and non hypocritical ) that our use of a color ID is questionable, even if it is a counter measure. Black as it is used implies a personal two way Racial battle and we are not alone in it. Many of our people who say they are Black can pass for White today...I'm glad to have them, but we cannot say that we are against racism which is color negativity and then use it in reverse ( for our own reasons of struggle ) without ridicule.

...Ever wonder why White people never question the use of Black? It's because they need the opposite example to support their exclusive race term. They know that theirs is accepted as beneficial and ours is laden with negative baggage that continues to cloud a clear reference to our history ad struggle.

...We all know that we care as prideful as any other Race and we can play into color superiority just as Whites do. When our people speak publicly about "Blackness"...our Black thing that no one else understands, we are victimized by the same institutional Indoctrination that Whites delude themselves with. The fact is that we all came from somewhere else and We are African Americans which is a proper double geographical reference that puts us as African diaspora people in our proper perspective historically.

...your Bible reference is a weak one. Especially considering that I was specifically speaking to today's reality in America. Color ( ID ) reference is a negative, limiting and exclusive form of ethnic identification that plays into modern notions of racial superiority. We are not the majority so we have limited power to level the color playing field that we entered with the use of Black. Ours is personal so we should keep it personal and not put extra struggles on the weakest of us who have no personal or financial power and who use the term rebelliously.

...Black, ******, thug...all baggage that clouds our day with Racial BS that only some of us are prepared to address when we are called on it!
I don't see the term working for the weakest of us. We don't need to continue reducing our ancestry to a single ambiguously used term that ladens us with the excess Racial baggage of centuries.

...in your quote...she says..."I am Black "BUT" comely"...which clearly says that there was color negativity there too. I mean, if you are beautiful, you're beautiful. The quote implies that she is speaking to herself too, struggling with being Black yet comely...lets move on and evolve above the smallness.
The term "black" goes back before the Old Testament in the Bible when one of King Solomon's wives described herself as "black but comely"(Song of Solomon 1:5).

Don't try to tell me what I "should be clear on"!

Intelligent people know what I mean when I say I am black.
The term "black" goes back before the Old Testament in the Bible when one of King Solomon's wives described herself as "black but comely"(Song of Solomon 1:5).

Don't try to tell me what I "should be clear on"!

Intelligent people know what I mean when I say I am black.
 

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