don't you think its time to do away with saying african american?

Question

with all due respect, i mean i don't go around saying i'm a german-french-welsh-english-american, i am a cracker, and skin color means nothing to me, its that content of a persons character that makes me respect a person or not. i have no respect for people that call blacks the n word, or blacks that call women beeches and hoes, or any rapper for that matter, black or white.how bout we just call ourselves american

Answer 1

Hyphenates seperate nationality and society. To use one proclaims a desire to be held apart from others and smacks of racism.

Answer 2

If you don't make people act nice - they won't. Its called forcing the issue regardless of public opinion. For example: President Truman integrated the Armed Forces whether or not all the top generals and public demanded otherwise - and holy hell they did. Worse in public opinion than that of the "don't ask - don't tell" policy for the Armed Forces currently under fire. After time,of course these,"forced" integration policies should be reviewed as they become archaic and obsolete as they may harm the current institutions and systems in place. I mean I wouldn't want a (let's say) female pilot that was hired under the current Affirmative Action policies (still in use by most major airlines) that had the minimal requirements versus the seasoned military pilot who just happened to be a white male. I want the person most qualified. In the future forced integration and Affirmative Action policies should go to the wayside as minority groups will have been afforded the same opportunities as anyone else in this country. Its becoming more and more evident that people don't feel sorry for everyone as they used too. And look at the influx of people still entering this country for an opportunity. These people should not be afforded opportunities above and beyond what lets, say a white male that was born and raised here. Everything should be equal. Oh, and it shouldn't be considered conservative or anti-liberal to say these things.

Answer 3

Bravo!



These "African Americans" and "Latin Americans" and "German-French-Welsh-English" Americans are ridiculous. You were born here? You're American. Period. I never tell people I'm Portuguese American, just because my family came from overseas so long ago. I'm an American. Obama is an American. Wright is an American. All I heard Wright spout about on Fox the other night was about how the "Africans" were talking-- hey, the Africans are in Africa. The Americans are in America. If you don't want to be identified with the country where you were born and bred...



You know the spiel: GET OUT!



God bless AMERICA!!!

Answer 4

I agree everyone just calls me white, why can't they be called black how is that offensive? If it was a word that was disrespectful I maybe able to understand. I agree with the calling ourselves American, but in certain situations they expect a genetic heritage to be written out. Like caucasion, latino, african american. I think that would be the only time I would see where you would want to use african american, would be to distinguish separation from race for some paperwork things. Other than that makes no sense at all. If I had to say that I'm italian/prussian/lithuanian all the time I'd lose my frikkin mind. LOL so I'm white, or caucasion.

Answer 5

Please read the excert from wikipedia below regarding how the term African American came into existence. The word that missing is N e g r o.





"The terms mulatto and colored were widely used until the second quarter of the 20th century, when they were considered outmoded and generally gave way to the use of *****. By the 1940s, the term commonly was capitalized, but by the mid 1960s, it had acquired negative connotations. Today, the term is considered inappropriate and is now often used as a pejorative.[citation needed] Colored and *****, now largely defunct, survive in certain historical organizations such as the United ***** College Fund, the National Council of ***** Women, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.



******* was a term used by anthropologists first in the 18th century to describe some indigenous Africans and their descendants throughout the African diaspora. As with most descriptors of race based on inconsistent, unscientific phenotypical standards, the term is controversial and imprecise. Growing numbers of blacks have substituted the term Africoid, which, unlike *******, encompasses the phenotypes of all indigenous peoples of Africa.[66]







The term African American carries important political overtones. Earlier terms used to identify Americans of African ancestry were conferred upon the group by Americans of European ancestry and were included in the wording of various laws and legal decisions which became tools of white supremacy and oppression[citation needed]. There developed among blacks in America a growing desire for a term of their own choosing.



With the political consciousness that emerged from the political and social ferment of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the term ***** fell into disfavor among many blacks. It had taken on a moderate, accommodationist, even Uncle Tom, connotation. In this period, a growing number of blacks in the United States, particularly African-American youth, celebrated their blackness and their historical and cultural ties with the African continent. The Black Power movement defiantly embraced Black as a group identifier. It was a term social leaders themselves had repudiated only two decades earlier and a term often associated in English with things negative and undesirable, but they proclaimed, "Black is beautiful".



In this same period, a smaller number of people favored Afro-American. In the 1980s the term African American was advanced on the model of, for example, German American. Jesse Jackson popularized the term, and it was quickly adopted by major media.

Many blacks in America expressed a preference for the term, as it was formed in the same way as names for others of the many ethnic groups.

Some argued further that, because of the historical circumstances surrounding the capture, enslavement and systematic attempts to de-Africanize blacks in the United States under chattel slavery, most African Americans are unable to trace their ancestry to a specific African nation; hence, the entire continent serves as a geographic marker.



For many, African American is more than a name expressive of cultural and historical roots. The term expresses pride in Africa and a sense of kinship and solidarity with others of the African diaspora— an embracing of the notion of pan-Africanism as earlier enunciated by prominent African thinkers such as Marcus Garvey, W. E. B. Du Bois, Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and, later, George Padmore."

Answer 6

Yes,blacks are not Americans living in Africa.After living here for generations I kinda thought they were Americans. There is no state in the union called Africa.But that goes for Mexican-Americans Muslim-Americans,etc.it separates them from the mainstream as if they are just passing through.It's time to drop it and move on.

Answer 7

"There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all. This is just as true of the man who puts "native" before the hyphen as of the man who puts German or Irish or English or French before the hyphen. Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance. But if he is heartily and singly loyal to this Republic, then no matter where he was born, he is just as good an American as any one else. "

Answer 8

Yes. Emphatically! Yes!



As others have already said, we're either American or not.



To me, that means that, either our loyalty is undivided or undecided. If we were attacked by Ireland or England, Germany, a resurgence of my ancestral Cherokees (not likely, very peaceful people! but "IF"), or any other of my mutt-contributors, I would fiercely defend the Constitution.



Nothing from the minds of mortals has stood more true and remained infallible against the forces of time and change.



...

Answer 9

In your own somewhat harsh, somewhat rude way you've made a profound point. We're all Americans and making the distinction between Americans and African Americans can sometimes have an unwanted negative effect. I think if more people shared the perception that we're all generally the same and that we should be judged based on character not skin color than maybe we could get passed terms like African American.

Answer 10

Absolutely! I am multi-racial. I am sick and tired of being called African American. There is nothing African about me. I am an American; that's all I am. And I don't have any left brain-right brain learning disability built in, thank you very much, Jeremiah Wright. If you want to call me something, try my name......I usually answer to that.

Answer 11

Yes. It has lost all meaning anyway.

I saw a guy interviewed on tv from Jamaica and the reporter kept callling him African AMerican. He stated that he was neither from Africa nor was he American, and requested the reprter to quit calling him that. The reporter could not help herself though. She continued to refer to him as african american.

Answer 12

Are you okay with whites and blacks, or is that also too touchy for you? I'm not embarrassed of my heritage. Why should you be? And why should someone of African decent be? There's no shame in anyone's ancestry. As much as I commend you on your acknowledgeable awareness of culture, you seem to be quite critical of rappers. Is that because they are predominantly black? Are you saying that you have no respect for Will Smith? He has stated in interviews that he could be elected President and have sex with any woman he wants. Are you sure you're prepared to take on a rapper President?

Answer 13

Well, if you just came from Africa and you just became an American I think it's ok, but if you're born here and are black then you're an American.

Answer 14

It's time the special needs, special treatment, special naming, special cultural benefits, special affirmative action, special racial treatment, ends.



We Americans are SICK and TIRED of the hyphenated, special needs populations that cannot fend for themselves and need a hand-out for everything. I wish they would try WORKING. What next, we will have to do their exercises for them? News flash: everyone has to work, everyone suffers, everyone struggles. It's time that this group faces reality.

Answer 15

Way past time, we are Americans period. Didn't Theodore Roosevelt say that there was no room in this country for hyphenated Americans? Well he was correct.

Answer 16

Yes, I wish the disgusting media will stop focusing on Obama's "race" (and the race and gender of the voters) and focus on the issues! It's such a disgusting way to try to divide the American people.



lonewady: I don't disagree--so why the media obsession with Obama's race/color/religion/patriotism/being a "true American?"

Answer 17

Call yourself whatever you like, but it's illogical to suggest what someone else should call themselves based on that.



I think it's funny when people call every black person African American. I've heard people use that term for people in England, who immigrated from Africa (so they're not AMERICANS!), and I've heard the term used for people who are just Africans going to school in the US (they are just AFRICANS!). I would think it makes sense to continue to use the term until people figure out what the h#ll it means!



It's not a euphemism for pigmented skin. It's a term for people in the US who are directly descended from Africans, particularly African slaves. German-French-Welsh-English isn't quite as direct a cultural connection to your past as perhaps the African Americans feel theirs is, IMHO. For the record, I do call myself Irish American. I am very culturally close to that heritage.



I say let people call themselves what they want to call themselves, including me. What skin is it off YOUR nose?



PS -- Allegiance and culture are not the same thing--grab a dictionary, please! Cultural identification isn't anti-American! You're missing the whole friggin point!

Answer 18

Well, I for one have never called them African-American, but, I do make note of those who do.

Answer 19

You're right, if you are an American then you should be proud of that fact alone.



I am an American! Enough said.

Answer 20

Personally, I have never liked the term. Try not to use it but on some applications that's all they use to refer to my race.

Answer 21

Yes. It's silly.



@Dr. John, you can call me german-english-irish-native american; I do have the right to make you call me whatever I want, right? [/sarcasm]

Answer 22

Y E S !!!



However ... Joking around with FRIENDS ... OR ... being RACIST ... the N Word is NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE !!!



How many BLACK Comediennes have been condemned for "routines" that were "acceptable" BEFORE "Political Correctness"?????



Etymology and history



Main article: *****



Earlier variants (such as neger or negar) derive from the Spanish/Portuguese word *****, meaning "black", and probably also the French nègre, which has also been used pejoratively (but also positively as in Négritude), derived from ***** (the ordinary French word for "black" being noir). Both ***** and noir (and therefore also nègre and ******) ultimately come from nigrum, the accusative form of the Latin adjective word niger (pronounced "knee-ger" with the final r being trilled), meaning "black".



In Colonial America, negars was used in 1619 by John Rolfe, describing slaves shipped to Virginia colony.[5] Neger (sometimes spelled "neggar") also prevailed in northern New York under the Dutch and also in Philadelphia, in its Moravian and Pennsylvania Dutch communities. For example, the African Burial Ground in New York City was originally known as "Begraafplaats van de Neger" (Dutch phrase meaning "Cemetery of the *****" in English).



In the United States, the word ****** was not always considered derogatory, but was instead used by many as merely denotative of black skin, as it was in other parts of the English-speaking world. In nineteenth-century literature, there are many uses of the word ****** with no intended negative connotation. Charles Dickens, and Joseph Conrad (who published The ****** of the 'Narcissus' in 1897) used the word without racist intent. Mark Twain often put the word into the mouths of his characters, white and black, but did not use the word when writing as himself in his autobiographical Life on the Mississippi.



In the United Kingdom and other parts of the English-speaking world, the word was often used to refer to people of Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Kashmiri, Indian or Sri Lankan descent, or merely to darker-skinned foreigners in general; in his 1926 Modern English Usage, H. W. Fowler observed that when the word was applied to "others than full or partial negroes," it was "felt as an insult by the person described, & betrays in the speaker, if not deliberate insolence, at least a very arrogant inhumanity." The note was excised from later editions of the book.



In the 1800s, as ****** began to acquire the pejorative connotation it holds today, the term "Colored" gained popularity as a kinder alternative to ***** and associated terms. For example, abolitionists in Boston, Massachusetts posted warnings to "Colored People of Boston and vicinity." The name of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People reflects the preference for this term at the time of the NAACP's founding in 1909.



Southern dialect in many parts of the southern United States changes the pronunciation of "*****" to "nigra" (used most famously by Lyndon B. Johnson, a proponent of civil rights). In North American English, the transition from ***** > ****** represented a formerly widespread sound shift. In the early editions of his dictionary, Noah Webster suggested the new spellings of zeber for "zebra", as well as neger for "*****".[6]



Black became the preferred term in English in the late 1960s, and this continues to the present day. In the United States this has been displaced to some extent by African American, at least in politically correct usage; this resembles the term Afro-American that was in vogue in the early 1970s. Nevertheless, black continues in widespread use as a racial designation in the United States and is rarely regarded as offensive.



Today the word is often spelled ***** or ******, in imitation of the manner in which some pronounce it. (Less-common variants are nigguh or even nikuh.) Other variations, designed to avoid the term itself, include nookah, nukka, ****** and the much older "jigger."

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We need to make sure that the person that represents AMERICA is PRO-AMERICA !!!



WE NEED to make sure that EVERY man, woman, and child, KNOW how ANTI-AMERICAN Obama and his Reverend(S) ARE !!!



Would a CONTINUAL 20 years of "second hand smoke" have a negative affect on the other people in the area ??



Would a CONTINUAL 20 years of "Anti-American Preachings" have a negative affect on the other people in the area ??



John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, was sworn in as the 35th President of THE United States of America, at noon on January 20, 1961. In his inaugural address he spoke of the NEED for ALL Americans to be ACTIVE CITIZENS, famously saying, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."



Please NOTICE that it said DEMOCRAT - NOT Socialist and / or Communist Democrat !!



It means this country is only as strong as the people in it. It means get off your a$$ and do something!!!

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The Democratic Elite make the rules and then they change them for their convenience !!



The Elite Democrats feel like THEY know better than YOU who would be the best person to run the country !!!



By the People and For the People !!!

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Answer 23

Yes it is about time. If we are to survive as a nation, we need to truely be the UNITED States.

Answer 24

agree 100%

Answer 25

I for one do NOT think it's time to do away with the term. For most people who are African American, you can look at them and tell that that's what they are. Like it or not, we need a term in the lexicon to describe them because otherwise people will revert to less kind words. So let's just train them to use the term "African- American" because it's accurate and correct. (Not "N e g r o," which implies that they are "black" in color and that's not universally true. Not "Afro-American" because it makes you think of their hair which, again, is not universally in that style. But to refer to them as "African American" simply means that they are an American of African descent, which is the truth.



You can be a "German American" or a "Welsh American" if you want to, but it will probably not be as obvious to average guy who meets you on the street.

Answer 26

Yes



Political correctness just creates more problems than it solves...

Answer 27

Yes. That is tiresome.

Answer 28

I would say yes, but it's not up to me.



The PC police will decide.

Answer 29

Yes, you're either just American or you're not.

Answer 30

absolutely.

Answer 31

yes.

Answer 32

Yes!! Please tell this to Barrack Obama!!

Answer 33

No, because we are a multicultural society and people have a right to call themselves whatever they want, and that must be respected