Which is politically correct? Black people or African American?

[blake]

I've never understood this. I don't call myself an Anglo Saxon American. My husband doesn't call himself a German American. We're just American. There has to be a better way of describing people with dark soon regardless of what country they are in.

 

if you are an American that is not what is not what is known as an 'hyphenated American' then that means you are not an American of foreign birth, who as you know enjoys all the same rights as you do except not being able to run for president.

 

but there is still an element of condesencion there.

 

also people of some backgrounds are, or at least were, much likelier to be hyphenated Americans. Like Irish Americans. Or Italian Americans. But you never hear of certainly any English Americans, or even German Americans.

 

and of course there are Asian Americans, an expression just as much commonly used, as African American.

 

the main problem with African American is that it does not describe Americans who really do come from African backgrounds orginally. Like Nigerian Americans, or Kenyan Americans who grew up in Africa but are now American citisens, and who unlike the majority of black Americans, really do know about African culture and can speak African languages, etc. Understandably, they do not want to be lumped in with other black people who they do not really have a great deal in common with and who, unlike them, are descended from slaves taken to the Americas centuries ago.

 

and what about white South Africans who are now American citisens? Are they African Americans, or what?

 

African American is a very unsatisfactory expression to describe American blacks. I would always just use the expression black American, not African American. In fact I would not use the expression at all. For black American citisens who were born in Africa, I would call them Nigerian Americans, or Ghanaian Americans and so on, not African Americans.

 

I once worked with an African-American in Equatorial Guinea, in deepest darkest Africa.

 

He'd never been to Africa before and said he hadn't asked for the job and had been sent there from the USA under protest.

 

He didn't like what he saw and every day would say how thankful he was that his ancestors had been captured and taken to the USA.

 

20 years ago I was backpacking in southern Africa and I met up with a British guy, of Malawian descent. He didn't have much in the way of family left there, but understandably was interested in his Malawi heritage. Even to the point of going to the relevant office in Blantyre and asking if he could get dual Malawi - UK citisenship. They told him no, you'll have to give up your UK citisenship to become one of us, here's the form do you want to fill it in?

 

the guy just scarpered out of there as quick as he could.

 

another time, a black American guy from Florida turned up at the shop I was working at in Cape Town SA. He saw me there, a white guy sitting around with all the black workers. He'd only gone to South Africa because Mandela had only just become president and he wanted to see the 'black liberation' at first hand. We became buddies and went out for drinks a few times. He realised that he, a black guy from Florida and me, a white guy from the UK had far more in common with each other than he did with a bunch of Xhosa South African black guys. We came from pretty similar backgrounds, even though we had lived on different continents. Coming from a wealthy '1st world' liberal democracy means you have far more in common with somebody who also does, than somebody who doesn't, regardless of what colour your skin is. I saw this with other black people from places like Holland and France too, who did not even speak English as a first language. They had far more in common with me, than they did with the South African blacks.

[melthebell]

He was snot american

 

case closed then

[Epic Fail]

And also Black

 

And also African.

 

At least it should.

[Claire_]

just wondering as post has been deleted.

 

Black ..

[buck]

In my experience Americans describe themselves in terms of their origins more than Europeans. Polish Americans, Irish Americans, Italian Americans, WASPs, Hispanics, etc.

 

You even get people saying they're 5th generation Irish American, whatever that means.

 

As far as I know I'm several hundred generation British

It means the family came over with the Mayflower, which had to be the size of the Titanic, if you are to believe it.

 

---------- Post added 30-01-2014 at 19:54 ----------

 

If I understand you correctly, you mean that even though you are an American citizen, you have dual nationality and therefore was still called to serve the country way back then ? I did not know that.

 

By the way, the law on immigration can change at any point in time. I am not too sure if one cannot lose their UK citizenship even if both parents are UK citizens. Also, dual nationalities may be up for discussion in the future to protect the country itself. You never know. At the moment, I think it benefits the UK more by allowing citizens to have dual nationalities.

Let me give you a case in point. When my brother died in 1988, I grabbed a plane in a hurry to get to Cornwall for the funeral. We landed at Gatwick, and a woman checking us in told me in no uncertain terms that I could only stay six months and not work. No sympathy , nothing. I came back to New York a week later, and got sympathy from US Immigration. My wife is Irish, and could have dual citizenship if she wanted to, I could not in Britain.

[Harleyman]

It means the family came over with the Mayflower, which had to be the size of the Titanic, if you are to believe it.

 

---------- Post added 30-01-2014 at 19:54 ----------

 

Let me give you a case in point. When my brother died in 1988, I grabbed a plane in a hurry to get to Cornwall for the funeral. We landed at Gatwick, and a woman checking us in told me in no uncertain terms that I could only stay six months and not work. No sympathy , nothing. I came back to New York a week later, and got sympathy from US Immigration. My wife is Irish, and could have dual citizenship if she wanted to, I could not in Britain.

 

You were born in the UK buck. You have a UK birth certificate You do in fact have dual citizenship.

You could even get a UK passport if you wanted but I would strongly advise against it if you are planning on staying here.

[salsafan]

It means the family came over with the Mayflower, which had to be the size of the Titanic, if you are to believe it.

 

---------- Post added 30-01-2014 at 19:54 ----------

 

Let me give you a case in point. When my brother died in 1988, I grabbed a plane in a hurry to get to Cornwall for the funeral. We landed at Gatwick, and a woman checking us in told me in no uncertain terms that I could only stay six months and not work. No sympathy , nothing. I came back to New York a week later, and got sympathy from US Immigration. My wife is Irish, and could have dual citizenship if she wanted to, I could not in Britain.

I am sorry to read that bad experience that you had.

 

To be honest, the topic of nationality never truly hit me when I was younger. It really is more for other people to define me so that they feel so much more at ease and more comfortable. It is like they need to do something in order to make themselves at ease. I often find that quite strange when I was growing up.

 

I do know one thing though, how I define myself is personal to me. I do not try and "name" others as if they are like my dog or other. There is still a lot of respect and dignity to be had around the topic of one's heritage. It really is pretty private. Regardless of how the immigration department, or whichever department categorise and recategorise one's colour, name, face, whatever. To me, it really is for them to deal with for political sake than it is for me to accept myself. On a personal and a rather spiritual note, in my eyes, everyone should know where they come from, and who their parents are, and what their family history is.

 

Because I come from one of the British Commonwealth country, the topic of dual nationality is often in my mind. You do question yourself where you place your loyalty and where you want your future to be. It really is quite a sensitive subject, as really the law can change at any point in time to be honest, and what will happen then ?

[johncocker]

4 at 19:54 ----------[/size]

[/color]Let me give you a case in point. When my brother died in 1988, I grabbed a plane in a hurry to get to Cornwall for the funeral. We landed at Gatwick, and a woman checking us in told me in no uncertain terms that I could only stay six months and not work. No sympathy , nothing. I came back to New York a week later, and got sympathy from US Immigration. My wife is Irish, and could have dual citizenship if she wanted to, I could not in Britain.

 

why not?

 

---------- Post added 31-01-2014 at 12:57 ----------

 

[/b]

You were born in the UK buck. You have a UK birth certificate You do in fact have dual citizenship.

You could even get a UK passport if you wanted but I would strongly advise against it if you are planning on staying here.

 

 

only if he has a current uk passport

[buck]

I am sorry to read that bad experience that you had.

 

To be honest, the topic of nationality never truly hit me when I was younger. It really is more for other people to define me so that they feel so much more at ease and more comfortable. It is like they need to do something in order to make themselves at ease. I often find that quite strange when I was growing up.

 

I do know one thing though, how I define myself is personal to me. I do not try and "name" others as if they are like my dog or other. There is still a lot of respect and dignity to be had around the topic of one's heritage. It really is pretty private. Regardless of how the immigration department, or whichever department categorise and recategorise one's colour, name, face, whatever. To me, it really is for them to deal with for political sake than it is for me to accept myself. On a personal and a rather spiritual note, in my eyes, everyone should know where they come from, and who their parents are, and what their family history is.

 

Because I come from one of the British Commonwealth country, the topic of dual nationality is often in my mind. You do question yourself where you place your loyalty and where you want your future to be. It really is quite a sensitive subject, as really the law can change at any point in time to be honest, and what will happen then ?

I was for some years a Canadian citizen. I was troubled a little when I landed at Heathrow in 1976 and had to go through immigration along with other Canadians, while Europeans went through without checking. We had always been told we were still British, yet, like the later visit, I was told I could only stay 6 months and could not work. One of the reasons I took citizenship in Canada and USA was the dread of being evicted for economic reasons. It happened to some legal immigrants during the Great Depression of the thirties. Canadian citizens and legal British immigrants to Canada could enter the US without a passport until President Bush changed that, following 9/11.

 

---------- Post added 31-01-2014 at 09:33 ----------

 

[/b]

 

You were born in the UK buck. You have a UK birth certificate You do in fact have dual citizenship.

You could even get a UK passport if you wanted but I would strongly advise against it if you are planning on staying here.

My experiences at British Entry points certainly didn't make me feel welcome home. I have no plan to repatriate. All but a few cousins and nephews remain there. After 46 years it would be too costly, even if I wanted to.

[blake]

you could have just continued to renew your British passport every 10 years at minimal expense. That way you would not have had to stand with the Canadians and Americans at the UK border control.