Please Don't Say That
Why are we supposed to say “African American” when in reality we mean “black”? I was wondering about this because the term is only ever applied to black people, which implies that only black people can possibly be African. This can’t be right, can it? Let’s think about this for a minute - historically the ancient people who lived in the UK, whether they be Celtic, Saxon or Norman, were Caucasoid (i.e white). Since then a lot of “black” people have moved to the UK, and we call their descendents British regardless of their skin color, because that is where they have grown up. So if black people can be British (and, by extension, European), why can’t white people be African? Let’s face it, white people have been in Africa for more than a hundred years and several generations, so the term African can’t just mean black people can it? Unless you’re telling me that white people can’t be African, in which case black people can’t possibly be British.
So if some Africans are white, why do we use the word African to denote black people in the politically correct term “African American”? It must be because the term black is considered insensitive in some way. It’s certainly incorrect in one sense – these people aren’t black, they’re brown. And I’m not white – I’m sort of a pink color really. But we can’t use the term colored because that, apparently, is politically incorrect too, unless we say “people of color”. What fucking genius invented that one? How about we call tall people “people of height”, or fat people “people of weight”?
One of the problems is that the term African American is usually used in the context of the endless race debate, most of which seems to be devoted to finding reasons to discriminate in favor of black people or make special accommodations for them. If we used the term “colored” it would encompass people from the Indian subcontinent too, who don’t appear to need endless handouts and excuses as they are quite capable of making a good living in any number of professional fields, including medicine and information technology. So this whole issue really isn’t about skin tone, it’s about something else.
The only currently acceptable theory of human evolution holds that we are all descended from one female, Mitochondrial Eve, who lived in Africa some 200,000 years ago. In fact any scientist who challenges this “out of Africa” theory is typically regarded as a heretic. In other words “politically incorrect”. So if we are all, indeed, descended from this one African woman then we must all be African, right? I mean, at what point do you stop being identified with the country or continent that your ancestors left? (Probably a bloody long time, judging by the number of so-called Irish people over here who couldn’t find the place on a fucking map.) So that means I must be African American too, in which case I’d like the college entry requirements relaxed for my offspring too, thank you very much.
I could have asked a black mate for his opinion on this subject. “Do you want to be black or African American?” But the subject never comes up, because in the end he’s just a bloke. His skin color is irrelevant. Heaven forbid that this becomes a common thing though – what will the race relations industry do if we stop noticing this stuff and quit worrying about what to call each other?
Copyrigh © 2008 Edward Bison
So if some Africans are white, why do we use the word African to denote black people in the politically correct term “African American”? It must be because the term black is considered insensitive in some way. It’s certainly incorrect in one sense – these people aren’t black, they’re brown. And I’m not white – I’m sort of a pink color really. But we can’t use the term colored because that, apparently, is politically incorrect too, unless we say “people of color”. What fucking genius invented that one? How about we call tall people “people of height”, or fat people “people of weight”?
One of the problems is that the term African American is usually used in the context of the endless race debate, most of which seems to be devoted to finding reasons to discriminate in favor of black people or make special accommodations for them. If we used the term “colored” it would encompass people from the Indian subcontinent too, who don’t appear to need endless handouts and excuses as they are quite capable of making a good living in any number of professional fields, including medicine and information technology. So this whole issue really isn’t about skin tone, it’s about something else.
The only currently acceptable theory of human evolution holds that we are all descended from one female, Mitochondrial Eve, who lived in Africa some 200,000 years ago. In fact any scientist who challenges this “out of Africa” theory is typically regarded as a heretic. In other words “politically incorrect”. So if we are all, indeed, descended from this one African woman then we must all be African, right? I mean, at what point do you stop being identified with the country or continent that your ancestors left? (Probably a bloody long time, judging by the number of so-called Irish people over here who couldn’t find the place on a fucking map.) So that means I must be African American too, in which case I’d like the college entry requirements relaxed for my offspring too, thank you very much.
I could have asked a black mate for his opinion on this subject. “Do you want to be black or African American?” But the subject never comes up, because in the end he’s just a bloke. His skin color is irrelevant. Heaven forbid that this becomes a common thing though – what will the race relations industry do if we stop noticing this stuff and quit worrying about what to call each other?
Copyrigh © 2008 Edward Bison
posted by Mr Bison at
8:36 AM
3 Comments:
If there was ever a college fund or scholarship set up for strictly "white" people, do you realize how fast the NAACP would be screaming racism? But it's okay for African Americans to have them.
I suppose they feel that they are an oppressed race here, and since our ancestors kidnapped their ancestor's and made them slaves, that we owe them.
Newsflash! I have never owned slaves, my parents never owned slaves, and their parents never owned slaves. My mother and her parents worked on a cotton plantation, beside the many African Americans that did also, but they were all paid the same wage, even back then.
I think racism is still alive and well, watch Springer, he has no shortage of ignorant white trash that claim to be a superior race, which embarrasses me to no end, however, how many African Americans are actually racists?
I agree with you. We are all people, regardless of skin color. People need to let it go, for God's sake!
Terri
I had some friends who went off to University the year before me and started a White Gentlemen's Society, their reasoning being that the Black Women's Group was one of the largest societies on campus so what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
Funny how little sense of humor the politically correct whiny contingent have, isn't it...
i'm brown and i'm proud!
i personally dont give a fuck what people call me. in this case, the black americans are just like the muslims. they feel oppressed and they think they are victims of injustice.
now the rest of the world must pay the price for it. as if life isn't hard enough without being politically correct all the time.
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