Can we now get rid of the hyphenated term "African-American" and

[1monster]

refer to all citizens as Americans?

Isn't it time that one's skin color be given no more emphasis than one's eye color and hair color?

BTW,I think that it is perfect that the first person of color to be elected President of the United States is biracial. The only thing that would have been better is if he had also had some Latino, Native American, and Asian in his ancesteral make up. Sort of a one person melting pot, a reflections of what the US is in its ideal form.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. Maybe you could get a

mongrel at the local animal shelter, and someone make it President?

Would that work?

Some people are proud of their heritage and actually take pride in being African-American. No, seriously. They do.

[robinlynne]

2. right on.

[LiberalHeart]

3. Maybe you missed the OP's point.

[1monster]

20. Thank you LiberalHeart. Apparently you are the only one who understood

what I was saying.

There are too many people on DU who are permanently on attack mode rather than think it out before posting mode. Someone downthread even made an unveiled suggestion that I'm a rightwinger... :eyes:

[codjh9]

5. That's what I was going to say - some people PREFER to be called African-American, or Latino, or

whatever.

[1monster]

6. Swoosh. That was the sound of the point going completely over your head.

:eyes:

[Book Lover]

40. Seems to me like you are missing TL's, et al's, point

which is that the answer to your question is no.

[Book Lover]

41. delete dupe

[defendandprotect]

4. dupe

[1monster]

12. My point, which apparently isn't very clear, is why refer to race or origin at

all?

Why refer to color at all, except for physical descriptions?

And even when describing, "black" is not a color term I'd use. I've never seen a truly black person.

Just as I've never seen a truly white person.

[LiberalHeart]

17. I agree with you, and so does my colorful family.

[defendandprotect]

19. I agree in the simplest sense .. however --

BTW ... You're replying my msg #8. . .

However we do need to know how minorities are doing - get feedback.

Affirmative Action depends on knowing much of this info --

And I'm sure racial ID will remain part of police reports.

we need to know who is being disenfranchised re voting -- loans -- jobs --

Who is in prison -- who's being over-scrutinized for drug violations --

Do we have AA Mayors, Guvs, police officers -- and who are police officers

beating up?


How many AA in Congress - how many in Senate? Only Obama still . . . and he'll be

out soon!

Whose suffering most from lack of health insurance --

Whose babies are dying -- ?

[1monster]

23. You are mixing apples and oranges. I'm not suggesting that one's

ethnic background be removed for statistical informational gatherings such as you suggested.

But I'm retiring from this thread.

I wanted thoughtful discussion. Mostly I got slammed, even called a rightwinger.

There are times DUer's make me sick.

[defendandprotect]

27. Sorry your feelings are hurt ...

It's not just "statistics" .. it's conversational and reporting --

We need to know there are MORE "white" mothers and children on welfare than

African-American mothers and children --

We need to celebrate in daily newspapers and history books the election of the

first AA/black USA president --!!

We need to recognize AA/black faces in anchor chairs -- or wonder why openly --

We need to hear there are NO AA/black US Senators in Congress ..

[1monster]

33. Yes, and didn't I just agree with you?

[defendandprotect]

48. OK - !!

[jhrobbins]

36. Also, in addition to is being divisive, it isn't really reflective of the intent

for the conveyance. Is Charlize Theron and African American? Am I a German-English-Scottish-Irish American? Are black people from the Caribbean now to be called Haitian Americans, Jamaican Americans or Bahamian Americans? My touchstone for this issue within the black community is Whoopi Goldberg and she has a long diatribe about this very issue and she says she is not an African American, but that she is black.

[Terran]

49. BECAUSE

nearly everyone is proud of where they came from. Why is that so difficult to understand? Are we going to outlaw self-reference to Irish-American, Polish-American, Italian-American? Do you advocate that as well?

[sandnsea]

7. Irish-American, Italian-American, German-American

How come nobody had any problem with cultural pride until black people got some?

[1monster]

15. I've never referred to myself as English American, Irish American, German American, Jewish American

or English-Irish-German-Jewish American.

I'm happy just to be American.

I see describing people as black or African American or Asian American or Latinos as divisive, as one more wall between "us" and "them".

Cultrual pride is great. The different cultural practices from all over the world that have made their ways to this country have enriched us as a people and as a nation.

But cultural pride should not divide us from each other.

[sandnsea]

18. Never been asked your heritage?

You have no clue what it is? Really? I've never met anyone who didn't.

[1monster]

26. Rarely, but I'm a Heinz 57 variety. I list the countries my ancesters came from...

But, we don't call people from the continent of Africa Kenyan-Americans, or South African-Americans, or Conalese-Americans, or Ivory Coast-Americans, etc., ad nauseum.

We call them African-Americans.

And by that standard, Irish-Americans, Scots-Americans, Italian-Americans, Latvian-Americans, Polish-Americans, etc., can now only be referred to as European Americans.

Likewise, Indian-American, Chinese-Americans, Japanese-Americans, Pakistani-Americans, etc., are Asian Americans.

[sandnsea]

28. I bet a lot of those European Americans

would completely disagree. And the Koreans and Chinese and Japanese and Filipinos that I've known have been very proud in the differences in their cultures as well.

Why do you care? What difference can it possibly make whether someone is proud of their cultural heritage. Would you really prefer to not have Cinco de Mayo or St Patrick's Day or Bastille Day or Chinese New Years or any other cultural celebration?

[1monster]

34. Exactly. And you are exchanging cultural/ethnic heritage with race.

Countries of Africa: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

And American citizens descended from all of these countries are referred to as African-Americans.

[sandnsea]

35. Uh. No. African-Americans

have an African heritage.

[Jed Dilligan]

43. Tell me how many of those countries (minus the North African ones,

which don't even figure in most people's conception of African-American) how many of those existed at the time the ancestors of African-Americans were taken into slavery? If we used your strict standard of ethnicity-before-migration, most black people in America would have to go by "Yoruba-American," or actually "Yoruba-Anglo-Cherokee-American." That's why I've always liked "black" better.

But, under any name, people are not going to stop feeling the pride, shame, pain, and blessing of their heritage simply because you want it to be so.

[Caliman73]

21. I am American too

But because of how I look I am constantly asked where I am from. I have never heard any of my white friends asked where they were from. When I say, "I'm American" or "From the US" many of those people will follow with, "No, I mean originally?"

So, I am happy that you can refer to yourself as an American and never have that questioned. Some of us, aren't that fortunate.

Cultural pride should not divide us, unfortunately the history of "Americans" has been one of ex[ecting assimilation into some kind of Anglo?Christian culture rather than embracing all of our cultural experiences and giving them equal status.

[Generic Other]

29. I am never asked to self-identify as a white person

because I look like my Asian antecedents, and the one drop rule while not a legal standard still seems to be the social norm.

The OP does not know what it means to be OTHER.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4388415&mesg_id=4388415

[Terran]

50. That's fine for you. I'm the same way, basically.

Other people don't feel the same way.

[Cid_B]

16. Take a few breaths...

... get a history book, even an American one, and go back and recheck that statement.

[defendandprotect]

8. Newspapers still use term "blacks" -- !!!

Think we're OK for awhile with AA--

but we should follow feelings of people of color and I'd include "whites" in that . . .

though it's not hugely recognized yet!!!

[marmar]

9. Blanding everyone down to one generic flavor isn't a good thing....

Appreciate, celebrate and savor what makes us unique - and how that makes us stronger as a collective. I'd rather have a salad with the unique taste of all its ingredients rather than a stew where they've been melted down.
That's what makes cities like Toronto and London so great to me - its many ethnicities still retain their uniqueness....and form great, livable, lively multicultural cities that embrace and celebrate their diversity.

[Generic Other]

31. that's what american obsession with white = generic American does though

and excludes the other.

[LeftyMom]

10. What????

We do not live in a colorblind society. Denying an outgroup the dignity of a label, an identity, does not suddenly draw them into the ingroup.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

11. Well, not quite yet.....

Last nite we Obama volunteers celebrated our campaign party. It was AMAZING! Loved it! In our area we were rowdy. We were kissing, hugging, yelling, jumping, dancing, screaming and crying.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the restaurant was a McCain contributors' party (all mega-wealthy, obnoxious GOPers, etc.) We were separated by a hallway. They reported us for being too loud. Fine.

Then when we were listening to the speech, the McCain group started booing and making loud noises to keep us from hearing Obama. We turned the volume louder.

As we all stood there transfixed to what our new president-elect was saying, two of the mega-rich old geezers came over and stood next to me and a friend, and when they had my friend's attention, one said to her, "WELL, YOU GOT WHAT YOU WANTED DIDN'T YOU? YOU GOT YOUR BLACK MAN."

Several of us heard it.

You'll be happy to know we took the high road. My friend glanced at him disgustedly as if she had just seen a piece of shit, then turned away from him as if he had zero value.

Realizing we weren't going to speak to them, the assholes left and went back to their miserable mega-rich group.

[Beregond2]

13. I've heard this many times from RWs.

It's dumb. Obviously, there have to be words to use when referring to a person's background. Just because you call someone _____ - American, doesn't mean they aren't also American.

[RB TexLa]

14. No thank you, I'm Irish in America or Irish-American. Not American.

[Chovexani]

22. No.

[cboy4]

24. I agree, because clearly racism flew out the window with

the election of Obama. :sarcasm:

[1monster]

30. Of courese it didn't. But it is a great start to erdicate it completely if we keep building on it.

no sarcasm here at all.

[LeftyMom]

37. Ignoring race doesn't make it go away. It just eliminates a tool for tracking progress.

It is a very stupid idea.

[BrklynLiberal]

25. Actually, I believe that there is some Native American on his mother's side..

[noamnety]

32. No.

Usually the people in the dominant culture see the "ideal form" of America as a melting pot.

People in minority cultures often prefer the concept of a mosaic, where we retain elements of our individual cultures, we do it proudly, and we don't think melting into one identity (generally defined by the dominant group) is necessarily a utopia.

http://www.darrenduncan.net/archived_web_work/voices/voices_v1_n4/mosaic.html

[Indenturedebtor]

38. Man I wish I could live to see the day when Humanity has humped itself blue

until then I think that there will be good and bad aspects to identifying or being identified with a group.

[kitty1]

39. I think as we have more merging of races, there should be less...

emphasis on labels. You have Asians together with Blacks. Blacks with whites, Latinos and Asians with whites. All kinds of ethnic mixes out there. So to qualify someone as Asian, or white or Black is going to be more difficult as time goes on. Look at Barack. He is half African American but he is also half white as well. So what is that; an Africaucasian American?
There's my point. After 2 generations have passed away from your mother country or origin, why keep distinguishing yourself as being a dual citizen that way.

[noamnety]

42. Dontcha just hate

when those pesky minorities start defining themselves instead of checking with us first to see what we want them to call themselves?

[Behind the Aegis]

44. Why?

"African-American" denotes someone who has a unique heritage. Have you ever stopped to think (and not just you, some others in this thread) why the term is "African"-American and not 'Kenyan-American,' 'South African-American,' 'Mali-American,' or 'Ugandan-American? like it is for "<insert European country>-American?

Also, if we are to stop using "African-American," why continue with terms like the one you used, "biracial?" Isn't there only one race: human?

I used to like the idea of the "melting pot," but since hearing Sarah Weddington, I much prefer the term "mixed salad." 'Melting pot' implies we have all run together and become something singular, whereas 'mixed salad' implies a coming together to create something wonderful, yet still retaining our individuality and uniqueness.

[Greyhound]

45. I don't think so, people seem to be very attached to those anachronisms

that serve to separate them from others.

Incidentally, I've only known two African-Americans in my life and they were both white.

[TheKentuckian]

46. I think its lame as well. I don't refer to myself as African-American and am not going to refer to a

Of course I'm mixed. I'm no more African than anything else. Black doesn't offend me or at least not exactly in the same way. I still feel its a demand to abandon the others that contributed to me being here but it doesn't offend my nationalism at least. I do not identify with the lands I have never seen and know nothing about other than what anyone else does. I'm not African, Irish, Russian, or Native but I am an American. That is the only heritage I have and its more than enough for me.

I don't see why people are identifying with something they are no more connected to than someone born and bred in Japan. The ties were stolen and severed, the average black person in America is alien to the average person all around the continent of Africa and vice versa. American of African descent, I buy but African-American is for those who came over on there own, they are connected to the culture. Black people's ties were stolen and a hyphenation isn't going to ever restore it. American roots and culture will have to do because pretense won't restore any of it.

Everyone should get off their broken down culture love and work on the one we have now. If France, Germany, India, China, or where ever was such great guns then our ancestors would have never left and we wouldn't be here. I don't begin to understand anyone's ancestor worship or whatever it is.

[tsuki]

47. How can the media ramp up the racism if they don't keep saying

African-American?

I am so sick of that term. He appears to me to be the right man, at the right time for the right job.

[951-Riverside]

51. Why are some labeled Asian Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Cuban Amerians but....

European Americans are still called Whites?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

52. How come you didn't think African-Americans were Americans before now?

:shrug:

[1monster]

53. And from where do you gather that little piece of garbage. I've always hated the hyphenated tag

placed on others as though they were lesser citizens because they came from somewhere other than the northern European countries.

Study your history, those of you who believe that hyphenated Americans were just celebrating their history.

It wasn't all that long ago (at least up to the 1950s) that those who immigrated to this country from other than what was thought "desirable" locations were denied the right to become citizens. Immigrants from China, Japan, Italy, Ireland, Greece, the Slavic countries, and from many more countries, were at one time or another denied the right to become citizens of this country. Their children were only given the right to be citizens if they were born here.

The hyphenation was a term of alienation, not cultural celebration.

Nevermind. Obviously, there are too many people in this country and apparently on this board are uneducated as to their own history.

[Lex]

54. Are you African-American?

Or are you just presuming that it is something that is offensive to them?