White African Americans?

[Eveille]

Neko the Kitty

Eveille

Neko the Kitty

Also, keep in mind that not all black people are of African descent. Native Fijians as well as people from the island of Hispaniola (Haiti, Dominican Republic) also have very dark skin. They are considered black, but generally have no African ancestory.

Haiti and DR definitely have African heritage. Haiti was the first country in this hemisphere to win independence from Europe and it was because of a giant slave revolt; it was also the reason it has pretty much failed as a nation is because no one else wanted to trade with 'those people'. Both islands were basically huge factory farms with tons of slaves.

The Haitian Revolution was in 1797 (the American Revolution ending in 1783). Haiti and the DR are also two countries on the same island. I was wrong on ancestory, at least as far as Haiti and the DR go. The native people of the island were very dark skinned, but they were largely wiped out, their blood carried on through intermarrying with African slaves and Spanish men. That being said, Haitian and Dominican immigrants and their children generally identify as Haitian/Dominican and not African American.

Exactly smile , the Spaniards were equal opportunity genocidists (?) and African-American is a pretty USA sort of term. Blacks in Latin america usually identify as either from their particular country, or as Hispanic like everyone else.

That does bring up the question why blacks in the US differentiate themselves so much from the rest of the culture by the use of that term when blacks (who were also descended from slavery) elsewhere do not do so.

[Pawlas Cathena]

Reminds me of that DIsney movie, "The Color of Friendship" where this black family in America gets an exchange student from South Africa and they were surprised when she turned out to be white. (At the same time, she thought that her exchange family would be white and was very shocked to find out that they were black.) SO if Mahree (the exchange student) were to have applied for citizenship for the US, she would technically be African-American.

[Bop4Life]

Lets say you came from another country.

You came here in the U.S. and you got your blue card.

That makes you an American..

So I am a Filipino American. I wasn't born here, although I got a blue card. Since my father has been living here, since he was 11. He is now 62, he saw Martin Luther King when he was 11. And I thought that was really cool. lol

[Bunai]

stormylane

So tell me, if a white skinned African relocated to America... would they too be "African Americans" or is that reserved for black Americans only?

Honest question!!

They are African by nationality, they would be Americans by citizenship. Their history wouldn't be American- it would be African. It would be their choice to celebrate Black History Month. This month isn't reserved for one person, it is meant to educate.

If a white skinned person was born and raised in Japan, they would not be looked upon or declared Japanese. This happens with Koreans born in Japan as well; many cultures still do this. The difference with America is, if you are born and raised in American then you are American.

[SANll 2]

Bop4Life

Lets say you came from another country.

You came here in the U.S. and you got your blue card.

That makes you an American..

So I am a Filipino American. I wasn't born here, although I got a blue card. Since my father has been living here, since he was 11. He is now 62, he saw Martin Luther King when he was 11. And I thought that was really cool. lol

lol my Filipino boyfriend would throw a fit if I told him he was Filipino American (he just got citizenship last week) he doesn't like it here and plans on moving back home when he gets enough money xp

[Bop4Life]

SANll 2

Bop4Life

Lets say you came from another country.

You came here in the U.S. and you got your blue card.

That makes you an American..

So I am a Filipino American. I wasn't born here, although I got a blue card. Since my father has been living here, since he was 11. He is now 62, he saw Martin Luther King when he was 11. And I thought that was really cool. lol

lol my Filipino boyfriend would throw a fit if I told him he was Filipino American (he just got citizenship last week) he doesn't like it here and plans on moving back home when he gets enough money xp

LOL! Most filipino people do that.. Like they work > go home.
Or they take one of their family member and bring them here, until all of them are here.
When I was first born, my card was a automatic blue card.
For my mom, it wasn't however. She still needs to file for a blue card.
In fact next week, my blue card is gonna expired. sweatdrop

[YuYuSho]

Lady Ammaryce

This is one of my main reasons for hating the political correctness we've sunken into.
If we follow the logic of labeling people "African Americans" or "Latino Americans" then I should be called a "European American."

So long as you live in this country you're just a goddamned American.
[/rant]

Anywho, on topic, they'd still be white on those ethnicity questions, but nationality speaking, yeah, I'd say they'd be African Americans. That would actually be a correct statement.

finally someone with common sense in this thread

[BamYuHaveAids]

I dont think people would notice he's from africa so people would call him white

[Yuekazehime]

stormylane

Ok..... so if your skin is black but you have absolutely no idea who your ancestors were or where they came from... are you still african american?

At any point does watering down your african blood make you less african? (again an honest question)
Many Americans have a great deal of Native American blood in their pedigree ... but if your pedigree is not pure enough you cannot claim to be Native American.

The problem with race/ethnicity is that, at least in America, the terms are confused, misused, and broad in what they cover, not to mention mostly a social construct anyway. Most very light-skinned black people will identify as black. (It could be from pressure to identify as black because of the old "one drop" mentaility over any black ancestry making you black, or simply their personal preference.)
I have a light-skinned black friend who you'd assume was white unless you asked him what he is. He identifies as black, but will pass himself off as white when its more convenient for him to be white, lol...
Meanwhile, everyone can tell I'm dark-skinned when they see me. Occasionally people will ask if I'm from [African Country] and I have to tell them I'm black and lived here my whole life along with my parents and grandparents. lolol

TL;DR Whether you want to call yourself black when your skin color doesn't instantly give you away is probably up to you.

[Slutty_Eddie]

stormylane

Honest question!!

African American is a label, like Native American.

The majority of people reading this were born in America, making us natives of America, but most of us are not Native Americans. Likewise, descendants from Europe who were born in African and later migrated to America are not African Americans. Even if they are Americans who came from Africa.

Personally, I find the term African American a bit cumbersome, and prefer Black American a little bit more.

[Zombie Meat Puppet]

That's why I refuse to use that term. You can't tell who someone is descended from just by looking at them.

When I was in high school, we had two guys who were born in Africa, and their families moved here when they were very young. One was black, one was white. We called them both African.

[Virgin Eyes Virgin Ears]

They would be european american, there are no natural african white people.

[Neko the Kitty]

Yuekazehime

stormylane

Ok..... so if your skin is black but you have absolutely no idea who your ancestors were or where they came from... are you still african american?

At any point does watering down your african blood make you less african? (again an honest question)
Many Americans have a great deal of Native American blood in their pedigree ... but if your pedigree is not pure enough you cannot claim to be Native American.

The problem with race/ethnicity is that, at least in America, the terms are confused, misused, and broad in what they cover, not to mention mostly a social construct anyway. Most very light-skinned black people will identify as black. (It could be from pressure to identify as black because of the old "one drop" mentaility over any black ancestry making you black, or simply their personal preference.)
I have a light-skinned black friend who you'd assume was white unless you asked him what he is. He identifies as black, but will pass himself off as white when its more convenient for him to be white, lol...
Meanwhile, everyone can tell I'm dark-skinned when they see me. Occasionally people will ask if I'm from [African Country] and I have to tell them I'm black and lived here my whole life along with my parents and grandparents. lolol

TL;DR Whether you want to call yourself black when your skin color doesn't instantly give you away is probably up to you.

The one drop mentality is bizarre to me. I sometimes joke about how black I am because I have some slave ancestry that I found out about over the summer, but in all reality I'm a Midwestern white guy. Race/ethnicity is really weird in this country because it's very tied in with culture in most people's minds. I am always amused by how the people I know use "white" (see Stuff White People Like to get what I mean) as a half-joking descriptor for some of our black friends who don't fit the cultural stereotypes that we associate with black people.

[Yuekazehime]

Neko the Kitty

Yuekazehime

stormylane

Ok..... so if your skin is black but you have absolutely no idea who your ancestors were or where they came from... are you still african american?

At any point does watering down your african blood make you less african? (again an honest question)
Many Americans have a great deal of Native American blood in their pedigree ... but if your pedigree is not pure enough you cannot claim to be Native American.

The problem with race/ethnicity is that, at least in America, the terms are confused, misused, and broad in what they cover, not to mention mostly a social construct anyway. Most very light-skinned black people will identify as black. (It could be from pressure to identify as black because of the old "one drop" mentaility over any black ancestry making you black, or simply their personal preference.)
I have a light-skinned black friend who you'd assume was white unless you asked him what he is. He identifies as black, but will pass himself off as white when its more convenient for him to be white, lol...
Meanwhile, everyone can tell I'm dark-skinned when they see me. Occasionally people will ask if I'm from [African Country] and I have to tell them I'm black and lived here my whole life along with my parents and grandparents. lolol

TL;DR Whether you want to call yourself black when your skin color doesn't instantly give you away is probably up to you.

The one drop mentality is bizarre to me. I sometimes joke about how black I am because I have some slave ancestry that I found out about over the summer, but in all reality I'm a Midwestern white guy. Race/ethnicity is really weird in this country because it's very tied in with culture in most people's minds. I am always amused by how the people I know use "white" (see Stuff White People Like to get what I mean) as a half-joking descriptor for some of our black friends who don't fit the cultural stereotypes that we associate with black people.

Ah, like being whitewashed or oreos and such?
My little sister likes to joke that she's more asian than anything since she loves Hello Kitty and hangs at with a lot of asian kids at school.

The one drop mentality is indeed bizarre, but in slavery times, it was a "necessary" distinction so that light-skinned people with slave ancestry wouldn't (in theory) be able to taint the white gene pool. Despite all the holes in that idea, it held up long past slavery and to varying extents still exists. Conversely, there are also plenty of black folk willing to accuse other black folk of not being "black enough" due to how much white ancestry they have, which leads to the ideas of sell outs and race betrayers.
The system makes no sense, but until people stop using it, it's the system...

[Yuekazehime]

Slutty_Eddie

stormylane

Honest question!!

African American is a label, like Native American.

The majority of people reading this were born in America, making us natives of America, but most of us are not Native Americans. Likewise, descendants from Europe who were born in African and later migrated to America are not African Americans. Even if they are Americans who came from Africa.

Personally, I find the term African American a bit cumbersome, and prefer Black American a little bit more.

Black American? Does that make white people White American? Sticking American onto the end at all seems cumbersome. It seems like American only makes sense as a qualifier when the individual hails from someplace outside America.