How should I call 'Black People'?
How do you call 'black people' in your country?
I know 'nigg**' is a very offensive and nasty word that I should never use, but I recently notice even 'black people' can be offensive especially in the US.
'African American' is more politically correct in the US but how do you call black people outside the US?
They can be Jamaicans or a native Australians(Aborigines) and they totally look black.
I don't think I can call them 'Africans'.
Is the world 'black people' offensive in other English speaking countries?
How do you call black people in your country and what do you think is the most politcally correct term?
If I were black, I wouldn't want to be called African.
I'm American not African, wtf!
Another problem with "African American" is that is sounds like a euphemism. Euphemisms usually imply that what you are talking about is of some lesser value, so you have to give it a better name, so when you say "African American" as opposed to just "black" you are implying that it's somehow bad to be black, but ok to be white. I have never heard of white people referring to themselves as "European-Americans". You do hear Chinese-American, Italian-American.... but those are nationalities which kind of make sense. Africa is a continent and not a country....
I think "black people" is the term used everywhere, including here within the US... I don't use "African-Americans" myself. I don't think many people take offense to "black people", but some who accept "black people" may object to "blacks".
One danger with the term "African-American" is that many people get so accustomed to using it to refer to any black person that they'll misapply it to people who have never set foot in America. For instance, I once saw somebody unthinkingly ask why there were no "African-Americans in the Bible". (And even if he had phrased his question correctly, who's to say that nobody in the Bible was African or of African descent?)
- Kef
<Euphemisms usually imply that what you are talking about is of some lesser value, so you have to give it a better name>
Definitely.
Wasn't it Bob Marley who said that the end of racism will be when one's skin color will be as unimportant as one's eye color? Would anyone ever feel that some eye colors are inferior and need a better name to make up for it?
Actually eye colour is important if you are red-eyed , ie albino.
For instance, I once saw somebody unthinkingly ask why there were no "African-Americans in the Bible". (And even if he had phrased his question correctly, who's to say that nobody in the Bible was African or of African descent?)
Egypt is mentioned in the Bible. That's in Africa.
Suddenly, I feel sorry for you, Kef. I think people in my state (not Oklahoma) say some weird stuff, but that was pretty bad.
<<Another problem with "African American" is that is sounds like a euphemism. Euphemisms usually imply that what you are talking about is of some lesser value, so you have to give it a better name, so when you say "African American" as opposed to just "black" you are implying that it's somehow bad to be black>>
If that's the case, then we should just revert to refer to them as "negro" as that's the term that was used before the euphemism "black" came out.
I hear "black people" a lot more frequently. When you say "African American" people tend to get bent out of shape because they're not African... We had to fill out some survey or something in my French class in ninth grade and one girl was like "I'm not AFRICAN-American, I'm American!" That just seems a little too nit picky for me... On surveys I fill in "Caucasian" even though I have no intention of ever going to the Caucasus.
<< Egypt is mentioned in the Bible. That's in Africa. >>
Geographically, it's in Africa, yes, but culturally and ethnically it's more of a Middle Eastern country, I think. Although I don't know if it was like that 2000+ years ago.
<< Suddenly, I feel sorry for you, Kef. I think people in my state (not Oklahoma) say some weird stuff, but that was pretty bad. >>
It was actually online that I saw somebody say that. I don't really remember any other details.
- Kef
Being a black-skinned person is not a sin so why take offnece of being called a one. Be proud of who you are. It is one's character that matters the most not one's skin colour.
Josh Lalonde : « The problem with African-American is, as furrykef said, that you don't necessarily know if they're American or not. Are African immigrants to the US African-American? To me it makes sense to limit 'African-American' to the distinct community of Americans descended from African slaves, with 'Black' being the wider term that would include immigrants as well. »
C'est curieux qu'on songe à qualifier certains des Noirs des États-Unis d'« Afroaméricains » alors que l'expression « Euroaméricain » n'est envisagée pour *aucun* des Blancs des États-Unis.
D'autre part, un Portugais blanc vivant six mois par an au Brésil et le reste du temps en Angola n'est-il pas davantage un « Afroaméricain » qu'un Noir des États-Unis d'origine africaine vivant 365 jours par an à Détroit ?
This is English translation from Google language translator.
It's odd to think that some describe blacks in the United States' Afroaméricains "while" Euroaméricain "is planned for * any * of whites in the United States.
On the other hand, a white Portuguese live six months a year in Brazil and the rest of the time in Angola is no more a "Afroaméricain" a Negro in the United States of African descent living 365 days a year in Detroit?
I did not get it. I wish if Greg could write in English on an English forum.
You should say "I wish that Greg..."