I totally agree with you! Reading his post was painful. :D

The term African American was coined by Blacks in the United States, meaning those whose African ancestors were brought here in chains. The term was coined by those who were once called Colored, Negro, Afro American, Black American, etc. etc. I think that most people know, particularly those whose families have been in the U.S. for generations, that African Americans are the descendants of the Africans brought here during the Slave Trade.

Now that we have other Black people in the U.S. who are from various different parts of the world (Africans, Jamaicans, Haitians, etc.etc.), people want to act like they don't know who the term African American is meant for. Is it okay for someone who was born in the United States but has African parents to call themselves an African American? I say sure if they want to, but when I personally think of African Americans I think of people like me, whose African ancestors were enslaved in the United States. I personally LOVE the term African American because I think it sums up what I am quite nicely. I'm an American because I was born here and many generations of my family were born here but I am proud of my African heritage also. I also know in doing my own genetic research that DNA doesn't change just because you are generations removed from your ancestors. The DNA my ancestors had is the DNA that I have, therefore I am also African. You'll find this for yourself if you do your own genetic research on DNA, mitochondrial DNA in particular. A good place to start might be www.africanancestry.com. My DNA has been tested and it matches that of three tribes/countries in Africa.

It's all about how you define yourself; other people will define you however they see fit. My husband is from Ghana, West Africa and he does not refer to Whites as Africans, even if they were born in Africa, even if their family has been in Africa for generations. To him, they are Europeans or Whites in Africa. He has also been living in the United States for quite a while but if you ask him he will very proudly tell you that he is an African...living in America. He does not consider himself or anyone like him to be African American. He also has no problem in being called Black; he considers all people of African descent to be Black. Ethiopia, the birthplace of modern man, translates into "Land of the Blacks."

The bottom line is call yourself whatever you feel comfortable with and if someone calls you something you don't like, kindly correct them. That is all that you can do. I'm African and I'm American so African American suits me just fine.

I don't like the terms Black-American, Afro-American or African-American. As someone else already stated, my skin is not black, its brown. I don't wear an afro so I'm not an Afro-American. Now, I do have African ancestry as many of you do also, but I don't want a term that ANYBODY can use. All you have to do is be of another race, be born in Africa, then move to the U.S. or vice versa. Then you can claim African-American. I don't like that. I wonder how many people of other ethnicities have done that and then got financial aid for it? I mean, if they claim this term, can someone deny them of the aid? That money could have been mine.

I'm a Brown American.

So you'd say your color is dog poodoo or mud?

No, I'm skeerrrioussssssssssssssss. Because I get tired of the lack of pride from those who ashamed of their African enslavement ancestry. So what, SOME of my ancestors were raped and pillage, sent on waters, rounded up and herded in like chattel. That is what I have ALLOWED to be defined to me.

Your only concern that you can change is: But who defines you? What are you all about? Who ARE YOU? (I don't need to know these answers to these questions)

Why are you worried about others getting money and outdoing you? Are you worried that you might actually not be that good according to what others are saying?

The other issue is you need to do some research in your heritage. Not all things are horrendous. And when will you forgive the folks that kidnapped, enslaved and segregated us? Why do you give a rat's ass about a Klansmen or a Nazi?

Maybe the person you have difficulty with and hate is the one staring back at you in the mirror...

I personally know more about the slavery ancestry of my Jamaican mother's background than that of my American father's.

That is a good point, we are "brown", but so are a lot of other people whom I wouldn't necessarily defined as black.

Also on wikipedia (yeah, good old "reliable internet") they discuss that there are people who are very dark brown from other parts of the word (like India)who also consider themselves black.

Then there are Africans (I remember from Real World: Voyage At Sea I think?) that an African woman told them that African-Americans aren't Africans! LOL!

So yeah, if we listened to everyone then we'd be nobody. And I'm too busy worrying about being somebody to worry about the color of my skin and the history of my people every second of everyday! So it's definitely a personal choice to go for something and stick to it and make it work for yourself. :cool:

Your response to what I typed is totally off base. You don't have a clue as to what I was trying to convey. Let me explain.

And before I proceed, let me just reiterate that this forum is about whether you had an issue with any of the terms: Black American, Afro American, and African American. I stated my opinion. If YOU go by any of those terms, that's your business. But if I say I want to be referred to as something else or nothing at all, that's mine. And just because I chose to do something different doesn't mean I'm lacking pride as you seem to be insinuating.

Ok. Why don't you answer your very first question as to whether I consider my color as "poo" or "mud"? What the hell kind of question is that? I mean, would you? I wouldn't and I don't. I'm not in that frame of mind to refer to my color as such. I'm not even thinking like that. Why would you even ask something that asinine?

Next, I agree with you about people not being proud of their heritage and race. You must be under the impression that I'm not proud of who I am or want to acknowledge where I came from and that's far from the truth. What I said was not stated to discredit my African ancestry or have a lack of pride about where I came from. I know I have African ancestry. And you know what? Contrary to what YOU might believe, and I don't really care what you do or don't, I do. Ask anybody that knows me, and they will tell you that I'm very much proud of where I came from. Your reading a little to deeply into what I was saying.

As for your question about financial aid and all that, it was a RHETORICAL QUESTION. Not something that was supposed to be literally answered. Just something to ponder about. Stop analyzing everything. I'm not WORRIED about anybody "outdoing" me or others doing BETTER than me, it was just something that crossed my mind. Aren't I allowed to at least think about something? Is it an abomination to have something simply pop up in my head? Its not that big of a deal. Well, not to me anyway.

Since when were YOU certified to tell me that I need to do some "research" about my heritage? Who are YOU supposed to be? What did I say about my ancestry that was so "horrendous" to you? Don't put words in my mouth. I have never done such a thing and NEVER would. I would appreciate it if you could go back and show me in my original post where I somehow down graded my ancestors. Where in my original post did I say anything about a damn Nazi or Klansman? Who said that I didn't "forgive" the people that enslaved mine? Who said I gave a rat's ass? Where is all this slavery talk coming from? I didn't mention it. Apparently it must be on YOUR mind, not mine because you were the one that brought it up.

One last question, who said I hated myself? I've never said such a thing or thought that either. Since you like to break everything down, go back to my post, read it again and show me where I posted that and repost it for me to see. I want to see this. I LOVE myself. I look in the mirror everyday and say it.

Anyway, back to Troy86. Thank you for posting this. I've wondered about this subject for a while now.

--Thank you and have a nice day.:)

Personally, I've always heard "brown" used by South Asians and Americans with South Asian ancestry. (This may be a generational thing; I've never heard anyone over 30 use this slang, but it is extremely common in my area with the Indian & Pakistani people that I know.)

If you don't want a term that just anybody can use, I would rethink the usage of "Brown American" then, because that term can be used to identify a much larger population than what seems to be your intent. Hell, some of my "white" friends could be "Brown Americans" for at least 1/4 of the year (and even more than that for those that live in warmer climates).

How about I just say "Brown" and you call yourself what you would like to and call it a day?

I think we are too stuck on terms.

Okay, I won't be identified by my shade of "blackness." I'm not going to be called a "Yellow American." LOL.

As far as I'm concerned, black is black. That isn't about complexion but about African diasporic cultures and experiences.

So I really think it's silly when people refute "Black American" because they aren't of a darker complexion.

Very much so. We want everything to fit in neat little packages.

No one can tell you how you should self identify. You should use what you're comfortable using on yourself. A point I think rhoyal tempest made a lil bit further up in the thread.

At the same time, I wonder about the mental soundness of people who are unrelenting about self-identifying with certain things.

If a person of African descent wants to identify as white, is that okay because that's what THEY want? Sure, it's technically okay because this is all socially constructed. But does calling yourself a "Brown American," for example, prove some kind of point or make the person feel vindicated?

Then I also wonder if the person REALLY identifies with something or just vocalizes it when such topics come up. Being a "brown American" in this thread is different from considering yourself one everyday, putting that down on paperwork, and correcting people/informing people that you are a "brown American."

I would say no, but I also recognize that a person in that situation would not be able to be convinced otherwise, if you get what I mean.

I think the only person that can answer that is the one who chooses to use the term.

It definately is. When I wrote that she can call herself what she wants, I was more leaning to if you self identify as brown then "good for you", to each his own. Using the term "brown american" over "black american" over "african american" is rather moot to me, personally. I happen to be all those thing. I tend to use black american/african american 1. because that is what I've been "made" to use, i.e. filling out forms, job applications etc. But I also do believe it speaks to my heritage. Unfortunately, like many Americans of African descent I cannot specifically state that my roots are ghanain or nigerian, or congolese, so I use African-American.

But I do feel like we (the people in the USA) suffer from "hyphenation syndrome". If someone's family imigrated to the USA from Nigeria and had children, and those children had children, etc." when does someone stop being Nigerian(American), and become African-American (kinda a rhetorical question, but it doesn't have to be).