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Originally posted by jccLove:
Hello Members and fellow SF's, I believe that this topic has never been discussed before, so I apologize in advanced if it has already been brought up. My sister's and I were talking the other day about race and nationality and where we as black people in America fit in. As I thought about the different terms we use to identify ourselves I began to wonder are they really representative of us as a people. What do we gain by using the term African American and why does it seem that using the term black is all of a sudden taboo? I have extremely strong feelings about this subject and I just wanted to know how other people felt as well.
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Man is identified by the land from which his forefathers come from. If this is true, anyone living in the Americas with a drop of black blood in their vains is of African origin. If they themselves were born here, the most accurate way to classify them is "African-American". When you ask someone you went to school with whose name is Napoli, Rizzi,or Barzini what their nationality is, they wont say American white; they'll say I'm Italian(and most times leave off the American). By doing so, they show pride in the origin of their family. Most persons that weren't born in America do so. I admit to the fact that most "black" people were born stateside(here in America), but our families did not originate here; and THERE IS NO LAND CALLED BLACK. Therefore, we should classify ourselves as African-American. I think it's f@#$% up that every other kind of people here demand respect for the origin of their family-and make issue of it-but we don't. We want to run from being of African decent anyway we can-our hairstyles, our vernacular and intonation, and any other way we can. Only our music and clothes now tie us together; and we even subjudge ourselves! We can try to run from it all we want; but to the people that really matter here, we're still a bunch of n gas. So why not take pride in ourselves!!!!