How insulting is Colored (vs. African American)

[33girl]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

I consider that different than "Black people" from all over the globe. Chinese and Japanese are not only culturally but ethnically distinct within the "Asian" racial category. I can usually tell the difference because the different Asian ethnicities tend to have different physical features.

Definitely. That's what I was trying to point out - Ms Pink seemed to think that people should know, even when there ISN'T a pronounced physical difference (like Chinese and Japanese).

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Definitely. That's what I was trying to point out - Ms Pink seemed to think that people should know, even when there ISN'T a pronounced physical difference (like Chinese and Japanese).

I don't think she thinks people should know. I think she just doesn't like African American and may express that opinion depending on the context.

[PM_Mama00]

Originally Posted by BabyPiNK_FL

I use the word colored with my friends pretty often when referring to us as a group or something like that. (They are mostly Hispanic.)

I would not mind if an older person or most other people using it in a non-offensive way referred to me as colored. I am colored. I am Black. I am American. I am Jamaican. What I don't like, is the term African-American. I will correct someone on that.

Originally Posted by BabyPiNK_FL

Sweetie, not all black people are Af.-Am. I know it's hard to wrap your head around it. I know it's difficult because you maybe can't tell the difference and don't understand why it's important for all people to be able to identify themselves as they see fit. However, that's what makes us unique and makes us people. It's true of everyone on this earth. At the end of the day we are not a collective. We self-define. There is no one-size-fits-all.

Originally Posted by 33girl

I assume you don't like it because you're not from Africa, which makes perfect sense. But how is someone supposed to know that? Are there noticeable differences in features or skin color?

I'm not trying to stir the pot here, just honestly asking.

This makes me think of an old WWII propaganda poster I saw once, the jist of which was "how to tell a Chinese person from a Japanese person so you're not unnecessarily mean to the Chinese person since it's not them we're pissed off at."

Originally Posted by DrPhil

No, there usually aren't features and skin color differences.

She and all other people of the African diaspora will just have to take it on a case-by-case basis. Being Jamaican or Brazilian, for example, are not racial designations. Black and African American are pretty standard. People can specify their cultural or ethnic designations from there. Black and African American are the least offensive and least nitpicky of the category labels, as far as I'm concerned. They originated for a reason.



I consider that different than "Black people" from all over the globe. Chinese and Japanese are not only culturally but ethnically distinct within the "Asian" racial category. I can usually tell the difference because the different Asian ethnicities tend to have different physical features.

Does anyone remember the martial arts film "Chinese vs. Japanese?" Great film. A lot of people didn't know there WAS a difference before that film was released in America.

These quotes sum up the question I was asking and the answer I was looking for. I really wasn't trying to act stupid and, as 33girl said, stir the pot.

[VUG1]

Black people are just like all of the other people, But what you can think about is, it's just another way to describe someone. Say, I am talking to someone, and telling them about Fred, Fred has brown eyes, and dark skin. My friend asks if I know anything else, so I say he also wears green shoes. I used his Dark or "colored" skin as an explanation. It should not be racially abused.

[BabyPiNK_FL]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Definitely. That's what I was trying to point out - Ms Pink seemed to think that people should know, even when there ISN'T a pronounced physical difference (like Chinese and Japanese).

I NEVER at any point implied that people should know. I was stating my preference. And no, I don't have pointy ears, or an accent, or a forehead ridge, or blue skin (been watching a lot of Star Trek lately) or some other random distinguishing feature. I don't expect people to know off the bat. I wouldn't expect someone to automatically tell someone from any one European country (or any other for that matter) apart from another one by visual alone either. I'm not asking anyone to do the impossible.

Thank you Dr. Phil for setting her straight.

[CutiePie2000]

There was a few references to the term "Asians".

I have found an amusing little clip from Russell Peters, where he (rightfully) points out that India is also part of Asia. Enjoy!
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...deoid=32851029

[starang21]

Originally Posted by CutiePie2000

There was a few references to the term "Asians".

I have found an amusing little clip from Russell Peters, where he (rightfully) points out that India is also part of Asia. Enjoy!
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...deoid=32851029

i fell out at the filipino - karaoke jokes

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!

[DaemonSeid]

I believe part of the issue of why some people take offense to the term "African American" is because of the association to some of the negatives associated with Africans that has been mentally forced upon them over the centuries. Thus some of us are only willing to stop at the West Indies, Brazil, North and South America when identifying ourselves. It's still a case by case basis however in some of those examples by which gene and characteristic is the more dominant. Also because many of us are unable (and in some cases unwilling) to trace our point of origin, in part thanks to not just the Atlantic Slave trade but Arab Slave trade was well. However, evidence has shown that a high percentage of Black people, African American, Negroid, Africoid, colored or whatever it is we choose to call ourselves, have phenotypes that originate from Africa.

One place to refer to is the works or Cheikh Anta Diop, Ivan van Sertima (who just recently passed), Chancellor Williams and most recently S.O.Y. Keita

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

I believe part of the issue of why some people take offense to the term "African American" is because of the association to some of the negatives associated with Africans that has been mentally forced upon them over the centuries. Thus some of us are only willing to stop at the West Indies, Brazil, North and South America when identifying ourselves. It's still a case by case basis however in some of those examples by which gene and characteristic is the more dominant. Also because many of us are unable (and in some cases unwilling) to trace our point of origin, in part thanks to not just the Atlantic Slave trade but Arab Slave trade was well. However, evidence has shown that a high percentage of Black people, African American, Negroid, Africoid, colored or whatever it is we choose to call ourselves, have phenotypes that originate from Africa.

Or, it could just be that since most people have no connection to Africa, they don't want to connect themselves verbally to a place they've never been, have no connection to linguistically or culturally, or never intend to go.

I'd rather see the term "African-American" used for someone whose parents or grandparents emigrated here from Africa, and have a linguistic/cultural/ethnic connection to the continent, and not just a bunch of Black Americans.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Or, it could just be that since most people have no connection to Africa, they don't want to connect themselves verbally to a place they've never been, have no connection to linguistically or culturally, or never intend to go.

I'd rather see the term "African-American" used for someone whose parents or grandparents emigrated here from Africa, and have a linguistic/cultural/ethnic connection to the continent, and not just a bunch of Black Americans.

While I am not exactly disagreeing with you, you have people who are (insert your nationality here) Americans who have parents and grandparents that also have never been to their place of origin but just as easily claim it and can also as easily trace it.

So while your point is very valid, it's one of many reasons why some Blacks disagree with being called Af. Am..

(BTW good point to bring up because I have met a few who have stated that!)

As far as your preference as to why people should address themselves as Af. Am. I disagree.

Again the difference is tangible not just in geographic or cultural terms but also the mental effects that it's had on people who have already been assimilated here for over 4 centuries which continue. So, it's only fair to let people be able to identify with what they know or believe to know because so much of our history and lineage have been lost.

There have even been suggestions that pretty soon most peoples will drop the __________ - American and just be "Americans" because we all will be so thoroughly mixed.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by CutiePie2000

There was a few references to the term "Asians".

I have found an amusing little clip from Russell Peters, where he (rightfully) points out that India is also part of Asia.

This is already considered common knowledge and is reflected in almost all vital statistics, including the U.S. Bureau of the Census.

The main race categories are white, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian (which includes East Indian), and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Or, it could just be that since most people have no connection to Africa, they don't want to connect themselves verbally to a place they've never been, have no connection to linguistically or culturally, or never intend to go.

I'd rather see the term "African-American" used for someone whose parents or grandparents emigrated here from Africa, and have a linguistic/cultural/ethnic connection to the continent, and not just a bunch of Black Americans.

So, the average Black American would be racially "Black," but culturally or ethnically...South Carolinian, New Yorkian, or Californian? LOL. Certainly it would be based on state because being culturally or ethnically "Black" requires an acknowledgement that "Blackness" evolved from a combination of experiences that began outside of America.

Not a good idea. We are not blank slates void of cultural and ethnic heritage just because our parents or grandparents (or great grandparents--some of whom were slaves, others were sharecroppers, and still others were wealth building free Blacks) were not directly FROM another land (either via slavery or migration).

Once again, these categories will exist and people won't be able to keep others (such as myself) and agencies from using them in reference to ALL Blacks or African Americans. If people feel the terms don't apply to them beyond vital statistics, that's really just their personal business. Everyone has a story to tell...write a book.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

So, the average Black American would be racially "Black," but culturally or ethnically...South Carolinian, New Yorkian, or Californian? LOL.

Not a good idea. We are not blank slates void of cultural and ethnic heritage just because our parents or grandparents (or great grandparents--some of whom were slaves, others were sharecroppers, and still others were wealth building free Blacks) were not directly FROM another land (either via slavery or migration).

Once again, these categories will exist and people won't be able to keep others (such as myself) and agencies from using them in reference to ALL Blacks or African Americans. If people feel the terms don't apply to them beyond vital statistics, that's really just their personal business. Everyone has a story to tell...write a book.

I honestly don't care what the rest of Black America calls themselves. I know why the term "African-American" is used, and why some people of a certain age prefer it; all I was suggesting was that some people have very personal reasons as to why they don't use it.

I wasn't suggesting any sort of "idea," regardless of what you may have culled from my post. But thanks for the sociology lesson!

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

I honestly don't care what the rest of Black America calls themselves.

Good.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

That won't happen in any our life times.

These categories are not just about pride, they are a way of dividing the haves and have nots and intersecting social and class and race, along the lines of Charles Tilly's Durable Inequality.

of course not...just give it 200 300 years.