Black American or African American?

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Comments

  • Rock_Well
    Rock_Well Members Posts: 2,185 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited October 2013
    I was born in America, Morgan City, Louisiana and have a blend of Creole and African blood. The closest direct African blood in my family that i know about comes from my Great Great Great Grandmother who actually knew her African tribe. Grandpa who still living is dark brown skinned but speaks Creole French his Grandpa was a full blooded French man, and spoke only French, and my Dad is a red Creole ass ? with Curly hair...i have a West Coast mentality cuz was raised in Cali a bit, my hospitality is that of a Louisiana-bred native, and the way i think is a bit different from average and influence by many great cultures and individuals. but I'm fine claiming African American or black American even tho the culture of my state alone tends to overpower race, nationalities and ethnic groups. I wouldn't mind claiming Black Louisianian American either.
  • janklow
    janklow Members, Moderators Posts: 8,613 Regulator
    zombie wrote: »
    so i will ask you again what race are you? just answer the question
    let's just save time:

    -i will say "why is this relevant" and "weird how you like to replace actual argument with this question"
    -you will throw (another) tantrum because i won't answer you

    and there we are

  • zombie
    zombie Members Posts: 13,450 ✭✭✭✭✭
    janklow wrote: »
    zombie wrote: »
    so i will ask you again what race are you? just answer the question
    let's just save time:

    -i will say "why is this relevant" and "weird how you like to replace actual argument with this question"
    -you will throw (another) tantrum because i won't answer you

    and there we are

    We can save time by you simply answering the question
    when having a discussion about race the racial affiliation of the people you are talking to should be taken into account.
  • The Lonious Monk
    The Lonious Monk Members Posts: 26,258 ✭✭✭✭✭
    zombie wrote: »
    zombie wrote: »
    We have Islanders, indigenous Americans(particularly Southern Continent), Indians and Arabs with the same tone skin African Features but we still associate them with distinct groups. Africans of slave descent as a general population have developed different features both genetically and culturally with only sporadic occurrence of recessive traits. Even in Africa there are separate ethnic Groups such as the Arab and White Africans. Genetically a lot of Northern Africans Carry Features that is associated with Europeans particularly in Lighter skin Hair type and ? bone structuring. If you Follow the Mediterranean coast you can see the similarities in the populations...

    I agree that it will probably be another couple hundred years before the pronunciation of the Slave descent population on the mainland has mixed and changed as much as has for our American Island Population(with the exception of Haiti) who all carry very African but also very non African features thus establishing a separate ethnic group. On some level every Culture in the world carries African features because it is written in their DNA as they all came from Africa. My question now is at what point of divergence till we either rejoin the Population or be recognized as a separate group? Europeans all share a similar stock but there is a vast Difference in a Nordic versus a Slavic European. Russia is not even geographically in Europe...

    My overall point is those of us of slave descent lack a identity here and the reality of things is the majority will never rejoin Africa much less the regions tribes we descended from. For those that are not capable or desiring to relocate and become part of again a African Nationality what should we be called? I grasp that our community is a mockery and travesty not something most can be proud of to the point of wanting to claim another. So do we continue to run from it or take ownership and control of it? In the end all cultures came from somewhere else and in most cases consumed, destroyed and displaced even in Africa. If we can get out of the regional mentality and realize there is only one Race we all belong to that Race maybe able to achieve a whole lot more then it currently is...

    east indians, arabs the indigenous american and berbers and european african are a different people even if they share some physical features with us. the similarity does not rise high enough for them to be considered african.

    when you say islanders if you are talking about afro-west indians then we are even more african both culturally and genetically than african americans are. because it takes long periods of seperation between population for different races to be created and with the way the world works today, there will be no natural divergence. people are traveling and mixing like crazy especially in the west. So america most likely will end up like brazil with a large mixed race population, except with a whole lot more asian people.

    GENETICALLY There is no vast difference between slavs/russians and nordics.

    black american is the perfect name, if black means african outside of africa. or in other words so called african americans are africans with an american created culture that has lingering elements of african culture.

    The whole one race thing is a fallacy.
    Russian/Slavics, Nordics, Arabs, Indians Mediterraneans etc all could be lumped together if you want to base it on a simplistic breakdown. But there is a noticeable difference and distinction between each group. All the separate cultures I acknowledge as such but Race is an illusion we are a species that has become self determining to the point of understanding genetic diversity, 99.8% of the same DNA is shared by all of us. We are all human race with a lot of mutations based on environment. If inferring the term African is about cultural Identity I ask at what point in development does one need to be recognized as a new Culture when the originating Culture no longer aligns other then on basic tenets and superficial appearances???

    race is not a fallacy, the smallest change in genetics changes everything so race is no illusion and those mutations are important but not as genetically important as people make them out to be. But they still exist so therefore race exists. It's not by luck that black people dominate every running sport in the olympics or that we have lower chances to get skin cancer there are other difference as well.

    I'm going to disagree here. Race is a myth. It's not because there are no genetic differences. It's a myth because there is no clear way to define races and the differences that separate proposed groups are generally outweighed by the differences observed within the groups.

    For instance, race is typically tied most intimately to skin color, but there is a ton of variation in the phenotypes observed with people of the same or similar skin color. For instance, there are people in Africa, India, and the South Pacific that all have the same dark skin, but they differ greatly when it comes to other traits. As a result, the classic Negroid, Caucasoid, Mongoloid, etc... classifications were developed. But those were blown apart by the rise of genetics. Because they found that even within those groups, there were other genetic markers that could just as easily be used to define race and would result in a completely different set of races. For instance, if you look at the people in the Mediterranean, you'll find white people there, and they are closer genetically in many ways to the blacks in the area than they are to the Scandinavians for instance.
  • Soloman_The_Wise
    Soloman_The_Wise Members Posts: 2,817 ✭✭✭✭✭
    zombie wrote: »
    zombie wrote: »
    We have Islanders, indigenous Americans(particularly Southern Continent), Indians and Arabs with the same tone skin African Features but we still associate them with distinct groups. Africans of slave descent as a general population have developed different features both genetically and culturally with only sporadic occurrence of recessive traits. Even in Africa there are separate ethnic Groups such as the Arab and White Africans. Genetically a lot of Northern Africans Carry Features that is associated with Europeans particularly in Lighter skin Hair type and ? bone structuring. If you Follow the Mediterranean coast you can see the similarities in the populations...

    I agree that it will probably be another couple hundred years before the pronunciation of the Slave descent population on the mainland has mixed and changed as much as has for our American Island Population(with the exception of Haiti) who all carry very African but also very non African features thus establishing a separate ethnic group. On some level every Culture in the world carries African features because it is written in their DNA as they all came from Africa. My question now is at what point of divergence till we either rejoin the Population or be recognized as a separate group? Europeans all share a similar stock but there is a vast Difference in a Nordic versus a Slavic European. Russia is not even geographically in Europe...

    My overall point is those of us of slave descent lack a identity here and the reality of things is the majority will never rejoin Africa much less the regions tribes we descended from. For those that are not capable or desiring to relocate and become part of again a African Nationality what should we be called? I grasp that our community is a mockery and travesty not something most can be proud of to the point of wanting to claim another. So do we continue to run from it or take ownership and control of it? In the end all cultures came from somewhere else and in most cases consumed, destroyed and displaced even in Africa. If we can get out of the regional mentality and realize there is only one Race we all belong to that Race maybe able to achieve a whole lot more then it currently is...

    east indians, arabs the indigenous american and berbers and european african are a different people even if they share some physical features with us. the similarity does not rise high enough for them to be considered african.

    when you say islanders if you are talking about afro-west indians then we are even more african both culturally and genetically than african americans are. because it takes long periods of seperation between population for different races to be created and with the way the world works today, there will be no natural divergence. people are traveling and mixing like crazy especially in the west. So america most likely will end up like brazil with a large mixed race population, except with a whole lot more asian people.

    GENETICALLY There is no vast difference between slavs/russians and nordics.

    black american is the perfect name, if black means african outside of africa. or in other words so called african americans are africans with an american created culture that has lingering elements of african culture.

    The whole one race thing is a fallacy.
    Russian/Slavics, Nordics, Arabs, Indians Mediterraneans etc all could be lumped together if you want to base it on a simplistic breakdown. But there is a noticeable difference and distinction between each group. All the separate cultures I acknowledge as such but Race is an illusion we are a species that has become self determining to the point of understanding genetic diversity, 99.8% of the same DNA is shared by all of us. We are all human race with a lot of mutations based on environment. If inferring the term African is about cultural Identity I ask at what point in development does one need to be recognized as a new Culture when the originating Culture no longer aligns other then on basic tenets and superficial appearances???

    race is not a fallacy, the smallest change in genetics changes everything so race is no illusion and those mutations are important but not as genetically important as people make them out to be. But they still exist so therefore race exists. It's not by luck that black people dominate every running sport in the olympics or that we have lower chances to get skin cancer there are other difference as well.

    I'm going to disagree here. Race is a myth. It's not because there are no genetic differences. It's a myth because there is no clear way to define races and the differences that separate proposed groups are generally outweighed by the differences observed within the groups.

    For instance, race is typically tied most intimately to skin color, but there is a ton of variation in the phenotypes observed with people of the same or similar skin color. For instance, there are people in Africa, India, and the South Pacific that all have the same dark skin, but they differ greatly when it comes to other traits. As a result, the classic Negroid, Caucasoid, Mongoloid, etc... classifications were developed. But those were blown apart by the rise of genetics. Because they found that even within those groups, there were other genetic markers that could just as easily be used to define race and would result in a completely different set of races. For instance, if you look at the people in the Mediterranean, you'll find white people there, and they are closer genetically in many ways to the blacks in the area than they are to the Scandinavians for instance.
    aww someone paid attention in science class also I thought I was all alone in the basic knowledge of genetic traits and how they can be applied to race...
  • janklow
    janklow Members, Moderators Posts: 8,613 Regulator
    zombie wrote: »
    We can save time by you simply answering the question
    nah, just go right into your tantrum. you did a great job of it last time!
  • bkkbully
    bkkbully Members Posts: 2,221 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Something happened to me a few times over the past couple months while being over in Southeast Asia. People have asked me where I'm from (mostly the locals : Thai, Cambodia, Laos) and everytime I say America they're shocked. They ask me, 'But how are you American? Your black. America is only white people'. It ? with me for a minute. A lot of people around the world (and America most importantly) don't realize that there is no true face of America. We all share the same history, but the powers that be still try to divide us. ? all the sub labels. MLK & Malcolm X is American history, not just African American. All of the ups & downs in the US is OUR history. Even if you immigrated to America (lets say from Nigeria), to me you aren't Nigerian-American. You are now an American. We share the same American history. That's the beauty of America and what it COULD be if we could all stop worrying about silly ? like this
  • bambu
    bambu Members Posts: 3,529 ✭✭✭✭✭
    zombie wrote: »
    zombie wrote: »
    We have Islanders, indigenous Americans(particularly Southern Continent), Indians and Arabs with the same tone skin African Features but we still associate them with distinct groups. Africans of slave descent as a general population have developed different features both genetically and culturally with only sporadic occurrence of recessive traits. Even in Africa there are separate ethnic Groups such as the Arab and White Africans. Genetically a lot of Northern Africans Carry Features that is associated with Europeans particularly in Lighter skin Hair type and ? bone structuring. If you Follow the Mediterranean coast you can see the similarities in the populations...

    I agree that it will probably be another couple hundred years before the pronunciation of the Slave descent population on the mainland has mixed and changed as much as has for our American Island Population(with the exception of Haiti) who all carry very African but also very non African features thus establishing a separate ethnic group. On some level every Culture in the world carries African features because it is written in their DNA as they all came from Africa. My question now is at what point of divergence till we either rejoin the Population or be recognized as a separate group? Europeans all share a similar stock but there is a vast Difference in a Nordic versus a Slavic European. Russia is not even geographically in Europe...

    My overall point is those of us of slave descent lack a identity here and the reality of things is the majority will never rejoin Africa much less the regions tribes we descended from. For those that are not capable or desiring to relocate and become part of again a African Nationality what should we be called? I grasp that our community is a mockery and travesty not something most can be proud of to the point of wanting to claim another. So do we continue to run from it or take ownership and control of it? In the end all cultures came from somewhere else and in most cases consumed, destroyed and displaced even in Africa. If we can get out of the regional mentality and realize there is only one Race we all belong to that Race maybe able to achieve a whole lot more then it currently is...

    east indians, arabs the indigenous american and berbers and european african are a different people even if they share some physical features with us. the similarity does not rise high enough for them to be considered african.

    when you say islanders if you are talking about afro-west indians then we are even more african both culturally and genetically than african americans are. because it takes long periods of seperation between population for different races to be created and with the way the world works today, there will be no natural divergence. people are traveling and mixing like crazy especially in the west. So america most likely will end up like brazil with a large mixed race population, except with a whole lot more asian people.

    GENETICALLY There is no vast difference between slavs/russians and nordics.

    black american is the perfect name, if black means african outside of africa. or in other words so called african americans are africans with an american created culture that has lingering elements of african culture.

    The whole one race thing is a fallacy.
    Russian/Slavics, Nordics, Arabs, Indians Mediterraneans etc all could be lumped together if you want to base it on a simplistic breakdown. But there is a noticeable difference and distinction between each group. All the separate cultures I acknowledge as such but Race is an illusion we are a species that has become self determining to the point of understanding genetic diversity, 99.8% of the same DNA is shared by all of us. We are all human race with a lot of mutations based on environment. If inferring the term African is about cultural Identity I ask at what point in development does one need to be recognized as a new Culture when the originating Culture no longer aligns other then on basic tenets and superficial appearances???

    race is not a fallacy, the smallest change in genetics changes everything so race is no illusion and those mutations are important but not as genetically important as people make them out to be. But they still exist so therefore race exists. It's not by luck that black people dominate every running sport in the olympics or that we have lower chances to get skin cancer there are other difference as well.

    I'm going to disagree here. Race is a myth. It's not because there are no genetic differences. It's a myth because there is no clear way to define races and the differences that separate proposed groups are generally outweighed by the differences observed within the groups.

    For instance, race is typically tied most intimately to skin color, but there is a ton of variation in the phenotypes observed with people of the same or similar skin color. For instance, there are people in Africa, India, and the South Pacific that all have the same dark skin, but they differ greatly when it comes to other traits. As a result, the classic Negroid, Caucasoid, Mongoloid, etc... classifications were developed. But those were blown apart by the rise of genetics. Because they found that even within those groups, there were other genetic markers that could just as easily be used to define race and would result in a completely different set of races. For instance, if you look at the people in the Mediterranean, you'll find white people there, and they are closer genetically in many ways to the blacks in the area than they are to the Scandinavians for instance.

    Race is no myth......

    There are ways to determine race through biological factors.....

    For example, the genetic markers for pale skin only occur in European populations......

    Biological markers that limit the ability to sweat only occur in Asian populations......

    So there are ways to define "proposed groups"......

  • bambu
    bambu Members Posts: 3,529 ✭✭✭✭✭
    That whole "race is a myth" deal is designed to keep people ignorant of human diversity....

    Until it's too late and the neo-eugenicists have properly reduced their respective populations....
  • DMTxTHC
    DMTxTHC Members Posts: 14,218 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Black American..