Black vs. African American: Do You Have a Preference?

February 13th, 2012 - By Brande Victorian

If and when anyone asks me what I am—in reference to my racial or ethnic background—I always answer black. I never made a conscious choice to choose the label of black over African American, I just say what feels natural and like an appropriate description considering I have no immediate ties to or specific knowledge of my African ancestry, which is as diverse country to country as the seven continents themselves.

But just because I personally choose to use the word black doesn’t mean I take issue with being referred to as an African American woman. If someone were to ask me if that’s what I was, I would answer yes and go on about my day, but it appears I may be in the minority with that outlook. The semantic debate over the interchangeability of the terms black and African American is rearing its head once again, and members of the community who want to be labeled as black are being quite vocal about that preference.

Eurweb.com recently did a write up on 38-year-old Gibre George, a man in Miami who started a Facebook page titled “Don’t Call Me African-American” to openly state his opinion. Turns out, he’s hardly alone. About 1,900 people have liked his page, and nearly the same number are talking about it. The about statement for the page states, “If you have to call me African then you have to call everyone African,” and in an interview with the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Gibre said the term African American “just doesn’t sit well with a younger generation of black people.”

“We respect our African heritage, but that term is not really us. We’re several generations down the line. If anyone were to ship us back to Africa, we’d be like fish out of water.”

“Africa was a long time ago. Are we always going to be tethered to Africa? Spiritually I’m American. When the war starts, I’m fighting for America.”

Gibre’s last point brings up another label of preference that some black/African Americans prefer, which is simply American. I’ve never been a fan of simply calling myself American. I get the point of erasing racial identity and enthusing solidarity as united citizens of the United States, but my ethnicity has always been more important to me than my nationality—maybe that’s why “black” tends to do it for me nine times out of 10.

I get the idea of being heavily removed from our African heritage, but being disconnected doesn’t mean you can just disassociate with what your ethnic makeup truly is. It’s unfortunate that due to our history in this country, we’re not able to call ourselves sixth generation Italian Americans or ninth generation German Americans like many white people do, but that doesn’t mean that some of us do not have that same type of lineage as African Americans though we’re not aware of the specifics.

The strong aversion to the term African American seems to do less with the term not being applicable and more with concern about how that label is intrinsically linked to our slave past and whether identifying as such makes us less American in others eyes.

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  • Chelcymartin

    I enjoyed this article except for statement you made saying that you can’t say that you’re 9th generation Italian American etc. Being “caucasian” (when I’m actually a mutt, like most “White” people- I know that my great grandmother was Native American, and there are roots from England, Ireland, and Germany, not to mention any roots that I’m not aware of) is a huge innacurate assuption. Every “white” person I know comes from a long line of inter-cultural mixing.

  • Regreybus

    Regarding a race label for people of color I agree with the word “colored”, because it includes all ethnic
    people, besides most people have more than one race in their blood line. I have three and I act/think like all my Cherokee/Italian/Black blood(s).

  • Jerjorju

    If  citizens of Africa move to America and become citizens here they are now African-Americans.
    Our African ancestors were moved (stolen) here to America and eventually their descendants became American citizens.  To me it is the same concept.  Both started in Africa and through a process became American.  Therefore, both are African-Americans.   ”Black” was used originally as an derogatory term by whites (remember the term “darkies”?).  The word Negro was also a based in negativity.  In order to regain pride and dignity people of color took the word Black and owned it.  It was turned into a positive term with the mantra  ”Say it loud.  I’m Black and I’m Proud”.  

    Because of the original history of the word “Black” I do feel a discomfort with using it.  I for one do not feel a disconnect with the Mother Land.  No matter where we moved or were moved to we will always have African roots.  To say you have no connection to Africa just because you haven’t set foot there is disowning your rightful heritage and letting the white man win.  He took everything from your ancestors.  Don’t let him take from you as well.  

    • http://twitter.com/sabadaga SANDRA

      thank God, there are some intelligent people here. I mean there are some who find poor excuses such as ” I have never set foot there, therefore I have no connection to Africa whatsoever”. It just shows how ignorant and lost they are.

      • Josh Gibson

        Black is more than just a color it is a state of mind. The sons and daughters of segregation knew that the civil rights movement in a sense was the black journey across the ocean to America. Read the opening lines of the speech nicknamed I have a dream and you will see that the Negro was one hundred years after emancipation an exile in his own home. Culturally we were a nation apart because of the law based discrimination that excluded us from citizenship.

        Once the movement ended we like other immigrant groups before had transition from membership in a group to status as individual Americans. I was born in 1957 and am not as black as my parents or grandparents were in the same way that second generation Italians, Jews or Irish people were not as Italian, Irish, or Jewish as their parents or grandparents. 

        This discussion represents the progress we have made. As much as i hate to say it at some future point our mindset will be completely American. We are going through a transition now others from earler ethnic generations would recognize.

        I prefer black and am proud to be black. I respectfully leave that term to people born in Africa. And I also believe the proper approach is to refer to them by their nation or even more appropriately their tribe. 

        • dumminique

          I would like to know from you where on the map “black land” is ? If you did not 
          come from Africa and have African roots, where did you come from ?

    • http://twitter.com/sabadaga SANDRA

      thank God, there are some intelligent people here. I mean there are some who find poor excuses such as ” I have never set foot there, therefore I have no connection to Africa whatsoever”. It just shows how ignorant and lost they are.

  • Cameron

    How can one be black and French? That tells me nothing. Are you of African descent and live in France? Because that’s what I get from that. One word refers to ethnicity (black) and the other refers to geography (France). Newsflash, you can be black AND French. 

    I think this is important because when you confuse geography and ethnicity, you leave minorities in every country identity-less. When Americans use the word “French” to mean “white”, they are doing a huge disservice to the French people of other ethnicities. Are black-French less French than white-French?No, of course not. But that’s the effect of treating geography and ethnicity like they’re one and the same.

    Now, back to America. Charlize Theron is an African American. She’s from Africa and is now an American, so who could tell her she’s not? However I’m black and I’m not African-American. Thing is, I’m not American. But when I’m in the US, I’m forced to accept this totally erroneous geo-political description as my ethnicity.The part about my African-ness is true, but the American part is wrong. And if African American were an appropriate term to describe an ethnic group, it would apply irrespective of geography. Black covers everyone from dark-skinned people in Madagscar to the aborigines in Australia to the blacks in Buenos Aires.

    Question for those still not convinced:   If I’m totally black, would you look at me weird if I said I’m Puerto Rican? That’s my nationality, but I’m being displaced because Americans have confused the land of my birth with the majority ethnicity of the people who live there. Do you see how that marginalises me? Americans make me feel less Puerto Rican. Once again, a black person is being robbed of a home (which is how everyone should be able to feel about their country of birth). And don’t tell me to go back to Africa because whites aren’t being sent back to the Caucasus Mountains.

    I also don’t like the term for a more subjective reason. I think it qualifies the American-ness of black Americans. Why don’t whites get asked on forms if they are Euro Americans? Because the implicit assumption is that America belongs to them. Every minority in America is subtly being linked with a foreign land, while whites get to simply be American. It matters on a psychological level  

  • Honi

    I call myself black. I have no problems with anyone who wants to call themselves anything else they please. I have some friends from Africa who really like to distance themselves from some black Americans. Yes, they are my friends, because those are their thoughts, it doesn’t get in the way of our friendships. One of them said he would NEVER want a black American woman to mother his child, but he wanted to date me. That was out of the question, and we remain friends. So, back to the point, I am black, not African American.

  • 1 love

    The fact that i am Afrikan Amerikan made me vizit Afrika js 2 see whr i originated 4rm… ITS BEAUTIFUL… i js dnt wana b called black… r u color blind… call me Amerikan cz thats who i am… ur not white… U R PINK… In Australia u can b sued 4 calling me black… DATS RACIST… nationality is acceptable… 1 love

  • Gunnermachine

    No mater where you come from as long as you are a black man you are an African-Bob Marley

    NUF SAID .

  • Poetic

    To abandoned one’s orignal hertiage, is a sign of an enslaved mind. When American was first discovered there were no “African” or “Black” people here, our ancestors were brought to this country against their own will. I recently took the vowel to classify myself as a African American because, for one Africa is were it all started for us. “If a black person” took a trip to Africa, he or she would see so many that look exactly like them. America is just the place we were born, as of Feb 12 I am ashamed to call myself an american, this country has done nothing for us especially people of color, we were slaves then, and many of us are still slaves now. No matter how hard we fight for freedom this world will never belong to us as a people, the signs are evident, they have killed so many of our great African American Hero’s our true home as a people I believe is in Heaven. Happy Black History Month…….R.I.P Martin, Harriet, Rosa, Macolm, Coretta, Whitney, Michael, Huey, W.E.B, Madame, Don, Etta, Ella, Lena, Dorothy, James, Smokie, etc….

  • Rah Truth

    The term “Black” basically describes anyone whose ancestors are majority African. (Yes, we know we all came from Africa somewhere down the line. I’m speaking of closer ancestry we tend to recognize.) the term “African-American” describes someone whose ancestors are majority African AND was BORN in the U.S. This term is just more specific. Many Black people living in the U.S. today were born in Europe (Black frenchman, for example), all of the Caribbean, etc… I don’t mind being called either one since I fit both definitions. But, if you aren’t sure of a Black person’s birthplace, just say “Black” so there’s no risk of insulting the person.

  • Mscocoabrwn

    I wonder why this is even a topic of conversation.

    • Jerjorju

      Because the government, media, educational institutions, medical researchers, etc. label us.  

    • dumminique

      This is what the white man has us doing….spending precious time debating over our hair, skin tone and whether we are Africans. People wise up and get real..if a cat made kittens in an oven would they be called bread ?

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  • Dove56

    Nope I don’t, I never understood why it had to be one or the other. I am both. Furthermore I never asked to be called any of these things.
    Its your identity, call yourself whatever you want. 

  • Jazzsingerar

    This is interesting to me because , before I moved to Jersey, I lived for a few years in an Ohio town where 98% white and liked to call people of color ‘colored’ ( I moved in Dec. 2011 , and the people calling us that were in their 20′s not 80′s). Also, I am Mixed which does not appear to be a problem in Jersey ( most people think I am a Latina- I do explain I’m Mixed) however, in Ohio there was a lot of splainin’ to do,lol. So pathetic. Anyway I found saying Mixed was never enough for them , and they would make almost a literal fight out of African-American- then I started saying Black and Italian. They disliked both , and I felt so empowered. It reminded me when I first heard the saying “Black Power”- it felt right, like it does when I say I’m Mixed if they need more - Black and Italian. It is so sad that in 2012 we still have to have this conversation at all. But I will never allow a white “hillbilly” as they call themselves try to feel superior to me questioning what do I know about Africa so why do I say African American. I’m ashamed to say I don’t know where my family is from in Africa – but I do know I’m half Black and Half Italian and I can say it with pride. Ironic, but my kids( in their 20′s) will correct someone in a  New York Minute – I’m Mixed, enough said , keep stepping. I need to be more like them :}…..

  • Frowspodl

    My (white) daughter’s best friend refers to herself as black, not African-American.

  • Ebonydiva82

    To be honest, I go back and forth between black and African-American. To be honest, I prefer neither term. I am culturally American and not in touch with my African side. To me it’s just a label which has little effect in how I live my life on a daily basis. The reason being that I have a young child and if I tell him I am black, he may be confused as black to him would be the color of the crayon. In his eyes, I am brown, not black. I’m wishy washy with it. Also, although it would be ideal for society to see us simply as American, it won’t fly when victimization or scapegoating of black/African-Americans are involved. I think that individuals should be able to identify with the label they feel most comfortable with. On a side note I’ve never heard Asian American’s being called ”Yellow”, Hispanic Americans “Brown” or Native Americans ”Red” on a daily basis in search of political correctness so why should African/Caribbean American’s be called “Black”?  

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