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This is an archive of past discussions about African Americans. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
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Black American Indian 15:09, 14 September 2007 (UTC)Some African Americans have Native American ancestryBlack American Indian 15:09, 14 September 2007 (UTC)
OK I'LL RE-WORD THIS..........TO IMPROVE THE PAGE CHANGE THE PART ON THE PAGE THAT SAYS THERE ARE A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WITH NATIVE AMERICAN ANCESTRY, BECAUSE LIKE I SAID THE FIRST TIME I KNOW FOR A FACT THERE IS NOT A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF THEM IT'S ACTULLY QUITE SMALL. PLEASE MAKE IMPROVEMENTS TO THIS PAGE A.S.A.P. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 198.53.21.112 (talk • contribs) 19:12, June 2, 2007 (UTC)
The history section of this article was far too long and there was a lot of content that was redundant so I pulled a bunch of it. But I feel that the article is still too big at 53 kb. More detailed content should probably go into separate articles with just a summary remaining in this one. Also, I think it's more important to get references for this article rather than more content. Please share you thoughts and effort to improve this article. CJ 23:59, 5 June 2007 (UTC)
I know there's some disagreement on the naming of the African American ethnic group, but African American descendants of slaves are also called Black Americans. It's a standard from a number of official documents. It's the same thing with few exceptions and those exceptions should be discussed in the article. CJ 10:56, 15 June 2007 (UTC)
Seriously people, stop changing the text in the lead until it gets discussed. For the record, I keep reverting that change because it's the official definition (ie: US Census) for the term and because opinions to the contrary are discussed in the criticisim section. CJ 20:50, 15 June 2007 (UTC)
Good catch on the ref, I replaced it with another, also from the US Census that does define Black or African Americans as descended from the ethnic groups of Sub-Saharan Africa. Something you may not realize, The US government doesn't define race based directly on skin color. It's based on ancestry. And it's been a long standing tradition to associate colors with ancestry. All Whites aren't Europeans but that's how it's defined in the US. CJ 00:41, 19 June 2007 (UTC)
Would the individual who placed this tag care to comment on the contradiction they found? CJ 22:30, 19 June 2007 (UTC)
The claims about Black people benefitting financially from the civil rights movement and have having unprecedented access to higher education are totally out of line. For one, more people in the U.S. go to college these days. Have Black people trended upward relative to other ethnic groups, namely Whites. The financial gains of Black people being attributed to the civil rights movement suffers from a similar fallacy. This is assuming the cause. But in this case there may not even be a cause to assume. Why has nobody referenced a study or something empirical that concludes that Blacks have begun to close the income or wealth gap with White people in the U.S. since the end of the Civil Rights Era? I can answer that, it didn't happen. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.217.173.43 (talk)
Is is appropriate to describe Americo Liberians as African Americans? Do broad sections of Americo Liberians describe themselves as African American? Aside from slavery, it seems that the histories of the two groups have diverged too much to identify them as the same cultural group. It is because of this logic that it is inappropriate to identify other populations of known African descent in the Americas as African American, particularly when broad sections of these groups don't self-identify as such. Kemet 14:53, 20 June 2007 (UTC)
"African-American, as I see it applies exclusively to the descendants of freed slaves. Others should be known by nationality, like Nigerian American, Ethiopian American, etc.. The only reason "African-American" is so all encompassing is because in most cases, the descendants of freed slaves cannot conceivably trace back their origins to any specific pre-colonial country or state.Taharqa 20:22, 9 September 2007 (UTC)
I'd like to add the following paragraph near the beginning of the article:
[1](ref)Fox, Maggie. "Artifacts trace humanity’s early migration", Reuters (2007-01-12).(/ref)
[2](ref)Ponte, Lowell. "The Longest Race", FrontPageMagazine.com (2002-10-04).(/ref)
[3](ref)Scales-Trent, Judy. Notes of a White Black Woman: Race, Color, and Community, page 140 (1995).(/ref)
[4](ref)Medterms.com.(/ref)
[5](ref)The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2003), definitions of African-American and black.(/ref)
Is this okay?Ferrylodge 23:18, 22 June 2007 (UTC)
Hey, Ferrylodge, it sounds like you have some sort of grudge. Yes, humanity started in the CONTINENT of Africa hundreds of thousands of years ago. However, we are NOT the same. If you're white, you're of European descent. If you're black, you're of African descent. Plain and simple. When humans migrated all over our planet, thier racial and genetic makeup changed. Therefore, the places where they migrated to became their "racial marker", meaning their descendants, when researching their history, will find their ancestry in a specific geographic area. I know it sounds confusing, but it is what it is. Fclass 13:48, 23 June 2007 (UTC)
According to recent DNA testing, roughly 30% of Americans of African descent who have taken DNA tests have found they have european-caucasian/caucasian-american ancestry as well. There has not been shown to be as large a link to either native americans or asians as there has been to european-caucasian/caucasian-american.
This DNA research has helped Americans of African descent to identify general tribal regions in Africa they likely have descended from, but also that some may have connections to european-caucasian/caucasian-american ancestors through their maternal and/or paternal ancestral lineage.
Of course, many Americans regardless of race believe they are somehow descended from native americans, so I can see how people will add it uncited to this article, but genetically, the facts aren't really there to back it up. There is some ancestry to native americans for a small portion of Americans of African descent, but nothing at all significant when it comes to asian ancestry.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/genetics/2006-02-01-dna-african-americans_x.htm —The preceding signed comment was added by recorderofbehavior (talk)
The inventors section of this article is majorly flawed. Charles Drew did not perform the first open heart surgery and Garrett Morgan did not invent the first traffic signal or gas mask. Even Garrett Morgan's wiki entry verifies that. His inventions had no influence on modern day designs, nor where they the first. I do not know how to change things on that article but someone needs to do it. Here is my citation for anyone who wants to alter that section: http://www33.brinkster.com/iiiii/inventions/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.168.226.219 (talk • contribs)
Not a reliable source?? The site I listed list hundreds of sources! If you don't think it's reliable enough for you why don't you get off your lazy duff and confirm the information with supposed "reliable sources". What do you want? http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/trafficlight.htm http://www.freewebs.com/trafficlightsignals/historyofsignals.htm Pick a source, what source do you want? Look it up in an encyclopedia if you want. You wiki people really crack me up. Even wiki contradicts that information about Morgan in Garrett Morgan's wiki page and the page for the traffic light.
The very first paragraph I wrote was "legitimate". Then you came at me with some ridiculous statement about my source not being reliable even though it list plenty of its own sources like patent numbers, newspaper articles, other historical documents, etc. I should be the one asking you to say something legitimate. You just don't want to accept the truth. Hell, you're probably the one that put that inaccurate junk in there aren't you? The simple fact is, either this wiki page is wrong or Garrett Morgan's and the traffic signal wiki pages are wrong. All three can't be right. So, suck it up and fix it already and stop coming at me with ridiculous statements that don't even make sense.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.168.226.219 (talk • contribs) 23:03, August 23, 2007
Please see the discussion here -- this needs more input from editors who actually work in this area. Badagnani 16:51, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
The Anti-intellectualism article presents anti-intellectualism as a problem in the African American youth community, however, it is not mentioned here. Since it would obviously contribute to the educational and social problems experienced by many African Americans, wouldn't it be notable in this article? 70.146.31.251 00:31, 9 August 2007 (UTC) ==
Question I was wondering what defines African American. How do you determine if someone is black or not. If my great grand parent was from africa does that make me black? Does it make me less black then someone who has a black grandparent? Where does the line get drawn now that people are able to get benificial consideration for college based on race? I'm not commenting about or questioning the morality of this practice, but I was just wondering what, if there is one, determines one's ability to claim being part of a race? And, if there is anyone with knowledge of biology, where does a person's race get place? Is it a subgenius? Does it get a nomenclature classification?
69.1.59.67 05:11, 11 August 2007 (UTC)2007-08-11 ID
Disraeli may be the man who uttered these words: "There are three types of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." I do not believe that a typical negro in any county in the United States earns $62,000 per year on average.
MtAvarice 09:05, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
Malik Shabazz, can you please explain why you removed the fact tag I added next to Michael Jackson, without adding a source. This list is, after all, origional research and lacking citations.--SefringleTalk 20:08, 21 August 2007 (UTC)
The lead para contains the following words: In the United States the term is generally used for Americans with predominantly Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Why are the words "In the United States" necessary -- where else would the term be used? --ukexpat 13:03, 30 August 2007 (UTC)
I converted some of the links into footnotes, but a lot of the links seem similar, yet they are not. Someone should go through the links and see which ones are relevant, which ones sould go, and convert them to proper ref format.--SefringleTalk 05:42, 8 September 2007 (UTC)
I removed "and a higher rate of out-of-wedlock births relative to the general population. 56% of African American children are born into families where the mother is not married to the biological father. In 1998, single women headed 54% of African American households. ref name="CharacOfFam" because this has nothing to do with health issues (or more to the point, there is no cited evidence to link out-of-wedlock births to negative health results). That information is also already covered in the Economic Status section. I also added a transition between the life expectancy and later subsection to account for the contradiction. Kemet 14:59, 12 September 2007 (UTC)
See Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Lists of African Americans. Badagnani 02:11, 13 September 2007 (UTC)
The citation User:Jeeny removed on this edit to the 2000 US Census ancestry codings has everything to do with racial classification on the 2000 US Census. Jeeny claims in her edit summary that it has nothing to do with African Americans. However, it is a detailed explanation of which ancestries get categorized into which races on the 2000 US Census. Its section called "Subsaharan Africa" describes where blacks or African Americans are from.----DarkTea© 21:29, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
See Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2007 September 16#Category:United States communities with African American majority populations. Badagnani 21:20, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
Iseebias asks "who are you to decide what opinions are notable, & since when is 1 paragraph undue weight?"
Google: "Johnathan Stevenson" "Race in America" No results
Google: "Johnathan Stevenson" sociologist No results
Google: "Johnathan Stevenson" sociology 1 result
Since you think that Johnathan Stevenson is notable, would you care to explain who he is and why we should care what he has to say? — Malik Shabazz (Talk | contribs) 05:55, 24 September 2007 (UTC)
Most serious academics don't have their books splashed all over google. He writes for graduate students, not the general public. 90% of the books in most universities are obscure scholary texts that would not generate a single google hit. But wikipedia does not define reliability as a function of google hits, just the opposite. People come to wikipedia to get away from all the crap you read on the web, and get quality scholarly sources from people who are experts in their specific field. And you may consider his work fringe, but wikipedia gives extreme weight to academic scholarly sources, and any view point expressed by a scholar who is an authority in the field at hand, is by wikipedia's definition, a reliable source, and certainly worthy of a single paragraph in article as long as this one. Any particular reason why you feel so compelled to keep this idea out of wikipedia? Iseebias 03:25, 28 September 2007 (UTC)
Well, I find Jonathan Stevenson as a Professor of strategic studies - does this specialty include ethnic origins??--Dumarest 22:20, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
"African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa."
Yeah? and what with blacks in Cuba or Venezuela. Where are they from? Japan? Guess what? there are more countries in America than just the United States. This is a wiki in ENGLISH, not a wiki of the United States.
And BTW, the term "african american" is just plain stupid an typical of the United States. So what's a person born in Moroco and moved to America? an australian? What if a spaniard was born in Oran and then moved to the Americas?
Most idiotic article of the wikipedia and tipical of a USA mindset, really. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.126.1.243 (talk) 10:41, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
I believe she is a rather poor example to illustrate the point about White "African-Americans" as I doubt she is even a US citizen or would refer to herself as an American. In her Oscar acceptance speech she referred to South Africa as "home". Roger 20:45, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
Why is Tiger Woods in the list of 100 greatest? I love Tiger Woods but he doesn't consider himself to be black and from reading his wikipedia entry it's listed that he is a mix of a wide range of groups. Is it really approprate to have him in the list of African Americans among the 100 greatest Americans? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Koft (talk • contribs) 15:18, 10 November 2007 (UTC)
What is the significance of the colors of the CONUS map in the infobox? Roger 07:13, 11 November 2007 (UTC)
As it seems to me (and I'm not an authority), most African-Americans have no duel citizenship with any African country and are only citizens of the United States, Canada, etc (whatever that home nation might be in the Americas) and have no relatively recent family history of citizenship ties to any African Nation; so, why is the more accurate term "American of African Descent" not preferable to use in-place of African-American which implies a legal or citizenship tie to that continent? If one were to say "I am an English-American" then the logical thought would be "where in the U.K. do you have dual citizenship?". Personally, I believe that "American of African Descent" is not only a far more accurate self-description to choose but it also acknowledges the fact that a "Black" individual may also have other heritage (such as Native American, British, etc) in their family; more importantly, this term does not alienate the individual from all of the GREAT Americans who just happen to have ancestral ties to Africa, this term asserts ownership to the "Black" person's rightful place in the America experience and the overall American identity which has been earned by many generations of "Black" Americans by blood, sweat, tears, and devotion. Please think about this and consider changing your verbiage before identifying yourself again as "African American". Sure, "American of African Descent" might be a mouthful, but it is also an earful and a mindful and is well worth saying. Peace
—Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.173.226.235 (talk)
Will do, but just wanted to put this thought out there for consideration. Thanks
Again, the term means, "a black American or American of African descent." It applies exclusively to blacks who are descendants of American slavery, not blacks from foreign countries. Racially same, ethnically different. Malcolm X was the first dude to use this, along with black pride. It's just of expressing our pride in our heritage.Fclass (talk) 19:37, 21 November 2007 (UTC) Oh, I forgot, some whites do refer to themselves as Italian American or just Italian.
The info on this table (on the right of the page) seems misleading - yes, most African Americans live in the South, but there are substantial populations in urban areas in the Northeast, Midwest and West. The fact that they are concentrated in urban areas in those regions doesn't mean they are not significant in those regions.--Parkwells (talk) 01:32, 6 December 2007 (UTC)
Why aren't there references to White African Americans...I mean what is the South African portion of Americans that are white classified? South African Americans? Blacks are negros..that isn't offensive- since when is Black or White racist? Im called white I am not offended. Add South African Americans or South Africans who live in America to the list of peoples. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.166.108.50 (talk) 16:01, 10 December 2007 (UTC)
Sorry for the intromission, but in my objective look over the theme, i think the difference between "afroamerican people" and "white people" is pure politic tube-looking. The thing is that you have to look around and to not see black and white; take a look around and see that the things, the people, the plants and the animals have many colours and the colour is irrelevant on what they are. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.166.108.50 (talk)
This is a response to the first commenter who wanted to be anonymous. There is nothing offensive about the term black. I'm black and proud. The term negro is offensive and no longer used. If you or anybody else, regardless of race, called me a negro, you will have a bloody lip and a black eye. The term African American applies to American blacks, like me, who are descendants of freed black American slaves or American slavery. If you don't want to use it, fine. But don't tell people what they should or should not be called. Now, a person's nationality refers to there country/nation of origin/birth. Africa is a continent, not a country/nation, just like Europe is a continent, not a country/nation. American is my nationality because I was born, raised, and bred in the United States of America. A person (white or black) from South Africa, a country/nation, is South African. That's there nationality. I could go on, but I don't have time to educate dumb people. Have a nice day. Fclass (talk) 21:43, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
No but it does only include people who are descended from slaves. A black jamaican has more claim to the term african american than does a South African. A South African is a South African American. 193.129.64.154 (talk) 11:45, 9 January 2008 (UTC)
Fclass, I'd like to point out that you're an excellent representative of your race, causing someone physical harm because they called you a nasty name is always a plus in my book. 76.25.115.99 (talk) 06:18, 21 January 2008 (UTC)
Also, that they say "I'm proud to be black". Sounds like a racist to me. I don't go around saying "I'm proud to be white". Thats called...oh, what's its name...uh...oh yeah, White Pride.
I'm not proud to be anything because I simply do not see myself as "White". I'm just Me.
It's funny really, that the people with the most racist hangups are generally black, not white. And if you've got to use a term for either, that's what they should be. I actually AM from different places, so I don't respect Americans who claim to be from Africa when they have no connection to it whatsoever. Sure, I could say Im a "European American". But I don't. Because Im simply not a European. I really don't care. And people who grew up in New York City simply are not from Africa. I think the only reason this term ever got popularity is because white people are so mortally petrified that they'd be labeled as a racist, so they let black people call the shots. And some of those black people are abusing that. A lot.
Basically, I agree completely with everyone in this section who doesnt have a username. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.65.242.154 (talk) 07:24, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
I noticed that all six of the people in the picture were political activists. Do you think that is a good thing? Steve Dufour (talk) 12:01, 22 December 2007 (UTC)
Identity is everything. Without it one ceases to exit. It seems to be a popular thing now days to be called an african american, when not long ago, all of the other factions of the black race all over the globe didn't even want to be associated with the term african american, or negro. Now the the term is used loosely to describe any, and every black person that sets foot here in america, distorting and stripping us african americans of what little identity we do have. So, this is to set the record straight. I can't help but be passionate about this issue, my ancestors were "ENSLAVED" in "THIS" country. They fought and died in "THIS" country trying to protect, and preserve what little identity they had left after having most of it beat out of them. Thus trying to set up a system where our future generations would be proudly recognized with our own unique identity. "MY" ancestors fought for civil rights in this country, that other blacks from all across the globe come here to enjoy, without giving any respect or thanks. ie, west indies, africa, south america etc. All black people in america are not african americans. An african american is a person who's "FAMILY" ancestors were enslaved, and suffered through that slavery here in america. Not in jamaica, or trinidad, etc. The term african american comes from a long lineage of ugly muttated descriptions attributed to the slave and their ancestry here in america. We've come a long way From being known as coons, niggas, jiggaboos, monkeys, etc. Anything that one could think of that was bad or negative, that's what we were called in this country. My ancestors fought, fought, fought, fought, and shed their blood, and gave their lives, for the right to be called AFRICAN AMERICAN. That is why those of us who are african americans should always be passionately selfish when it comes to our identity, our culture, and traditions protecting and guarding it with our very lives,and never letting anyone, anywhere define, or defile it. Identity is everything, without it one don't exist. Therefore, I am proud to say, I am "AFRICAN AMERICAN". Who are you? James jr.24.47.233.26 (talk) 05:28, 25 December 2007 (UTC)
Let me educate all the idiots who don't know anything about the term. The term African American means a black American who is a descendant of African slaves that were brought to the United States of America on slave ships during the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. In other words, blacks who are descendants of American slavery, like me. It's like the terms Irish-American or Italian-American]]. It doesn't apply to any immigrant from an African country because the term African is not a nationality. Nationality refers to your country of birth, origin, or citizenship. Africa is a continent that's made up of over 50 countries. A person born in Kenya is Kenyan because Kenya is a country and Kenyan is a nationality. If the person emigrated to the USA, the person is Kenyan-American. Egypt to the USA: Egyptian-American. This is a term Afrocentric black Americans created. It's a way of recognizing our American nationality and patriotism and our African past and history (the history of all blacks in the Western Hemisphere began in West Africa). Fclass (talk) 02:40, 7 January 2008 (UTC)
Well its a stupid term and it should be purged. Once you change your nationality to American then you are American, where you came from is irrelevant and you should take no pride in something you had nothing to do with. Take pride i what you do (and your immediate family) - all this "we are special" really means "You are inferior" and perpetuates the hate between "races" (and I put it in quotation marks since there is no scientific basis for dividing humans into race, its an old way of supressing those who looked different http://www.understandingrace.org/) if Amerca is going to settle its problems they need to accept at their core, they are one people, not just a lot of strangers who happen to camp there for a while. --IceHunter (talk) 20:03, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
So, IceHunter, you're one those morons that believe we're all the same? Well, we're not. Why do you think the U.S. is called a "melting pot?" It's because this country is diverse in many ways. I don't know if you're an American, and I don't care, but you have absolutely no right to tell people they shouldn't celebrate their cultures. In New York City (my hometown), we have a lot of ethnic parades: West Indian Day Parade, St. Patrick's Day Parade, Mexican-American Day Parade, Dominican Parade, German-American Day Parade, Columbus Day Parade, Pakistani Parade, Puerto Rican Day Parade, and others. Now, these people are not saying, "We don't want to be Americans." They're just celebrating their heritage and culture, and they have every right to do it, whether your closed-minded moronic ass likes it or not. They're proud to be Americans while at the same time proud of their heritage and culture. That is why all the people who say, "We're all the same," are dead wrong. The human species, not human race, are different in every way. If we were the same, planet Earth would be dull and boring. People like you need to embrace the fact that we are different. And the real reason racists like you exist is because racists don't accept things that are foreign to them. They look at so-called "minorities" (a term whites invented) and think they are superior to them because of who they are and where they come from. Racists look at diversity as a threat. If America is going to solve the hatred problem, some Americans are going to have to accept that the U.S. is a diverse, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural nation. There is no such thing as a real American culture because most of it came from other nations. As for African American, it's obvious you're too stupid to know what it means, so I am done with you. Go celebrate your stupidity and ignorance.Fclass (talk) 21:34, 8 February 2008 (UTC)
Without the bellicosity, I'd like to agree with FClass. It upsets me endlessly when people call Barack Obama African-American. And the link to that senate webpage is no verification whatsoever that "most people consider Obama to be African-American".
He is a black man. He is a Kenyan American. He is NOT African American any more than Tony Shalhoub is an Asian American or Paula Abdul is a South American American or Mike Meyers is a North American American. 193.129.64.154 (talk) 11:32, 9 January 2008 (UTC)
I do not agree. I am sorry, but just because people are called black, doesn't take away their families' identity. I think that African-Americans are people who come here from Africa. Plus Asians are not called Asian-American like one other person said. The Japanese lost sooo much before they were treated just like the Africans were a long time ago. It's time to let go. I'm anything but racist, I grew up around every race under the sun. It's just that the term African-American bugs me. A lot of Africans are actually European too because a lot of Africa was occupied by the French and British. And why can't you be proud to say that you're black, you still get respect from people. It makes no difference to anyone else if people say black or African-American. so yeah. DLWDWFreek (talk) 04:08, 10 January 2008 (UTC)
I don't want to sound racist, because I'm white, but like the title, African Americans, refers to only people that come to America from Africa. Also Black American just sounds weird. We're like the only country that doesn't call people of African Background Black, I know, I've been to Europe, and they are greatly respected, as they are here.DLWDWFreek (talk) 03:58, 10 January 2008 (UTC)
Yahel, DLWDWFFreek is an ignorant fool. You give people the knowledge and data about something, but they will keep ignorance as their guide. DLWDWFFreek is not a racist, he or she is just plain dumb. I am very proud to be black. I'm not ashamed of that. As the late James Brown(RIP) once said, "Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud!" However, I'm also proud to be an American of African ancestry. I explained the term's definition above where it says, "user talk:Fclass." I also explained nationality. Africa is a continent, not a country. African is not a nationality because a person's nationality refers to their COUNTRY OF BIRTH. I'm an American becaause I was born in the USA, as were past generations of my family. If I move to Canada, I would be an American-Canadian. Nigeria to the USA: Nigerian-American. Namibia to the USA: Namibian-American. Got it? Fclass (talk) 19:11, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
Thank you, Malik Shabazz, but I want to respond to this dumbass. I don't know you, but I know stupidity and ignorance when I see it. And from the way you think, I think it's safe to say I'm a lot smarter and articulate than you. DLWDWFreek, you need a lesson in geography. Africa is a continent, just like Europe and North America. The continent of Africa is made up of 50+ countries with their own nationalities. Ghana=Ghanaian, Ethiopia=Ethiopian. I could go on, but I want to make this short. If I, an American, move to Canada, I would still be an American, but I would be Canadian because I'm applying Canadian citizenship. Duh!!! And black Americans(or African Americans) aren't descendants of American slavery? Somebody needs to educate you on American history. Why don't you do us a favor, and leave this operation to people who know what their talking about. I'm done with you. Fclass (talk) 21:29, 12 January 2008 (UTC)
The OED and M-W Unabridged, both online, and NYT spell African-American with a hyphen. Throughout Wikipedia, at least that which I have read, African-American is not hyphenated. Is this policy? I'm somewhat new to the subject of Wikipedia editorial policy. If this issue has already been discussed and decided upon would someone refer me to the policy pages (or whatever) that discusses and explains this. Thanks. Messier110 (talk) 10:17, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
I always wondered why black people are the only race considered African Americans. I seems like it's a derogatory term because it seems like when it is said it's classifying all blacks in the country to slave roots. The American definiton even says that African Americans relate to the Sub-Saharan groups of Africans which isn't true because black people now come from all over the world. Also no other race seems to be put towards one specific area on a continent or even considered towards a continent. Whites are caucasain, Asains are Oriential, and so on and so forth. I feel the definition needs revising. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.186.22.63 (talk) 03:29, 10 February 2008 (UTC)
I'm a quarter Japanese and Oriental isn't offensive.DLWDWFreek (talk) 02:58, 13 February 2008 (UTC)
The first paragraph calls the 1619 colonies "British North America", however there was no "British" state at the time, although King James was a Scottish king of England and did claim to be King of "Greater Britain". At this time however settlements like Jamestown were English, although there would have been Scottish and Irish settlers and indentured workers as well as Germans, Poles and Dutch. But would the colonies have been called "British North America" in 1619? If not, perhaps this could be changed, or alluded to? Benson85 (talk) 07:15, 17 February 2008 (UTC)
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