what is the correct terminology?

Hi Rachel, I have a number of friends who are black, and some of them prefer AA and some prefer black, so...I don't think there is a "right" and "wrong" with that in general--it's more individual preference. I prefer black personally, when I do not know where someone is from, for the very reason you say. I have a Senegalese friend who does not like being called AA at all. She says her culture is nothing like the AA culture, and she is not American. Just b/c she lives in America does not make her American. She prefers being called Senegalese, but if someone does not know her, she would rather be called black than AA. I think it can get confusing with today's diaspora too. I mean, what about a black couple who were born and raised in Germany and move to the US and have a child. Is that child German-American, like white children of German parents would be called? Or is he African-American, because he is black, thereby totally negating his German background...there si a crossover of race and culture which can get confusing. Or is he a black German-American, in order to better clarify race and culture at once? I would say that for me, I do not think there is a right and wrong, and so I think about what I am trying to say with the label. I realize my Ethiopian-born son (which is how I say it) will be perceived as AA, and I realize he will become part of the AA culture as he grows, BUT his background is not AA--his background and culture is Ethiopian, and I don't want that to just fade away as he gets pegged solely by his skin color. How's that for a straight answer?! :) Teranga mom to 2 bio children and 1 child adopted from Ethiopia

ps--I shouldn't have said "today's diaspora." I realize it's been going on for a very long time and same argument could be made for, for example, Jamaican Americans being called African Americans when their cultural connection is more to other Jamaicans than to black Americans.... Just wanted to add that, as I realized I wrote "today's diaspora" as if it were a new thing...

I think it can be easy to get caught up in semantics. I am mixed and so is my daughter. (Each different races as she is adopted) and I get so annoyed with ignorant people sometimes. Both of us were born in America and we are Americans. I personally hate labels and especially HATE the question "what ARE you?" or "where are you from?" I take offense to it and come back with a comment about my heritage but that I am an American woman (or a Texan!) and then say right back...what the heck ARE you and where did YOU come from? These days sometimes being politically correct or literally correct with labels just adds more to the confused division of the human race. I teach my children (1 bio/1 adopted) that we are blessed to be of mixed cultures and that is what our country is about. I agree with the posts above in regard to the org. question. If you must label someone- do it by their heritage.

I agree. America is a melting pot. If you were born in America, you are an American, not a hyphenated whatever-American. That said, I usually say "black" because you dont know if in fact the person is African American or Haitian, Jamaican, African, or some other nationality that is black. I use the word black to describe someone the same way I'd say someone was blond or brunette or tan or pale or whatever.

My husband is AA and prefers "black" as he is not African, he is an American with brown skin. I don't call myself (on a daily basis) an Italian-American. I call myself "white" although, lately, I'm almost ashamed to have to admit it.

I am caucasian....I'm also a high school teacher, and I've noticed that my students of color, (primarily Native American or Bi-racial) all call themselves "Brown." It's usually kind of tounge-in-cheek / jokey...as in "you just think that cuz I'm brown." I try not to use any labels with my students, or try to steer the conversation in a way that they define it themselves and I follow their lead. I did have a really funny incident one day, when a bi-racial student used my lotion, then smelled his hands and said, "Woah, now I smell like a white person."

Along with this, having "Black-American' children and other ethnicities, I've lately been considering this term of 'race'. THAT bothers me. (Hi Josie......you knew I'd be the one to bring this type of thing up, right???! ) We're all the human *race*....and it bugs me that someone might infer my babies are 'some other race other than human', KWIM? I KNOW this isn't what people mean to say, but I've personally tried to change my OWN vocabulary to 'multi-ethnic', rather than "multi-racial', KWIM? My children are from different ethnicities........but they're as much a part of the human race as me, their seemingly caucasian momma! :) Just throwing that out here...... And like the others, I think most of my AA friends prefer being referred to as 'Black'.....but I've known others who prefered 'Negro' and of course, most agencies use the term, "African-American'. The trouble with the AA term---as others have already mentioned, is that you can be lily-white and born in Africa. In the USA, this would be a different picture to someone if the term, African-American were used, now wouldn't it?!!! Sincerely, Linny

I've always thought that the term "African American" refers to people who are descended from people brought from Africa to America, as slaves. I see slave ancestry as something very worthy of pride. I haven't called my daughter African American, because her ancestors that were brought from Africa were taken to Haiti, where they were for two hundred years. Her birth father was the first born in this country, and he calls himself Haitian American. When Barack Obama was first becoming well known, some black people were saying that he isn't African American. I kind of agreed, since his father was from Kenya. However, I also see that the lines are blurry and I've kind of gotten used to hearing the president referred to as African American. As far as whether African American or black is preferable, I think either is fine. I've occasionally heard someone say that one or the other was offensive, but I think they were determined to be offended. Its also sometimes hard for me to decide when to say biracial and when to just say black, especially when talking about my three kids who have African ancestry together. My 22 YO is black-white, my 17 YO is just black and my 15 YO is black-Asian. I also have two grandkids who are black-white, although my granddaughter has blond hair, so that conufuses people too. Of course, most of the time, there isn't a need to say anything about it, but I am proud of my multiracial family so I talk about it quite a bit.