The People Of America

[nonie]

My dad brought this up a while ago, but I never got around to posting it up on here. What do you guys think about black people being called African Amercians, Asian people being called Asian Americans, indians being called Native Americans, and then you got the white people which they call Americans like they've been here for millions of years when actually their ancestors are from Europe and have only been here for about 500 years. wtf? I don't understand it. Anyone can drop your thoughts on this. I just thought it was a good topic to discuss.

If it has to do with religion/politics then you can close this.

 

[classic]

This is a topic of MUCH debate within the african american communitity, it has polarised it, many people choose one or the other

Personally as one of the few african americans thats been to africa and seen the people& rich culture
I dont like being called african american, while my culture and heritage can be traced back to africa eventually. the language and actual customs were lost a long time ago....

Most black people hear have a very idealistic view of africa, they see it as the homeland and think everything is all good their. Which AINT the case at all. I was treated worse in some spots in africa then by whitefolks here in the states. Many africans view afro americans as gun toting hethens with no sense of self....

Somebody like afrique would be better suited to be called african american( if he lived in the US) . becasue afrique's folks is from their and he has a direct connection. Same with a white dude who is from africa

Me on the other hand, ive traced my family back to the mid 1850's and even found the people who owned my great great great grandfather, but the actually direct link in my fmaily will never be found and its probolly from the 1600's.

almost 99% black americans can trace thier roots to nigera, so if u wanna be techinally we should be called nigeran americans...(nigeran and afro american culture still have many simlar traits)

WHile african american culture can be traced back to their, it definaly has evovled into its own entitiy....

so to sum it up

I prefer to be called a black american,
My mom prefers african american


either waywe built this shit.....

 

[classic]

To add a twist, in places like brazil and cuba, its differnt..

African culture customs and langauge we preserved almost perfeclty intact in those places becasue of the nature of slavery there. Most black people in brazil who are decents of slaves speak the nigerian language of the tribe their ancersters camefrom. They still have the lanugage and customs, and relgion intact.

Infact nigeran culture is better preserved in some places in brazil then in acutal Nigera becasue of the isolation. Same goes for places in cuba(afro cubans) as well

So in that casuse they dersve to be called afro-brazilins or afro nigerians
Afro americans on the otherhand, dident have the same isolation. Plus we were systamiclly brainwashed and converted to christianitity here...
which casued our culture to morphinto a unique idenitity.....

 

[Ozmosis]

To me it really dosnt matter rather if im labled as african-american, afro-american, or black-american, I know who I am thats the important thing. I do believe that if our African ancestors were aloud to speak their language, sing their songs, and practice their customs while in slavery to pass along we would all be more in touch with our African roots. These days in America know one is 100% anything. Over 90% of blacks in America if researched thier roots would find some sort of european blood in them as well. The same for white people as well not many are pure Italian-American or German-American, etc... Not many people are 100% anything here in America an precise labeling is pointless to me. Your either black, white, asian, or hispanic and those are the catagories I go by.

 

[krysolite]

lol. im from canada. asian canadian.. doesnt really work. canasian. lol.
in canada they dont really do that for asians.
(ie. korean canadian) thats how. i guess i shudnt be posting cuz this is different from american, but just posting from my perspective, im cool with korean canadian.

 

[bigdmakintrax]

Pretty much ditto to what Osmosis said that african american billing is some bullshidd...excuse me but thats how I feel.....I mean its something that basically has no defining boundary....let me flip the coin....most caucasians in america call themselves white......maybe at the family re-union or whatever in some social gathering they kinda say ok I am irish american, german american, jewish american, asian american, italian american to express pride or give some understanding of their european heritage/klan link....see where I am going?.....those billings are not used by most other non-whites to refer to a white person though they are seen as simply white .......but in conversation most other ethnic groups refer to white people as simply white..........someone said it right though we are all mixed to some degree possibly....so with with that I do not see why people go out of their way to say african american when really it doesn't mean anything that would be seen as positive by a lot of people, its almost the same as when they say america is a land of immigrants.....to be completely correct most africans did not immigrate or in the sense of that word pack bags or gather belongings or hope for the future in a new land they were forcefully led to become african americans.

 

[M!nd_Ctrl]

First off I’d like to start by saying that a lot of people learn some bad habits through there parents including hatred and contempt for others. So please educate yourself before believing that the “Americans” (who are white) are conspiring to say that we’ve been here for millions of years. If we really wanted to discriminate we would refer to ourselves as Caucasoids and all other people as Negroids or Mongoloids...but that's not what we're doing.

My first degree was sociology and I've come to the conclusion that no one will ever be happy with labels that are placed on them, but they need to be referred to in one way or another. I don’t think someone is more or less American whether they are Black, White, Asian, Latino, etc. All too often people confuse the concepts "Race" and "Ethnicity". Race would be the more biological factor whereas ethnicity deals with customs or traditions (these are very basic definitions so please read more about the distinctions).

As far as "Asian American" or even “Korean American” goes, I think that's how it should be. You see, my fiance is a Korean, born in Seoul, Korea. She became a U.S. citizen a few years ago and she will tell you that she's “American”. But, she will also be the first to tell someone she is Korean or even Korean American. Even though she has fully assimilated into the “American” culture she does not want to lose her identity as a Korean. Therefore she is both American and Korean at the same time. Would you stop calling yourself Korean...ever? On the other hand I have NOTHING else to call myself but "American". If you have a suggestion, please enlighten me.

I think Classic has a great description in saying “Black Americans,” because some blacks aren't directly linked to Africa. Jamaicans would be a good example of that and Black Americans who have distant links to the culture really aren’t African.

Just Rambling,


Ctrl

 

[o-a-ksavage]

I don't think it really matters, I consider myself an American, because I was born and raised here, but when talking about races within America I say white, black, asian, etc.

either waywe built this shit.....

What does that mean?

 

[classic]

What does that mean?

I mean that america was built on the sweat of black people, as well as asians in the 1800(out west) and indians...

 

[Chrono]

I mean that america was built on the sweat of black people, as well as asians in the 1800(out west) and indians...

without a doubt

 

[The Bastard]

I mean that america was built on the sweat of black people, as well as asians in the 1800(out west) and indians...

america isnt a building,one creed of people didnt jsut build it one day,its a product of the sweat of a lot of people, africans asians, italians,irish, and a lot more....

 

[ManDAmyth]

Labeling people is dumb. I get labled all the time. I am mixed: black and white (German). I look Hispanic. If I don't shave (which is quite often) I look Arabic. On the census form I put other.

My daughter is 1/3 black, 1/3 white, and 1/3 hispanic. She'll be checking other on her census forms.

First off I’d like to start by saying that a lot of people learn some bad habits through there parents including hatred and contempt for others. So please educate yourself before believing that the “Americans” (who are white) are conspiring to say that we’ve been here for millions of years. If we really wanted to discriminate we would refer to ourselves as Caucasoids and all other people as Negroids or Mongoloids...but that's not what we're doing.

Ctrl

American history is segregated. The contributions of Blacks, Native Americans and Asians are not taught to the youth or if so it's very miniscule such as "Black History Month" or the pathetic lesson plans about Indians around Thanksgiving.

"America isnt a building,one creed of people didnt jsut build it one day,its a product of the sweat of a lot of people, africans asians, italians,irish, and a lot more...." - Bastard

The sweat of italians and irish people to American culture is taught in standard history classes. Because of their skin color italian and irish people were able to intergrate completely into American society. Blacks and Asians couldn't fully intergrate because of their skin and to this day their contributions have been belittled and taught as if seperate from American culture.

White contributions to America is taught as American History. The contributions of blacks, Asians, Latinos and Native Americans are taught completely independent from white contributions under titles such as: Latino American History, African American Studies, etc.


So white people may not be conspiring to discriminate, but they still are.

 

[Relic]

I agree with the above.
Having been required to study Modern Europen History and then searched out found and independently studied
"Black" History I must say that you dont get the whole story by any means in American schools.
Of course they dont do anything approaching decent study about the indians or what it was before whites.
We all built America, some were beat into doing it, some were killed to manifest destiny, others profited.
I'll call someone whatever they want to be called, unless they should just be called an asshole,because they are in every race.
In conclusion, we need more charasmatic black leaders who will lead us in this next millineum.
The current crop dont seem to be doing jack except profiting off what Dr. King died doing.
We must stop the crab in the bucket syndrome where everyone wants to pull anyone getting up back down.
Al-quaeda just needs to know your an american to hate you.
Anyway, if I'm being too political sorry I'm sure Fade will edit me....
Black,White,Latino,Indian,Hatian,Asian-HipHop Nation

 

[Bloodybastid]

I think when it comes down to it, we should all just respect each other as who we are in a cultural sense and in a personal sense. Like for example, I knew this girl who always wanted/tried to "assimilate" me into American culture, or something to that extent. I never knew why, bit it would be a lot less stressful if more people just let it go and appreciate other cultures and races, and try to see things from others' point of view.

 

[Relic]

wonderful point

 

[o-a-ksavage]

I mean that america was built on the sweat of black people, as well as asians in the 1800(out west) and indians...

That's false. There has always been an abundance of physical labor, including slave labor, throughout the world throughout history. What made America such a rich nation is the inventions made possible by economic freedom. The mind, not the laboring body, is the source of all wealth. What "built" America was the independent minds of men such as Thomas edison who invented the ligh bulb, Henry Ford who invented the commercial automobile, The Wright brothers who invented the airplane, the countless inventors and industrialists who made each person's labor 100 times more productive by inventing capital machinery and innovative production methods, the inventors of farming technology who made possible such high production of food that a miniscule number of farmers can feed an entire nation no problem, when before that about half the nation's population were farmers and they could barely feed themselves. George Washington Carver created more wealth alone through the use of his mind than did the sweat of every slave there ever was.

Do not take this as some kind of insult to black slaves. On the contrary, it would be an insult to all men to pretend that slavery is actually an effective economic system. The only person slavery helps is the slave owner. No new wealth is created, the slaves aren't allowed to excersise their talents in productive ways, but instead do the bare minimum of labor to not get punished. The south was crumbling while the north was prospering on the eve of the civil war. The reason is that freedom, not slavery, makes the creation of wealth possible.

 

[StressWon]

fuck labels, like Myth said. I'm an American that happens to be White. But first and formost,,,I"M AN EMCEE BITCHES!

 

[Cleverwon]

That's false. There has always been an abundance of physical labor, including slave labor, throughout the world throughout history. What made America such a rich nation is the inventions made possible by economic freedom. The mind, not the laboring body, is the source of all wealth. What "built" America was the independent minds of men such as Thomas edison who invented the ligh bulb, Henry Ford who invented the commercial automobile, The Wright brothers who invented the airplane, the countless inventors and industrialists who made each person's labor 100 times more productive by inventing capital machinery and innovative production methods, the inventors of farming technology who made possible such high production of food that a miniscule number of farmers can feed an entire nation no problem, when before that about half the nation's population were farmers and they could barely feed themselves. George Washington Carver created more wealth alone through the use of his mind than did the sweat of every slave there ever was.

Do not take this as some kind of insult to black slaves. On the contrary, it would be an insult to all men to pretend that slavery is actually an effective economic system. The only person slavery helps is the slave owner. No new wealth is created, the slaves aren't allowed to excersise their talents in productive ways, but instead do the bare minimum of labor to not get punished. The south was crumbling while the north was prospering on the eve of the civil war. The reason is that freedom, not slavery, makes the creation of wealth possible.

COSIGN. You hit the nail on the head brotha. Stress, youre just a white boy that raps. WESTSIDE!!!!!!!

 

[Chrono]

this is a great thread. im honored to be a part of this site

 

[bigdmakintrax]

That's false. There has always been an abundance of physical labor, including slave labor, throughout the world throughout history. What made America such a rich nation is the inventions made possible by economic freedom. The mind, not the laboring body, is the source of all wealth. What "built" America was the independent minds of men such as Thomas edison who invented the ligh bulb, Henry Ford who invented the commercial automobile, The Wright brothers who invented the airplane, the countless inventors and industrialists who made each person's labor 100 times more productive by inventing capital machinery and innovative production methods, the inventors of farming technology who made possible such high production of food that a miniscule number of farmers can feed an entire nation no problem, when before that about half the nation's population were farmers and they could barely feed themselves. George Washington Carver created more wealth alone through the use of his mind than did the sweat of every slave there ever was.

Do not take this as some kind of insult to black slaves. On the contrary, it would be an insult to all men to pretend that slavery is actually an effective economic system. The only person slavery helps is the slave owner. No new wealth is created, the slaves aren't allowed to excersise their talents in productive ways, but instead do the bare minimum of labor to not get punished. The south was crumbling while the north was prospering on the eve of the civil war. The reason is that freedom, not slavery, makes the creation of wealth possible.

in addtion to the ones you mentioned, check out some of these inventions, I even saw the cell phone on one...but see they never teach these in most curriculums you have to sort of go searching and figure it out..

http://www.ritesofpassage.org/inventors.htm