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How many people here actually know any African-Americans? (self.asklemmy)

submitted 5 months ago by Cryophilia to c/asklemmy

117 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Not like "I went to school with one" but have had an actual friendship?

I've had a couple of conversations recently where people have confidently said things about the Black community that are ridiculously incorrect. The kind of shit where you can tell they grew up in a very white community and learned about Black history as a college freshman.

Disclaimer: I am white, but I grew up in a Black neighborhood. I was one of 3 white kids in my elementary school lol, including my brother.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I had maybe one that would actually fit your specific terms (though he preferred Black Billy with the adjective usually being big or sexy). One of my good friends living in Texas was black, but he'd call himself a Black American or Cuban American rather than African American. In Japan, my black friends were (I moved to the middle of nowhere recently and don't use social media, so friendships tend to fade) black men from Africa (mostly Tanzania).

I think African American is one of those terms that (a) is super American-centric and (b) isn't something everyone would call themselves. You can actually read into how "Native Americans" feel about that term (many don't like it, apparently, because America (the country being the US)) wasn't the place they came from; they came from the land that their ancestors settled, not some stolen version of it. Some actually prefer "Indian" while others favor something more like "aboriginal peoples" or "first nations".

[–] Cryophilia 1 points 5 months ago

I think African American is one of those terms that (a) is super American-centric and (b) isn’t something everyone would call themselves.

That's correct, but if I just said "Black" then all the Europeans would come flooding in talking about their African coworkers. I'm specifically asking about the majority of black people in the US who are descended from slaves.