African-American people

An African-American generally refers to a person who lives in America and speaks English, but whose ancestors were from Africa. It could also describe a first-generation African immigrant to America.

The term is usually associated with "black people". This is because of many African-Americans' dark skin. Many Africans were brought to the United States as slaves. A large amount of the U.S. population (especially in many urban or city areas) is African-American. Outside of urban areas, there is also a wide rural area from Maryland to East Texas that has a lot of African-Americans living there.

African-American as an Ethnicity

African-American refers to a specific range of diverse cultures with a common thread of ethnic connection to Africa. This term was created to describe an ethnic/cultural link to Africa for people who are American, much as in the case of Italian Americans, Irish Americans, or Polish Americans. The difference is that Italian Americans and Polish Americans know they are Americans of Italian or Polish (not general European)descent.

The 'African' in African-American acknowledges the connection to a number of African cultures, not one in particular. The 'American' shows the nationality and culture of the United States. A person born in Nigeria is still Nigerian even if he or she comes to the United States and lives here for the rest of their life. If that person wants to say that they are an American citizen, they would simply say "I am an American citizen". His American-born children could correctly call themselves Nigerian-American OR African-American.

In the United States when Americans say African-American or Black, they are referring to the same people. Both terms describe an ethnic group that came to exist in the United States. The Africans who were brought to America as slaves were from different nationalities and did not all speak the same language. They became a new blended ethnic group with a new language that was not their own: English.

With their American born children came the first generation of English speaking African Americans. But this development was not the same all over the country. For example; even today the Gullah People of the Sea Islands off the Carolina and Georgia coasts still speak a language that is a blend of several African languages.They are the descendants of slaves from different countries in Africa.

In America, and from an American point of view, the term 'Black' is often applied to other ethnic groups throughout the world who do not necessarily see themselves as Black. African American culture was born in the United States and is distinct from any single African culture.

African-American is a term that many Black people chose to call themselves because they found the term "Negro" offensive. Negro was a label attached by someone else.

In America there are many immigrants of mixed race that includes African descent, like Cape Verdeans, Dominicans and Puerto Ricans. These groups, by and large, do not think of themselves as Black or African American and object to these labels.

Many mixed raced Americans also resist pressure to identify themselves as Black or White.

Other pages

African American Vernacular English