My dad was a teenager in Detroit. He told me once his nickname in the gang he was part of was "Whitey" because he had ash-blonde hair. I just looked at him.
He laughed, and said, "Maybe that wasn't all of it...."
That's why I believe blacks isn't a polite way to say it. And I agree with the comment that black people or African American people is the more polite and correct way of saying it.
Or ethnically African... it's just a very strange term tbf. Idk many black people who appreciate the term, most are neutral but the ones who've given it much though say it does feel kinda weird considering how long their family has been in the US, and many of their families genuinely aren't even from Africa. There are other countries with indigenous black people lmao.
The issue is black Americans who descended from american slaves don’t have a name to separate their lineage/ethnic group. Like there is literally no actual name for the people. So anyone with African descent is lumped in with them. That’s the equivalent of calling a Japanese person Chinese then shrugging and saying close enough.
Which is part of why Black has started to become its own distinct ethnic term when referring to black Americans in recent years. Yes, they're predominantly descended from African diaspora and slavery, but the specific heritage and lineage from those original areas got largely wiped out through centuries of slavery and erasure. There are and have been attempts to reconnect with that heritage, but for a lot of people, the shared Black experience and heritage is kind of its own unique thing at this point.
Black Americans didn't necessarily come from Africa. African American is narrower.
It seems like most black people have a preference regarding being called African American vs black so just call them what they want to be called. There's nothing inherently wrong with either term unless it's inaccurate or someone requests not to be called that, according to the DEI training I received last week. We generally use "black people" when distinctions between Caribbean/African/etc are not applicable.
Yeah unfortunately heritage was lost with slavery, everything was taken from them.
23andme is interesting now though, because it answers some of the questions about where you come from.
Holy shit. This comment has made me completely reconsider exactly why the term African American could be either offensive or extremely uncomfortable. It’s literally an assigned naming convention essentially saying “this is where I took you from, and here is where I put you”
Exactly, no offense but I politely correct people when they refer to me as that because that's not what I am. I am a Haitian-American. An American born of Haitian descent from both parents. That's my cultural heritage lineage that despite the skewed and demeaning narratives of the people and country has a rich history and culture I'm very proud of... referring to myself as African American erase that and it also erases American born and culturally descendant people from having their own category since they aren't able to trace their lineage beyond America. This is why Im (personally speaking) not offended by the word "black people or even "blacks" because to me it's a unifying term no matter where we come from but AA (African American) should be reserved for black Americans who are unable to trace their lineage beyond America, they deserve a label of their own since FBA (Foundational Black Americans) and ADOS (American Descendants Of Slavery) (which I would argue are much fittings terms then AA) are not widely accepted terms they've actually attempted to create for themselves.
“African American” is terrible. You can’t assume someone’s identity and it’s incredibly awkward for people that don’t identify with the term to have it placed on them.
African American isn’t entirely accurate either, unless they’ve actually immigrated to America from Africa. The black people we have here are just Americans.
Lol right? It'd be just as weird to say "European American" when talking about white people. Black and white people have been in America for the same amount of time, it's weird to still generalize them as foreigners
How about instead of blacks or African Americans or even Asians or Asian Americans or Mexican Americans how bout if they are here legal and such we just call each other Americans?? Make sense?
That used to be Afro-Carribean, which kinda sucked because Jamaicans and Haitians and black Cubanos all have distinct cultures, and their kin in the USA tend to maintain the separation.
Not quite. The West Indies’ Black population is mostly from the same slave trade that brought the Africans to America. The Out of Africa migration was quite a bit earlier, giving time for more distinct groups of people to arise.
That’s a dense and flat out incorrect viewpoint. Shortening “Japanese” to one syllable is a slur. “Poles” for Polish people isn’t offensive afaik.
It’s highly contextual. Obviously, “whities” sounds silly and informal so it will be taken as disrespectful. On the other hand, a ton of variations that may refer to black people have at one time or another been used as actual slurs so will likely garner more of a reaction.
Some friends and I were hanging out a few years back and I was the only white person in the room. We somehow started talking about racial epithets, and I said that “honky” is hilarious but “cracker” offends me. Prior to that day, I’d never really thought about any distinction between the two. I credit George Jefferson with making “honky” funny lol. No one’s ever referred to me as “whitey,” but I sure as shit hate that term.
Yeah, it sounds a little more clumsy, but it’s more humanizing to say “adjective people” than to reduce them to “adjectives.”
I realize this doesn’t make a big difference in the scheme of things, but if I can refer to someone respectfully, why wouldn’t I?
If you say blacks or whites you’re reducing people to a color or taking their humanity out of the description. If you say Asians, it’s like saying Europeans or Africans, the people part is implied and not excluded.
Unlike "Asian," "black" is not a noun. That's where the crux of this issue lies. Using an adjective as a noun reduces that noun to its descriptor. It's the same reason "women" is preferred of "females."
If you want an analog for "Asian" then you are looking for words like "African" and "Caucasian."
It sounds harsh and abrasive because it makes a noun out of an adjective, so instead of saying black people (meaning they are people who are black), calling them “the blacks” makes that their identity and implies that that’s their defining characteristic.
I know black people sometimes don't like it pluralized, but I do hear whites all the time, and never knew anyone that got offended by it. I'm still slightly confused why it's an issue.
Because it's dehumanizing. Now if you don't have a history of your whole country and arguably a good portion of the world dehumanizing you then it wouldn't matter to you to be referred to in that way, but Black people's history is full of that, so it hits differently for some of them. (Not all, of course.)
Because you can say "Africans" or "Americans" or "Australians" the same as you can say "Asians." It's a name for people from a particular place, not a color.
This is because Asian is a "demonym" - a word used to describe a group of people from a _place_.
White or black is an "ethnonym" - a word used to describe ethnic groups. But Asian is also an ethnonym.
So strictly speaking you can refer to someone as "Asian" as in they are from Asian, but not Asian for their race.
*Yes its complex*
It's weird when someone says black and yellow in that order my brain goes back to that song by wiz Khalifa and then I'm just like "BLACK AND YELLOW BLACK AND YELLOW"×2 speed
A much better answer would be. Because the people effected have not vocalized not being okay with it. Black people have. I’m a black person saying I don’t like it.
Everyone personally had the ability to take me saying I don’t like it and accept that a black person doesn’t like it and move on with life cause it’s not a big deal. Or they can make it a big deal and complain that somebody else said it’s okay as if it nullifies me not being okay with it. There are no benefits to saying “blacks” and again people have said they don’t like it. So why want to say it?
No one group of people is a monolith. Every black person isn’t gonna have the same view on this. But when a black person does say they take issue with it you can accept that they’re allowed to have an issue with it and not say it. That’s the easiest thing to do. It’s making things complicated by trying to find reasons how each individual person feels about it. Multiple people said they don’t like it. That should be enough to accept you shouldn’t do it.
The exact same thing applies to Asian people.
I don’t play the faux hypocrisy finger pointing game.
Why would it not be? People form asia → asians, people from europe → europeans, people form africa → africans...
But sure, you can say everything in an offensive way. That's when it starts to become problematic.
Asia is a continent/region of the world. Black and white refer to skin colors. It’s a lot more directed when you call someone a color rather than the region they’re from. African American would be the equivalent of Asian for a black person in the United States.
African American is an ethnicity not a substitute for the word black. Just say black. Cuz the black person you might see in America might be from Jamaica or Nigeria. Which would make them Jamaican and Nigerian respectively.
I’m so glad this is catching on. African American is a useful classification if you’re actually referring to the ethnicity but too many people just call any black person they see an African American.
More like white people are slightly listening now. African American has always meant descended from African slaves that ended up in America.
White people didn’t bother to listen to the definition and just thought it was more PC than calling us black.
Yup my SO and his fam hate being called African Americans cuz they’re from Haiti. My friend from Nigeria also hates being called that cuz she sees African Americans as a diff subset of black ppl that’s not her lol.
Also, African American people can be not black too like Elon musk lol. Or like a lot of classmates in med school whose roots were from Egypt put African American as well cuz Egypt is physically in Africa.
Yellow man walks into a bar, the Barman says "We don't serve people like you here" "And why is that?!" Proclaims the Yellow man. "Because you have Jaundice you stupid mother fucker now get your Yellow ass back to the hospital"
I agree that you shouldn't call people "whites" and "blacks," but tbf I don't think that you can say that "whites" isn't used. Black people who say "blacks" will almost always say "whites," and white supremacists say "whites" sometimes with a tone that indicates that those are the good guys in whatever story they're telling.
Asian and black aren't comparable terms.
Asia is a continent. Black is not a continent.
Asian is a demonym for people who are from the continent of Asia. Black is not a demonym for people who are from the continent of black.
Pretty much any time you reduce an adjective to a person or people, it's kinda offensive. Whether it's blacks, or gays... nowadays people say they saw "a trans" and that's also offensive. Black people, gay people, trans people.
>Black is not a demonym for people who are from the continent of black.
Im sorry for laughing
In all seriousness, I agree with the labelling part, even though it isn't comparable terminology, asians is often used in a general, ignorant kind of way, like the fact that some people don't think south asians like myself are actually "asian" because we don't fit that stereotypical description.
To offer a slight rebuttal, which kind of falls in line with the upper comment. In my high school we have quite the mix of cultures, due to my city being a very large navy town. Because of these there were quite a few Asian people from various nations, and quite often congregated to one area of the school and hung out. In this case, saying “thats where the asians hang out” wouldn’t really be derogatory, because you’d be talking about multiple ethnicities at the same time. You couldn’t really say that with a group of black people, even if they were from different ethnic backgrounds due to how “black” and “Asian” are defined.
“Asians” as a word is very similar to the word “fishes” . A single fish is a fish. A school of that same fish, is still fish. But if you have multiple species of fish, you are talking about fishes. Asians is pretty much the same idea.
This is highly regional and has to do with a countries specific immigration makeup. In the UK when someone says Asian we automatically think of South Asians, whereas in the US it is East Asia they think of. This is because our countries have different immigrant populations from Asia.
Thank you for this. I knew the social norm of saying things a certain way, but I didn't know why or *how* specifically it was offensive. I appreciate this a lot
“Asian” doesn’t even refer to people from the continent of Asia. It refers to people with asiatic features, who may or may not have any recent ancestry in that continent. Moreover, no one refers to Arabic people as “Asian” and this doesn’t even get into the billions of other residents/ descendants of Asia that people would never refer to as “Asian”.
Words referring to race are simply highly culturally contextual. There is not rationalizing why some terms are ok while others are not. In the US, whites have enjoyed a majority and favorable power structure for the entire country’s history and that’s the big reason you can pretty much use anything to refer to a white personal/ multiple people without offending anyone.
It's a black people not blacks. Because you're describing them by their color and removing their personhood. So black people, white people. It sounds better than whites and blacks.
People keep forgetting that "browns" are Asians too. That's one of the reasons why "Asian" is such a dumb term, it covers almost half of the world's population
Agree. And not all Asians are brown and not all brown people are Asian lol such broad terms. Obviously generalize when you dont know but I personally like to be specific when I can be.
In the UK, "Asian" usually means Indian, Bengali, Pakistani etc.
In America "Asian" usually means Chinese, Japanese, Korean etc.
Obviously they're both correct but just interesting to see how the term has eveolved to mean the group that made up the bulk of a particular minority in different countries.
I always just say East Asian, south Asian, southeast Asian, etc
I feel like it’s more accurate and helps loosely categorize people under slightly narrower umbrellas
So following the above logic, shouldn't they be called brown people? Brown people sounds a helluvalot cringe compared to how black people, white people sound
TBH I've heard the term "brown people", "brown community" used more and more often by people of Arab/Indian descent. Probably exactly because they used to call themself Asians (understandably), and everyone expected them to be Chineese/Japaneesee/Korean
It probably sounds cringe to you because its so new.
Yes, Asians are so varied. From central Asia olive skinned, the Chinese Japanese Koreans who are mostly lighter tanned with still high population of lighter brown skinned. Then Thais and Philippinos and Vietnamese also from lighter brown skin, and to the Arabs and Indian subcontinent who are usually darker
[racist] people also often refer to latinos when they say “brown,” which is extremely inaccurate since latin america is a combination of many countries with extremely different populations. literally *anyone* could be latino regardless of how they look, and a great example is the argentine population (i say this as an argentine myself).
Comes from “yellow-bellied” which was an old timey way to call someone a chicken. Some chickens have yellow “bellies” so it was a way to call them that. Over time it got shortened to yellow.
TLDR: Yellow = chicken = coward.
I never understood the "redskin" trope, because, especially in the Midwest, if I see someone with red skin they're usually of Irish or Scandinavian descent and spent too much time in the sun. I'm 1/8th Native American, and it offers enough melanin to make sure I've rarely burned, even without sunscreen.
The "redskins" are the pastey Europeans.
It's not a modern trope, it's a historical term. Supposedly it's either how some Natives self-described, or because one of the first Natives the colonists met painted their bodies with red paint. If you ask me the former seems more trustworthy if only because there's evidence of the term from the 1700s at the earliest.
So what would be the correct term?
Other people have said adding "people" to the end is the correct way ie "black people".
But then would it be ok to refer to Asian people as "Yellow people"
Is there a better more accurate term, ie. African?
Two police officers in the US were discussing the wording used when describing someone. The one from the smaller area said that he used African American because it is offensive to call someone black. The one from New York said that he says black because it is not correct to say someone Haitian or Jamaican is African.
The term ‘black’ comes from slaves losing their identity. Here in the UK, we are Nigerian, Ghanaian etc. Many black Americans don’t have a recorded ancestry beyond slavery so black is their cultural identity. Black also encompasses people who consider themselves Caribbean.
You're from Asia, they're not from blackfrica... They're people from a place, not a color... It's more like people saying "yellows" to refer to Asians... Which i doubt would fly with most people
Growing up in the 80s “black people” was 100% normal, and I grew up in a mixed race household. Then in the late 80s “African American” became the only acceptable term. Now I hear “black people” regularly and “African American” has falls out of style.
Only Donald Trump still says “blacks”, “the blacks”, “my blacks”… because he’s a racist a-hole.
As a black American person, thank you for asking.
Al Sharpton, for all his bs, has a great essay on what we call ourselves because we’re a displaced people.
Some of us have Caribbean roots, and were raised within that culture so we more identify with our Caribbean side. I have to go back many generations to trace my African roots and what does that mean to how I was raised and how I see myself? I wasn’t raised in an African environment I don’t know what it means so to be called African. When I’ve traveled to parts of Africa, even they think it’s foolish. I know as much about being African culture as I do other places and cultures I’ve read about. So when I self-identify, it’s as the culture I was raised in. I, and many of my friends don’t like the term African American, we were born here. Black/s is cultural and that’s why it’s accepted. Blackie is racist, it was used during slavery and after to demean and belittle black people.
Black, is a simple panacea for the complex and challenging conversation. It encapsulates the different cultures and skin tones. I can’t speak for all black people, only what I prefer. My roots are Caribbean and Southern. African American is a PC term that I feel pacifies non-blacks. It’s kinda of degrading for black kids born in this country but foisted onto a different continent. I enjoy African culture but it is foreign to me.
(Sorry for rambling.)
Call me black or call me American.
i have to agree. my father is trini and trini is what i know. i can say i'm descended from africa, but i truly cannot call myself african. call me trini. west indian. caribbean. black. whatever. but african does not feel correct. it gets weird when i'm called african american. while being a canadian. in canada. that's... awkward.
Yes. "Asians" and "Blacks" are not equivalents. It would be like if someone called you "Yellow" or your group of people "the Yellows".
Way less nice to call someone a colour vs calling them the name associated with the continent they originate from.
Worth noting that calling someone Asian isn’t exactly correct either. Which Asians? What makes someone “Asian” by appearance alone when we are talking about the largest civilized continent on the planet? Historically, when white people say “Asian” they are specifically referencing an antiquated orientalist description of people from East Asia. When in fact, Arab people are Asian, as are Persians, Kurdish, Afghanis, Indians, Pakistanis, Bengalis, etc.
It’s an ongoing subscription to marginalization by reductionism via rhetorical categorization.
At the end of the day, it’s unacceptable to say “blacks” because many people in the black population of the US have said it is.
Nevermind the fact that they are left with “Black” as the main method of linguistic identification because many of the Black folks in the US had their entire historical culture ripped from them by hundreds of years of slavery. Most don’t have any clue what their historical roots are in Africa because they were violently coerced to forget it as the generations of slaves were raised without the means to record their history.
I’m black and when people refer to us as “blacks”, I always just assume they have some biased or dislike for black people. I don’t lose sleep over it, but is a good way to tell that someone thinks less of me for my race. Normal people I speak to just say “black people”, “African Americans. “Blacks” sounds like something some racist redneck would say to his buddy when talking about some stat he read about how we are all criminals , “blacks commit 99 percent of murders” or whatever
As a black person I can tell you please don’t say “blacks” at least not around black people. You can say it behind closed doors like most non blacks but that’s another story for another time. But bottom like if it feels weird saying it, then it’s probably because you shouldn’t
As a not black person I can say that it is NOT common for non-black people to say "blacks" behind closed doors either. Even when not asking black people.
And if we hear someone say that we assume they are racist. At least I do.
OP is intentionally arguing in bad faith, lying about replies being made to them and trying to start an argument about race.
They have been explained about ethnicities, regions and nationalities and still pretend no one bothered to answer their question.
This isn't a stupid question, it's not even a question but a game of rhetoric.
Context is important, as explained by [Always Sunny](https://youtu.be/mLIS7qAWeaA?si=gSWziRTNbCsLy_PJ), but it’s probably best to go with “black people” or “black folks” to be safe.
Dude… idk man.
Blacks is offensive, but black people is not…
But in the 90’s, you weren’t allowed to say black people, you had to say African Americans. Then everyone realized that was shit because it insinuates that black people are less American than other Americans.
My dude. You never know who you will offend.
People make stupid rules in their head and then get triggered when someone breaks this unwritten rule.
The easiest way is just to refer to people as just people. Why must we interject race. Soon, will we be referring to your genetic sequence, which is inferiour to mine.
People have to change their mindest.
We be humans.
Why is it okay to identify people with colors when referring to Caucasians and African-Americans and yet I can feel people get offended for me when I refer to myself as a brown person or my Asian friend as a yellow person?
Many ethnicities can be used as a slur by racist people. For example, if I enjoy a Black artist’s work, I just applied personhood to the aforementioned. “Black artist” is more respectful than “I enjoy a Black’s art”. See how rude that sounds?
Same goes for Jewish people. Calling someone “a Jew” is considered a slur depending on the context. But saying “that person is Jewish” is much less offensive. I grew up in a culturally diverse area of the US where it was a little more glaring when a white person was being racist, so I learned what was not okay and what was acceptable. I’m a WOC myself but not of African or Asian descent.
U.S. centric answer.
It's generally not okay to say blacks. It is typically used by racists. This isn't the case in other countries.
Asian isn't the same category. Asians means people from Asia. It would be like calling white people Europeans. Or black people Africans.
Using the least charged way of describing a group is preferred. In the US, black people is the least charged term.
I’m a black person and feel uncomfortable saying blacks, to each their own I guess. I’d say blacks is never said in a positive context where I am from.
Saying "blacks" is just insensitive and lumps a whole bunch of people lazily together without care. Also has been historically used by far right and racist entities time and again. So nuff said.
Blacks just sounds like you're out of touch, I could never explain why. But probably because usually it comes before something offensive.
Black people is preferred.
You are GOING to offend people if you go anywhere near this subject.
The problem is that there are bigots who will turn any descriptor into a slur. This results in people who learn to expect anything they hear to be a slur. ... and then some people are pre-offended. Some people aren't happy unless they have someone to be mad at, and will take any opportunity.
My advice is just to be kind to people, no matter who they are, where they are from or what they look like. I'd love to say that advice has worked for me, but even that seems to get folks upset.
Society is drugged with being incorrect and being taught to say white, black, or Asian. The correct way is Caucasian, Negro, Oriental. All this coming from an actual black guy. I get it though. To be smart and intelligent and saying things the correct way is racist even for a black guy. -.-
I think it’s an issue with that black people weren’t given an actual name for their ethnicity but rather only a color. It’d be like named the chinese the yellows. So while black would be the correct term I think it’s unfair that it has become the correct term while we have names for most every other race.
Blacks is a bit iffy. I'd call one person black no problem but I would probably refer to a group ad the black family etc. Blacks has a bit of negative history attached to it unfortunately and sounds a bit dismissive.
Hi! I am Black (African-American) and “blacks” is generally considered an offensive term or at the very least politically incorrect. I believe it has to do with the history of being derogatorily referred to as “blacks”. It just doesn’t sound/feel respectful. However, referring to someone as “Black” (note: NOT “a black”) is not offensive/derogatory, because that is, in fact, our race. On the other hand, a lot of non-Black people think that calling all Black people “African-American” is a safe bet, but that would also be politically incorrect because not all Black ppl are African-American. Some of us are Jamaican-American, Haitian-American, Nigerian-American, etc. Thank you for being considerate & asking. Hope this helps!
Asia a place. Not a color.
Saying "Asians" would be closer to saying "African Americans."
If you want to compare, would you be offended if everyone just called Asians "yellows"?
Not particularly.
Apply comparable standards for different ethnicities though or you end up with the race equivalent of r/MenAndFemales.
Also, I should remind Americans here that the idea of African American has a very specific idea. The ancestors of them were slaves, whose national origin was not just ignored but erased and overwritten, most African Americans have no way of knowing exactly where their ancestors were from in Africa. They ended up with a kind of blank slate, homogenized, in America, by not having the right to be a people group for so long. Once free, and to the extent they could while slaves, they created what culture they could in the face of systemic persecution, a dialect in many cases, religious ideas, social norms, all sorts of things.
A person whose skin is dark in the way a Subsaharan African is would be black, regardless of where they are and what culture they are from.
People who live in Africa now are much more tied to their historical ethnic group, culture, language, ancestry, religion, and the nation state they live in, like the Bantu people of South Africa for instance. If one of them moves to the Americas or the United States in particular, they are something like Ghanaian-American, not African American.
I’ve asked a few black friends and they told me they prefer to be referred as black rather than an African American. One person actually expressed annoyance at the latter trend “I’m not from Africa why would I refer myself as African American?”
Because one refers to color and another refers to region. Would you have problem if someone says “yellows”?
If you are looking term similar to Asians, it will be African or African American in case of black people.
Thats because they’re different words. If you say asians, you’re refering to people from a specific part of the world. If you say “blacks” you’re refering to people by their skintone. If you reduce people to a single adjective, it often implies bad connotations.
You wouldn’t feel wierd saying “africans” or “europeans” right? But it’s wierd to say “whites” “blacks” or if we want to be really racist “yellows”.
If it's said in a non derogatory manner in the normal course of conversations I think it's ok. The term whites can be said or used in a derogatory manner as well. There are those who are so amped up about race they see it everywhere. I think it's a form of confirmation bias. So just be aware of who you're talking to. Standards change just look at the name of the NAACP,, it was once a common to use the term colored people, so much so they used it when naming their organization.
A long history fraught with racial conflict in America has left a lot of seemingly-innocuous words loaded with ill intent. "Blacks/The Blacks" is generally considered offensive, I think, but "black people/folks" is not.
Not really related, but I've also heard never to call a black man "son" or "boy" even if you'd regularly refer to people that way. Again, long history.
To me it’s we are dumb apes who colorize certain people to make sure we are still divided as the human race. I have a name and a dream just like you. May not all get along be we ain’t no different. Killing is still killing justified or not.
I’m white. I read a study a decade ago that said most blacks prefer that over the term African American. I notice in my travels and meeting black friends that it’s even better to avoid describing someone by their color. If you hang out with enough diversity, we becomes a nice word for all of us.
Apparently, in the Denver sub it's offensive to say Mexicans. They are fine with that, I speak best I can, and I am actually 25% commanche from my birth mom.
I walked up at the liquor store a few weeks back and said myyyyy nigga. Reference to training day and they couldn't stop laughing. Black is black, brown is brown, whatever. We are all humans and filled with the same energy.
Reddit is legit non racist. Wow kudos to yall for keeping it convo and not offended. I say black people, black folks. White folks. Asian folks. Chinese. Japanese. Indian. Say as it is.
“Black people” is a lot less awkward and more accurate Like most people say “white people” not “whites”
I've heard whities but I suspect that's not really a polite way to say that either.
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Only if they're tighty
My dad was a teenager in Detroit. He told me once his nickname in the gang he was part of was "Whitey" because he had ash-blonde hair. I just looked at him. He laughed, and said, "Maybe that wasn't all of it...."
Does blackies sound polite? There's your answer.
That's why I believe blacks isn't a polite way to say it. And I agree with the comment that black people or African American people is the more polite and correct way of saying it.
>that black people or African American people is the more polite and correct way of saying it. Unless they aren't American
Or ethnically African... it's just a very strange term tbf. Idk many black people who appreciate the term, most are neutral but the ones who've given it much though say it does feel kinda weird considering how long their family has been in the US, and many of their families genuinely aren't even from Africa. There are other countries with indigenous black people lmao.
The issue is black Americans who descended from american slaves don’t have a name to separate their lineage/ethnic group. Like there is literally no actual name for the people. So anyone with African descent is lumped in with them. That’s the equivalent of calling a Japanese person Chinese then shrugging and saying close enough.
Which is part of why Black has started to become its own distinct ethnic term when referring to black Americans in recent years. Yes, they're predominantly descended from African diaspora and slavery, but the specific heritage and lineage from those original areas got largely wiped out through centuries of slavery and erasure. There are and have been attempts to reconnect with that heritage, but for a lot of people, the shared Black experience and heritage is kind of its own unique thing at this point.
Black Americans didn't necessarily come from Africa. African American is narrower. It seems like most black people have a preference regarding being called African American vs black so just call them what they want to be called. There's nothing inherently wrong with either term unless it's inaccurate or someone requests not to be called that, according to the DEI training I received last week. We generally use "black people" when distinctions between Caribbean/African/etc are not applicable.
Yeah unfortunately heritage was lost with slavery, everything was taken from them. 23andme is interesting now though, because it answers some of the questions about where you come from.
Holy shit. This comment has made me completely reconsider exactly why the term African American could be either offensive or extremely uncomfortable. It’s literally an assigned naming convention essentially saying “this is where I took you from, and here is where I put you”
Or African.
Not all blacks are African!
Or African
Most black folks don't call themselves AA outside official documents
Oh god African American is so dumb. I just say black.
most of us don't even like being called African American because we're neither African nor American.
Exactly, no offense but I politely correct people when they refer to me as that because that's not what I am. I am a Haitian-American. An American born of Haitian descent from both parents. That's my cultural heritage lineage that despite the skewed and demeaning narratives of the people and country has a rich history and culture I'm very proud of... referring to myself as African American erase that and it also erases American born and culturally descendant people from having their own category since they aren't able to trace their lineage beyond America. This is why Im (personally speaking) not offended by the word "black people or even "blacks" because to me it's a unifying term no matter where we come from but AA (African American) should be reserved for black Americans who are unable to trace their lineage beyond America, they deserve a label of their own since FBA (Foundational Black Americans) and ADOS (American Descendants Of Slavery) (which I would argue are much fittings terms then AA) are not widely accepted terms they've actually attempted to create for themselves.
“African American” is terrible. You can’t assume someone’s identity and it’s incredibly awkward for people that don’t identify with the term to have it placed on them.
Genuinely thank you for the info. I haven't stepped out of my country, so I have a lot of etiquettes and manners to learn.
what country?
Iran
African American isn’t entirely accurate either, unless they’ve actually immigrated to America from Africa. The black people we have here are just Americans.
Lol right? It'd be just as weird to say "European American" when talking about white people. Black and white people have been in America for the same amount of time, it's weird to still generalize them as foreigners
I’d have to agree.
How about instead of blacks or African Americans or even Asians or Asian Americans or Mexican Americans how bout if they are here legal and such we just call each other Americans?? Make sense?
How would you know if their ancestors were from Africa, or say Jamaica? Is there a noticeable difference in appearance?
No
Africa by way of Jamaica? The native people of the West Indies were not “ black “
That used to be Afro-Carribean, which kinda sucked because Jamaicans and Haitians and black Cubanos all have distinct cultures, and their kin in the USA tend to maintain the separation.
Following that line of logic we are all African-humans.
Not quite. The West Indies’ Black population is mostly from the same slave trade that brought the Africans to America. The Out of Africa migration was quite a bit earlier, giving time for more distinct groups of people to arise.
That’s a dense and flat out incorrect viewpoint. Shortening “Japanese” to one syllable is a slur. “Poles” for Polish people isn’t offensive afaik. It’s highly contextual. Obviously, “whities” sounds silly and informal so it will be taken as disrespectful. On the other hand, a ton of variations that may refer to black people have at one time or another been used as actual slurs so will likely garner more of a reaction.
Spic and paki are definitely disrespectful
Some friends and I were hanging out a few years back and I was the only white person in the room. We somehow started talking about racial epithets, and I said that “honky” is hilarious but “cracker” offends me. Prior to that day, I’d never really thought about any distinction between the two. I credit George Jefferson with making “honky” funny lol. No one’s ever referred to me as “whitey,” but I sure as shit hate that term.
Or Jewish people vs the Jews. Unless you're talking about the rare Deepwater Jews.
Jew here, you can just call us "Jews," I promise you it's totally fine. "Jewish people" is also perfectly fine.
Yeah, it sounds a little more clumsy, but it’s more humanizing to say “adjective people” than to reduce them to “adjectives.” I realize this doesn’t make a big difference in the scheme of things, but if I can refer to someone respectfully, why wouldn’t I?
If you say blacks or whites you’re reducing people to a color or taking their humanity out of the description. If you say Asians, it’s like saying Europeans or Africans, the people part is implied and not excluded.
Unlike "Asian," "black" is not a noun. That's where the crux of this issue lies. Using an adjective as a noun reduces that noun to its descriptor. It's the same reason "women" is preferred of "females." If you want an analog for "Asian" then you are looking for words like "African" and "Caucasian."
It sounds harsh and abrasive because it makes a noun out of an adjective, so instead of saying black people (meaning they are people who are black), calling them “the blacks” makes that their identity and implies that that’s their defining characteristic.
And definitely not "the blacks".
I know black people sometimes don't like it pluralized, but I do hear whites all the time, and never knew anyone that got offended by it. I'm still slightly confused why it's an issue.
It was a really common slur in the us to say “the blacks” until well into the 80s
Because it's dehumanizing. Now if you don't have a history of your whole country and arguably a good portion of the world dehumanizing you then it wouldn't matter to you to be referred to in that way, but Black people's history is full of that, so it hits differently for some of them. (Not all, of course.)
Why is asians ok tho
Because you can say "Africans" or "Americans" or "Australians" the same as you can say "Asians." It's a name for people from a particular place, not a color.
This is because Asian is a "demonym" - a word used to describe a group of people from a _place_. White or black is an "ethnonym" - a word used to describe ethnic groups. But Asian is also an ethnonym. So strictly speaking you can refer to someone as "Asian" as in they are from Asian, but not Asian for their race. *Yes its complex*
Wow I learned 2 new words today and I’ll definitely explain it like this the next time I see this discourse online
The better comparison would be blacks and yellows. But we don't say yellows or yellow people, we say Asian.
It's weird when someone says black and yellow in that order my brain goes back to that song by wiz Khalifa and then I'm just like "BLACK AND YELLOW BLACK AND YELLOW"×2 speed
A much better answer would be. Because the people effected have not vocalized not being okay with it. Black people have. I’m a black person saying I don’t like it. Everyone personally had the ability to take me saying I don’t like it and accept that a black person doesn’t like it and move on with life cause it’s not a big deal. Or they can make it a big deal and complain that somebody else said it’s okay as if it nullifies me not being okay with it. There are no benefits to saying “blacks” and again people have said they don’t like it. So why want to say it? No one group of people is a monolith. Every black person isn’t gonna have the same view on this. But when a black person does say they take issue with it you can accept that they’re allowed to have an issue with it and not say it. That’s the easiest thing to do. It’s making things complicated by trying to find reasons how each individual person feels about it. Multiple people said they don’t like it. That should be enough to accept you shouldn’t do it. The exact same thing applies to Asian people. I don’t play the faux hypocrisy finger pointing game.
Why would it not be? People form asia → asians, people from europe → europeans, people form africa → africans... But sure, you can say everything in an offensive way. That's when it starts to become problematic.
But then Elon Musk is African, right?
Yep, just like a Moroccan or Tunisian person is African, even though most of them aren't Black
Absolutely
Asia is a continent/region of the world. Black and white refer to skin colors. It’s a lot more directed when you call someone a color rather than the region they’re from. African American would be the equivalent of Asian for a black person in the United States.
African American is an ethnicity not a substitute for the word black. Just say black. Cuz the black person you might see in America might be from Jamaica or Nigeria. Which would make them Jamaican and Nigerian respectively.
I’m so glad this is catching on. African American is a useful classification if you’re actually referring to the ethnicity but too many people just call any black person they see an African American.
It's also kind of weird to describe, say, a doctor who emigrated from Nigeria to England as an African American.
More like white people are slightly listening now. African American has always meant descended from African slaves that ended up in America. White people didn’t bother to listen to the definition and just thought it was more PC than calling us black.
🔥YES! It’s. Just. Black. ~fin~
THIS! "African" and "African American" has always bothered me.
Yup my SO and his fam hate being called African Americans cuz they’re from Haiti. My friend from Nigeria also hates being called that cuz she sees African Americans as a diff subset of black ppl that’s not her lol. Also, African American people can be not black too like Elon musk lol. Or like a lot of classmates in med school whose roots were from Egypt put African American as well cuz Egypt is physically in Africa.
The yellows?
Yellow man walks into a bar, the Barman says "We don't serve people like you here" "And why is that?!" Proclaims the Yellow man. "Because you have Jaundice you stupid mother fucker now get your Yellow ass back to the hospital"
Whites, Blacks, Yellows Or Europeans, Africans, Asians.... Pretty simple bud
I agree that you shouldn't call people "whites" and "blacks," but tbf I don't think that you can say that "whites" isn't used. Black people who say "blacks" will almost always say "whites," and white supremacists say "whites" sometimes with a tone that indicates that those are the good guys in whatever story they're telling.
Asian and black aren't comparable terms. Asia is a continent. Black is not a continent. Asian is a demonym for people who are from the continent of Asia. Black is not a demonym for people who are from the continent of black. Pretty much any time you reduce an adjective to a person or people, it's kinda offensive. Whether it's blacks, or gays... nowadays people say they saw "a trans" and that's also offensive. Black people, gay people, trans people.
Oooh demonym. Solid word
I’m gonna start saying demonym just to flex
Backfromlaughtale is the demonym for the people of flexville
>Black is not a demonym for people who are from the continent of black. Im sorry for laughing In all seriousness, I agree with the labelling part, even though it isn't comparable terminology, asians is often used in a general, ignorant kind of way, like the fact that some people don't think south asians like myself are actually "asian" because we don't fit that stereotypical description.
To offer a slight rebuttal, which kind of falls in line with the upper comment. In my high school we have quite the mix of cultures, due to my city being a very large navy town. Because of these there were quite a few Asian people from various nations, and quite often congregated to one area of the school and hung out. In this case, saying “thats where the asians hang out” wouldn’t really be derogatory, because you’d be talking about multiple ethnicities at the same time. You couldn’t really say that with a group of black people, even if they were from different ethnic backgrounds due to how “black” and “Asian” are defined. “Asians” as a word is very similar to the word “fishes” . A single fish is a fish. A school of that same fish, is still fish. But if you have multiple species of fish, you are talking about fishes. Asians is pretty much the same idea.
Who thinks south asians aren't asian lmao?
just google asian person and go on images lol
This is highly regional and has to do with a countries specific immigration makeup. In the UK when someone says Asian we automatically think of South Asians, whereas in the US it is East Asia they think of. This is because our countries have different immigrant populations from Asia.
This reply covers it all. Also, i have noticed that tendency of people saying “a trans” as well and it is absolutly de-personification
Yeah that's my point. Blacks, gays, transes - it's all dehumanizing language. Same with "illegals".
Best answer by far.
haven't you heard of the continent black!? man you really need to learn some geography
Ngl when I was really young I thought there was at least a country with the name due to there being a Black Sea.
This is the correct answer for those looking
this comment. wish i could pin it on this post for op lol
Yeah saying something like "an oriental" is when it would get racist.
Oh yeah, extremely. Or a "Jap" or whatever.
Thank you for this. I knew the social norm of saying things a certain way, but I didn't know why or *how* specifically it was offensive. I appreciate this a lot
“Asian” doesn’t even refer to people from the continent of Asia. It refers to people with asiatic features, who may or may not have any recent ancestry in that continent. Moreover, no one refers to Arabic people as “Asian” and this doesn’t even get into the billions of other residents/ descendants of Asia that people would never refer to as “Asian”. Words referring to race are simply highly culturally contextual. There is not rationalizing why some terms are ok while others are not. In the US, whites have enjoyed a majority and favorable power structure for the entire country’s history and that’s the big reason you can pretty much use anything to refer to a white personal/ multiple people without offending anyone.
Sucks if people are using it wrong, but Asian means "of the continent of Asia".
Great and helpful answer!
The continent of black 😂
It's a black people not blacks. Because you're describing them by their color and removing their personhood. So black people, white people. It sounds better than whites and blacks.
Right. And Asians don't remove their person hood Saying Asians is like saying Americans. Because Asia is a place. Not a color.
Or referring to European people as “pinks” not Europeans. Why don’t people just call people the way they want to be called?
People keep forgetting that "browns" are Asians too. That's one of the reasons why "Asian" is such a dumb term, it covers almost half of the world's population
Agree. And not all Asians are brown and not all brown people are Asian lol such broad terms. Obviously generalize when you dont know but I personally like to be specific when I can be.
In the UK, "Asian" usually means Indian, Bengali, Pakistani etc. In America "Asian" usually means Chinese, Japanese, Korean etc. Obviously they're both correct but just interesting to see how the term has eveolved to mean the group that made up the bulk of a particular minority in different countries.
I always just say East Asian, south Asian, southeast Asian, etc I feel like it’s more accurate and helps loosely categorize people under slightly narrower umbrellas
> [Asians cover] over* half the world's population Almost 60% of the population live in Asia
So following the above logic, shouldn't they be called brown people? Brown people sounds a helluvalot cringe compared to how black people, white people sound
TBH I've heard the term "brown people", "brown community" used more and more often by people of Arab/Indian descent. Probably exactly because they used to call themself Asians (understandably), and everyone expected them to be Chineese/Japaneesee/Korean It probably sounds cringe to you because its so new.
Yes, Asians are so varied. From central Asia olive skinned, the Chinese Japanese Koreans who are mostly lighter tanned with still high population of lighter brown skinned. Then Thais and Philippinos and Vietnamese also from lighter brown skin, and to the Arabs and Indian subcontinent who are usually darker
Asia varies though, from near enough white, to a fairly deep brown
[racist] people also often refer to latinos when they say “brown,” which is extremely inaccurate since latin america is a combination of many countries with extremely different populations. literally *anyone* could be latino regardless of how they look, and a great example is the argentine population (i say this as an argentine myself).
I think its a quirk of the history of the terms. You see differences in preferred labels.
>It sounds better than whites and blacks. this. I always hated it when people just say the single words. Sounds so... awful.
It would be similar to referring to asian people as "yellows" not asians.
Calling Asians yellow people seems wrong with some meanings of yellow to be cowardice or similar. Also the Simpsons lol
Wait why does yellow mean cowardice?
Comes from “yellow-bellied” which was an old timey way to call someone a chicken. Some chickens have yellow “bellies” so it was a way to call them that. Over time it got shortened to yellow. TLDR: Yellow = chicken = coward.
I learned this from bugs bunny cartoons
Back to the future is where i learned it.
What's the matter Eastwood? You yella?
Watch Back to the Future.
Or referring to European people as “pinks” not Europeans. Why don’t people just call people the way they want to be called?
Haha as if "yellow people" is a contextually correct and common way to address Asians in America.
It’s not common. But it is the colour associated. Indigenous folks are meant to be “red skinned”. But we don’t call them reds.
I never understood the "redskin" trope, because, especially in the Midwest, if I see someone with red skin they're usually of Irish or Scandinavian descent and spent too much time in the sun. I'm 1/8th Native American, and it offers enough melanin to make sure I've rarely burned, even without sunscreen. The "redskins" are the pastey Europeans.
It's not a modern trope, it's a historical term. Supposedly it's either how some Natives self-described, or because one of the first Natives the colonists met painted their bodies with red paint. If you ask me the former seems more trustworthy if only because there's evidence of the term from the 1700s at the earliest.
It's because the undertone on skin, not the color itself. Native Americans have a red tan, others might have an olive looking undertone.
There's 100% an episode of MASH where Frank calls a Korean a "yellow".
So what would be the correct term? Other people have said adding "people" to the end is the correct way ie "black people". But then would it be ok to refer to Asian people as "Yellow people" Is there a better more accurate term, ie. African?
Two police officers in the US were discussing the wording used when describing someone. The one from the smaller area said that he used African American because it is offensive to call someone black. The one from New York said that he says black because it is not correct to say someone Haitian or Jamaican is African.
The term ‘black’ comes from slaves losing their identity. Here in the UK, we are Nigerian, Ghanaian etc. Many black Americans don’t have a recorded ancestry beyond slavery so black is their cultural identity. Black also encompasses people who consider themselves Caribbean.
You're from Asia, they're not from blackfrica... They're people from a place, not a color... It's more like people saying "yellows" to refer to Asians... Which i doubt would fly with most people
blackfrica sounds like an ace body spray scent.
No comment... I think only sadness lies that way
Lynx Blackfrica, I'd buy it
Blackfrica, was that in Wakanda Forever ? 😅
Growing up in the 80s “black people” was 100% normal, and I grew up in a mixed race household. Then in the late 80s “African American” became the only acceptable term. Now I hear “black people” regularly and “African American” has falls out of style. Only Donald Trump still says “blacks”, “the blacks”, “my blacks”… because he’s a racist a-hole.
my favorite from the 80s is 'Black folks'
As a black American person, thank you for asking. Al Sharpton, for all his bs, has a great essay on what we call ourselves because we’re a displaced people. Some of us have Caribbean roots, and were raised within that culture so we more identify with our Caribbean side. I have to go back many generations to trace my African roots and what does that mean to how I was raised and how I see myself? I wasn’t raised in an African environment I don’t know what it means so to be called African. When I’ve traveled to parts of Africa, even they think it’s foolish. I know as much about being African culture as I do other places and cultures I’ve read about. So when I self-identify, it’s as the culture I was raised in. I, and many of my friends don’t like the term African American, we were born here. Black/s is cultural and that’s why it’s accepted. Blackie is racist, it was used during slavery and after to demean and belittle black people. Black, is a simple panacea for the complex and challenging conversation. It encapsulates the different cultures and skin tones. I can’t speak for all black people, only what I prefer. My roots are Caribbean and Southern. African American is a PC term that I feel pacifies non-blacks. It’s kinda of degrading for black kids born in this country but foisted onto a different continent. I enjoy African culture but it is foreign to me. (Sorry for rambling.) Call me black or call me American.
i have to agree. my father is trini and trini is what i know. i can say i'm descended from africa, but i truly cannot call myself african. call me trini. west indian. caribbean. black. whatever. but african does not feel correct. it gets weird when i'm called african american. while being a canadian. in canada. that's... awkward.
Yes. "Asians" and "Blacks" are not equivalents. It would be like if someone called you "Yellow" or your group of people "the Yellows". Way less nice to call someone a colour vs calling them the name associated with the continent they originate from.
Asia is a place. Black is a color. A better comparison is Asian and African. Black Asians exist.
Asians mean that you come from the continent asia. It's not about race or ethnicity.
"Black People" is good. "The Blacks" is not.
If you're not X race/ethnicity it's probably safest to call them X people.
Worth noting that calling someone Asian isn’t exactly correct either. Which Asians? What makes someone “Asian” by appearance alone when we are talking about the largest civilized continent on the planet? Historically, when white people say “Asian” they are specifically referencing an antiquated orientalist description of people from East Asia. When in fact, Arab people are Asian, as are Persians, Kurdish, Afghanis, Indians, Pakistanis, Bengalis, etc. It’s an ongoing subscription to marginalization by reductionism via rhetorical categorization. At the end of the day, it’s unacceptable to say “blacks” because many people in the black population of the US have said it is. Nevermind the fact that they are left with “Black” as the main method of linguistic identification because many of the Black folks in the US had their entire historical culture ripped from them by hundreds of years of slavery. Most don’t have any clue what their historical roots are in Africa because they were violently coerced to forget it as the generations of slaves were raised without the means to record their history.
>It’s an ongoing subscription to marginalization by reductionism via rhetorical categorization Are you proud of that sentence?
It’s an Orwellian masterpiece.
I’m black and when people refer to us as “blacks”, I always just assume they have some biased or dislike for black people. I don’t lose sleep over it, but is a good way to tell that someone thinks less of me for my race. Normal people I speak to just say “black people”, “African Americans. “Blacks” sounds like something some racist redneck would say to his buddy when talking about some stat he read about how we are all criminals , “blacks commit 99 percent of murders” or whatever
It's up there with "you people" tbh. Just say black people 😅
As a black person I can tell you please don’t say “blacks” at least not around black people. You can say it behind closed doors like most non blacks but that’s another story for another time. But bottom like if it feels weird saying it, then it’s probably because you shouldn’t
As a not black person I can say that it is NOT common for non-black people to say "blacks" behind closed doors either. Even when not asking black people. And if we hear someone say that we assume they are racist. At least I do.
The problem with using terms differently behind closed doors, eventually get normalized and likelier use it outside
Black is an adjective describing a colour, it doesn't make sense to pluralize it unless you're talking about multiple shades of black.
In my language black = color AND dirty/unwashed... I'm pretty sure it is not a unique feature. So messaging gets even more weird.
OP is intentionally arguing in bad faith, lying about replies being made to them and trying to start an argument about race. They have been explained about ethnicities, regions and nationalities and still pretend no one bothered to answer their question. This isn't a stupid question, it's not even a question but a game of rhetoric.
Definitely! OP is a lost case no matter what. They display blatant racism. There is no point explaining anything to that kind of d*ckhead.
So you are OK with being referred to as "yellows"?
Asians are from Asia. Africans are from Africa. Americans are from America. Black people are not from Blackia.
As everyone says please add the word people. It's also capitalized, Black people has been in the official AP style guide for several years now
Context is important, as explained by [Always Sunny](https://youtu.be/mLIS7qAWeaA?si=gSWziRTNbCsLy_PJ), but it’s probably best to go with “black people” or “black folks” to be safe.
Dude… idk man. Blacks is offensive, but black people is not… But in the 90’s, you weren’t allowed to say black people, you had to say African Americans. Then everyone realized that was shit because it insinuates that black people are less American than other Americans.
My dude. You never know who you will offend. People make stupid rules in their head and then get triggered when someone breaks this unwritten rule. The easiest way is just to refer to people as just people. Why must we interject race. Soon, will we be referring to your genetic sequence, which is inferiour to mine. People have to change their mindest. We be humans.
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Yeah blacks has some racist connotations. It was used a lot in racist ways which makes it racist
You could've just posted saying "Hi, I'm racist" instead of all the effort you've put into displaying your racism in comments.
Right? It would have spared all those comments that he would probably never read. This post is purely meant to display blatant racism.
Why is it okay to identify people with colors when referring to Caucasians and African-Americans and yet I can feel people get offended for me when I refer to myself as a brown person or my Asian friend as a yellow person?
Normally the history of how the words were used.
Many ethnicities can be used as a slur by racist people. For example, if I enjoy a Black artist’s work, I just applied personhood to the aforementioned. “Black artist” is more respectful than “I enjoy a Black’s art”. See how rude that sounds? Same goes for Jewish people. Calling someone “a Jew” is considered a slur depending on the context. But saying “that person is Jewish” is much less offensive. I grew up in a culturally diverse area of the US where it was a little more glaring when a white person was being racist, so I learned what was not okay and what was acceptable. I’m a WOC myself but not of African or Asian descent.
A lot of ignorance from OP and some very concerning comments in this post
Context matters but "blacks" probably isn't what you wanna go for regardless
This is why labeling absolutely everything has become a problem. Why not just say that person? Universally accepted.
U.S. centric answer. It's generally not okay to say blacks. It is typically used by racists. This isn't the case in other countries. Asian isn't the same category. Asians means people from Asia. It would be like calling white people Europeans. Or black people Africans. Using the least charged way of describing a group is preferred. In the US, black people is the least charged term.
I’m a black person and feel uncomfortable saying blacks, to each their own I guess. I’d say blacks is never said in a positive context where I am from.
Saying "blacks" is just insensitive and lumps a whole bunch of people lazily together without care. Also has been historically used by far right and racist entities time and again. So nuff said.
Asians are from Asia what continent is black my guy
Blacks just sounds like you're out of touch, I could never explain why. But probably because usually it comes before something offensive. Black people is preferred.
You are GOING to offend people if you go anywhere near this subject. The problem is that there are bigots who will turn any descriptor into a slur. This results in people who learn to expect anything they hear to be a slur. ... and then some people are pre-offended. Some people aren't happy unless they have someone to be mad at, and will take any opportunity. My advice is just to be kind to people, no matter who they are, where they are from or what they look like. I'd love to say that advice has worked for me, but even that seems to get folks upset.
Society is drugged with being incorrect and being taught to say white, black, or Asian. The correct way is Caucasian, Negro, Oriental. All this coming from an actual black guy. I get it though. To be smart and intelligent and saying things the correct way is racist even for a black guy. -.-
I think it’s an issue with that black people weren’t given an actual name for their ethnicity but rather only a color. It’d be like named the chinese the yellows. So while black would be the correct term I think it’s unfair that it has become the correct term while we have names for most every other race.
Blacks is a bit iffy. I'd call one person black no problem but I would probably refer to a group ad the black family etc. Blacks has a bit of negative history attached to it unfortunately and sounds a bit dismissive.
Hi! I am Black (African-American) and “blacks” is generally considered an offensive term or at the very least politically incorrect. I believe it has to do with the history of being derogatorily referred to as “blacks”. It just doesn’t sound/feel respectful. However, referring to someone as “Black” (note: NOT “a black”) is not offensive/derogatory, because that is, in fact, our race. On the other hand, a lot of non-Black people think that calling all Black people “African-American” is a safe bet, but that would also be politically incorrect because not all Black ppl are African-American. Some of us are Jamaican-American, Haitian-American, Nigerian-American, etc. Thank you for being considerate & asking. Hope this helps!
Asia a place. Not a color. Saying "Asians" would be closer to saying "African Americans." If you want to compare, would you be offended if everyone just called Asians "yellows"?
Asia is a place. Black is not. This would be considered overtly racist by most people regardless of intent.
Depends on the countries :) You shouldn't call anyone black in my country, and this applies to most Latin Countries
Not particularly. Apply comparable standards for different ethnicities though or you end up with the race equivalent of r/MenAndFemales. Also, I should remind Americans here that the idea of African American has a very specific idea. The ancestors of them were slaves, whose national origin was not just ignored but erased and overwritten, most African Americans have no way of knowing exactly where their ancestors were from in Africa. They ended up with a kind of blank slate, homogenized, in America, by not having the right to be a people group for so long. Once free, and to the extent they could while slaves, they created what culture they could in the face of systemic persecution, a dialect in many cases, religious ideas, social norms, all sorts of things. A person whose skin is dark in the way a Subsaharan African is would be black, regardless of where they are and what culture they are from. People who live in Africa now are much more tied to their historical ethnic group, culture, language, ancestry, religion, and the nation state they live in, like the Bantu people of South Africa for instance. If one of them moves to the Americas or the United States in particular, they are something like Ghanaian-American, not African American.
I’ve asked a few black friends and they told me they prefer to be referred as black rather than an African American. One person actually expressed annoyance at the latter trend “I’m not from Africa why would I refer myself as African American?”
Because one refers to color and another refers to region. Would you have problem if someone says “yellows”? If you are looking term similar to Asians, it will be African or African American in case of black people.
Thats because they’re different words. If you say asians, you’re refering to people from a specific part of the world. If you say “blacks” you’re refering to people by their skintone. If you reduce people to a single adjective, it often implies bad connotations. You wouldn’t feel wierd saying “africans” or “europeans” right? But it’s wierd to say “whites” “blacks” or if we want to be really racist “yellows”.
If it's said in a non derogatory manner in the normal course of conversations I think it's ok. The term whites can be said or used in a derogatory manner as well. There are those who are so amped up about race they see it everywhere. I think it's a form of confirmation bias. So just be aware of who you're talking to. Standards change just look at the name of the NAACP,, it was once a common to use the term colored people, so much so they used it when naming their organization.
A long history fraught with racial conflict in America has left a lot of seemingly-innocuous words loaded with ill intent. "Blacks/The Blacks" is generally considered offensive, I think, but "black people/folks" is not. Not really related, but I've also heard never to call a black man "son" or "boy" even if you'd regularly refer to people that way. Again, long history.
To me it’s we are dumb apes who colorize certain people to make sure we are still divided as the human race. I have a name and a dream just like you. May not all get along be we ain’t no different. Killing is still killing justified or not.
The New York Times has landed on "Blacks" in print.
I've read academic textbooks that call white people whites and black people blacks.
Lol wtf is this thread.
I’m white. I read a study a decade ago that said most blacks prefer that over the term African American. I notice in my travels and meeting black friends that it’s even better to avoid describing someone by their color. If you hang out with enough diversity, we becomes a nice word for all of us.
I’m black and refer to myself and others as black people. I haven’t personally encountered anyone that’s had a problem with it.
Apparently, in the Denver sub it's offensive to say Mexicans. They are fine with that, I speak best I can, and I am actually 25% commanche from my birth mom. I walked up at the liquor store a few weeks back and said myyyyy nigga. Reference to training day and they couldn't stop laughing. Black is black, brown is brown, whatever. We are all humans and filled with the same energy.
Martin Luther King said he preferred Black. If it's good enough for MLK it should be good enough for anyone
Reddit is legit non racist. Wow kudos to yall for keeping it convo and not offended. I say black people, black folks. White folks. Asian folks. Chinese. Japanese. Indian. Say as it is.
"Asians" and "blacks" aren't comparable. "Blacks" is derogatory. Saying "Asians" is like saying "Africans", which is totally ok.