[Christina]

Ok i have a few things to say about your comment. First off not all BLACK people are African. You are giving a stereotype, being racist and prejudice. Not very nice at all…you can take one look at me and say that I am white. WRONG!! I am of Puerto rican/Italian culture but am full AMERICAN..why? Because I was born here in America just like the black people and white people…we all may know our backgrounds and were we came from yet we all know where we are AMERICA!!!

User Detail :  

Name : Christina, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Catholic, Age : 26, City : Brooklyn, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : USAF, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Greg]

First of all I was born here in the USA, as were my parents, grandparent, great grandparents and great great grandparents, etc. Plus there are many different countries in Africa and thousands of different tribes, and I have no clue as too with one my ancestors belonged too. So how am I too embrace something that I have no clue about? I know I’m American. I know my cultural heritage here. I would love to know of my African heritage but dew to there’s no records, as to where each slave came from, there’s no way for me to find out my African heritage. So as I grew I embraced the culture that I knew. I’m also part Native-American and I’ve been researching that part of my heritage, It’s not easy but its not impossible.

User Detail :  

Name : Greg, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Pentecostal, Age : 40, City : Temple, State : GA, Country : United States, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Middle class, 

[DaShawn25954]

The reason is because we did not move to America from Africa in search of a better life like everyone else. We have no idea what part of Africa we came from. And all we hear about Africa is the same tragedies which plague us in our black ghettoes; blacks killing other blacks, AIDS, poverty, etc…

User Detail :  

Name : DaShawn25954, Gender : M, Age : 16, City : Longwood, State : MD, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Najee C.]

I do not now nor have I ever thought of myself as an African. I’m not from Africa and I can’t even trace my family lineage back to Africa. As a matter of fact it’s been easier to trace my the scottish and italian lineage on my mother’s side than to find what tribe I descend from in Africa. I can only speak for myself but I don’t feel as if I would have any more in common with a random African than with your ‘all-american’ which I assume is white. America is a country full of immigrants whether they’ve been brought here forcibly or in search of freedom and oppurtunity. I’m an American who happens to be black or as my grandmother would say, colored. I personally don’t refer to myself as an African American or a person of African descent because that’s really not how I identify myself. What about black Brazilians and Cubans and Jamaicans and Haitians and Bahamians, etc. Most first identify themselves by their nationality and maybe their race. Africa is all too well distanced from myself geographically, chronologically and culturally for me to really draw that inference and for your information i don’t wear braids, white folk have muscles too and negro spirituals to me are as great a part of American culture as apple pie. Being white and black is not what defines America, it is more our great culture and the value we place on freedom and opportunity for all. Our nation’s past has been turblent and marked by the antithesis of what I said before but it has been American’s black, white, red, yellow and et cetera, et cetera that have moved us closer to that definition. So to conclude, I sure as hell am an American.

User Detail :  

Name : Najee C., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 17, City : Miami, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Steve27659]

Because they are Americans plain and simple, unless they were born in Africa, they’re Americans that happen to have black skin. And for the most part they don’t want to know about their roots because the Africans that remained were the ones that sold them into bondage in the first place.

User Detail :  

Name : Steve27659, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Baptist, Age : 18, City : Palm Coast, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : Consultant, Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Jonathan L.]

I noticed that you hail from South Africa. The United States is a country of immigrants. This is where heritage becomes just a watermark within a few generations. Personally, I think by All-American you mean ‘imitating the white man’. American is a nationality and a mindset. You can be what you want to be here. I don’t think it’s fair to label them as not caring about their heritage and ‘acting’ american. They are Americans. As American as my grandmother who speaks a minimum of English, to the caucasian Wall Street broker whose ancestors came over on the May Flower. We’ve made a mistake in adding a seperate label. African-American, Asian-American, Latino-American, etc. The idea is simply, American, of Other descent.

User Detail :  

Name : Jonathan L., Gender : M, Race : Asian, Age : 22, City : Manhattan, State : NY, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

[RBR]

Because we are. We are born in the States. Sure, racism exists, but we a neither ‘captives’ nor ‘wards’ of the American state. We’re Americans.

User Detail :  

Name : RBR, Gender : M, Race : Black/African American, Age : 30, City : Sacramento, State : CA, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Kali26984]

They might care where they came from but most of them are descendants of slaves when you hit that you’re done there is no past after that and if there is it’s lost because it was oral history. I personally can only look back 4 generations before I hit slavery. So what’s wrong with me feeling equal, All-American? Equality is what was denied to my great- grandparents why can’t I see myself as everyone else’s equal? All-American, yeah that’s after all what I am. You go anywhere in this world and all they’ll see is an American. As to me having African in me yeah sure I’m proud of it, more then you’ll ever know, but that’s all I got, pride. Negro spirituals, our hair styles, our music, the features of our faces, the color of our skin, that is our past.

User Detail :  

Name : Kali26984, Gender : F, Religion : Baptist, City : Willingboro, State : NJ, Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, 

[Marie]

Isn’t this what we’ve been striving for? African-American kids who don’t feel like they are different, somehow inferior, or set apart from White kids? Sure, they ‘have African in them,’ as you put it. But, the key word in African-American, is American. Yes, it is tragic for anyone to forget their roots. I am German/Irish/English/Scottish/Native American. And I honor my heritage; I’m proud of my ancestry. And I share my knowledge with my own children. Being an average American doesn’t mean I have to deny or forget the heritage of my forefathers. It is in everyone’s best interest to keep in mind that American does not equal White. However we got here, we are all immigrants, part of a great ‘melting pot.’ Familiar with that phrase? Be proud to be Black, but don’t let that make you ashamed or afraid to be proud to be American. I understand your POV. But, IMO, you almost seem to be promoting racism. Underlining the differences, rather than highlighting what we all have in common. Please, encourage your children to remember and honor their heritage – whatever the race or culture, but say a prayer of thanks that African-American teens today CAN be just average, equal, All-Americans. Teach them to appreciate this. To do otherwise, dishonors Black role-models like Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks and so many others who made it possible for these kids you refer to to be ‘average, equal, All-American.’ Your sentiment is admirable, but your manner of expressing it is not, it fact, it can be downright harmful.

User Detail :  

Name : Marie, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 36, City : Jeffersonville, State : IN, Country : United States, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Scott J.]

I think it’s mostly because they realize that they aren’t Africans anymore and dont really have any connections with that continent at all. Most blacks in the U.S. have been here for several generations, so this has become their country. My family moved here from Ireland and England around the same time most blacks came and we never celebrate any of Great Britain’s holidays or even study their history much. After several generations, it’s hard to not adopt the country you live in.

User Detail :  

Name : Scott J., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 20, City : Camden, State : TN, Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, 

[Ron29651]

Why? I am american, not canadien american. I was born here as was my father. My anscestors were born in Canada and before that France. A hyphen is okay for a first generation immigrant but after that your all american.

User Detail :  

Name : Ron29651, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 43, City : Pensacola, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : retail store owner, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Jim-B]

The past is the past. It can not be changed. Besides in America now there is an ongoing push to want to be ‘a gangsta’ in all races among the youth.

User Detail :  

Name : Jim-B, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 45, City : Cleveland, State : OH, Country : United States, Occupation : Computer repair tech, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Jenn]

I do not consider myself African or African American. If I was born in Africa and came here and became a citizen then I would be an African American and if I was born in Africa and never got citizenship then I would be African. But I was born right in America so that makes me an American, right?

User Detail :  

Name : Jenn, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 21, City : Berkeley, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Property Management, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Peter]

Many blacks don’t view themselves as all-American. All-American Implies the suburban, lily-white middle-class, eating apple pie at a baseball game. From an outsider, It may seem that blacks have completely blended in with American culture, but we’re the only race that actually tried to separate ourselves from mainstream culture In an effort to ‘be black’ or ‘keep it real,’ some blacks prefer the white way of life by pretending we’re all the same, as If we’re all gray. Another thing, over the course of several hundred years, we have lost most of the cultural aspects of our African roots. Most blacks I know can’t tell you one thing about Africa besides what any non-African knows already. How can you draw from ancient heritage you don’t know anything about? In America, there is definitely a black identity; we call it black pride, pride in being African American, but it doesn’t include a heritage we dont know of – the ‘African portion’ of our name.

User Detail :  

Name : Peter, Gender : M, Race : Black/African American, Age : 20, City : Jacksonville, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Author]

Posts