Racial Identity for the Black American

African American is a name often used to describe a person of color, but are these black Americans really African Americans? It seems as if people are constantly attempting to be politically correct and trying not to offend blacks by calling them just that. The term African American should not be used to identify a black person because the color of someone’s skin cannot be defined by an assumed culture. By trying to identify a person of another culture than simply American further divides the bridge between white Americans and black Americans. However, many strongly disagree with this opinion, but my goal is to help these people see otherwise.

According to Webster and many other definitional sources, an African American is an American of African and especially of black African descent. Now this definition is correct, but it does not hold true to average black American. Many black Americans whose ancestors were brought over to America during the times of slavery are no longer just of African descent. “It is impossible to say to which human family we belong. The lager part of the Native population has disappeared, Europeans have mixed with the Indians and the Negroes, and Negroes have mixed with the Indians. We were all born of one mother America, though our fathers had different origins, and we all have differently colored skins. This dissimilarity is of the greatest significance,” was said by Simon Bolivar, 1819 president of Venezuela (French Creoles of America). For example, famous slave and abolitionist, Frederick Douglas’, which would be known as an African American, father was a white man, making him of European descent. Douglas is one of many slaves who were also of mixed race.

In most black American families, they can trace their family tree back at least four maybe even five generations without mentioning any family member coming from Africa or from being of complete African descent. Thus displaying that the African culture has been far removed from black people, the only thing that can relate them back to African culture is the color of their skin in some instances.

For those that feel like skin complexion is enough determine someone as African American, think about Dominicans who are of dark complexion. Are they also, African Americans? Or what about people, from the Caribbean islands, are they African Americans too? As I said before, by calling people of color African Americans, you are solely assuming they are of African descent.

Referring back to the definition given before, African Americans are of African descent, however, would a white African living in America be referred to as an African American? Probably not. In fact, unless asked they would probably be thought of as white Americans. It is rather interesting how a white individual is easily accepted as merely an American, even if he or she is actually an immigrant. This example goes back to a study done in Canada in 2002 showing that visible-minority immigrants feel more excluded or discriminated against than white immigrants It was shocking for the researcher to discover the extent to which second-generation immigrants of color feel less Canadian than their white counterparts in the same generation of immigrants. Whites are more accepted and feel more apart of a culture they immigrated to than of minorities that did the same (Children of Immigrants and the Issue of Identity. The Globe and Mail. 2007). This information however does not surprise me, and I feel the same situation is happening in today in American society.

This country is known as the “Great American Melting Pot,” courtesy of School House Rock, so all Americans must recognize that America, as a whole, is a mixture of other cultures combined into one nation, and everyone’s, and I mean everyone’s, ancestors immigrated here from another country. Trying to narrow yourself down to just one culture can be difficult for some, which can lead to foolishness. Tiger Woods, for example, learned the craziness of trying to carve a new race identity for himself, calling himself a "Cablinasian," insisting on Oprah Winfrey's talk show that he was not African-American but a mix of Caucasian, black, Dutch, Native American and Thai (Shades of Black, St. Petersburg Times. 2007).

America is based on equality, and the battle for whites and blacks to be treated equally is said to be in the past of American culture. Black Americans are just as “American” as white Americans. If I recall correctly, African slaves were in America, before it was even considered America. So if it is politically correct to call a white person white it should be politically correct to call what you assume to be an African American black. The fact that blacks and whites are Americans should be enough to establish identity, especially if you cannot even trace your heritage back to what ever country your ancestors may have come from. However, if we must label ourselves with adjective in front of the word American, can it at least be something of the obvious? Just like the color white does not automatically mean European, the color black does not mean African.