Irvine511
Blue Crack Supplier
re: black vs. African-American.
i feel that in formal speech/writing, or speaking about people i don't know, i would use the term African-American.
when it's more casual, when it might be someone i know, or when we're referring to the fact that some people are lumped into one group regardless of their background -- i.e., Colin Powell who has Caribbean roots, or Obama who is certainly an African-American but likely does not feel the same weight of history that, say, the folks in SE D.C. might, and yet Obama might have as much difficulty hailing a cab as, say, Wanda or Lilly down the street might have.
it really switches on context. to me, black is actually the more nuanced term, because it acknowledges differences while it also acknowledges the majority's often lack of distinction within a specific subgroup.
i feel that in formal speech/writing, or speaking about people i don't know, i would use the term African-American.
when it's more casual, when it might be someone i know, or when we're referring to the fact that some people are lumped into one group regardless of their background -- i.e., Colin Powell who has Caribbean roots, or Obama who is certainly an African-American but likely does not feel the same weight of history that, say, the folks in SE D.C. might, and yet Obama might have as much difficulty hailing a cab as, say, Wanda or Lilly down the street might have.
it really switches on context. to me, black is actually the more nuanced term, because it acknowledges differences while it also acknowledges the majority's often lack of distinction within a specific subgroup.
