youve missed the point i was making. in saying they are actually brown, i am saying that the label Black is not accurate, and is often used to lump together ethinc minorities.

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Originally posted by Arbiter Every American is an African-American in that they have ancestors who lived in Africa. It's just another non-sense term invented to make up for the inadequacies of the average mind.

What about those with Native American ancestry?

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Originally posted by svens_bath youve missed the point i was making. in saying they are actually brown, i am saying that the label Black is not accurate, and is often used to lump together ethinc minorities.

I got your point, i think most people would agree that if somebody is referred to as black, you would automatically think negroid, not Arab or Indian or Pakistani etc. what i am saying by your logic is that to label me white is not accurate either, because my skin is not the colour white.

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Originally posted by Shakka What about those with Native American ancestry?

Well they are native Americans, or native American Indians, whichever.

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Originally posted by zig Well they are native Americans, or native American Indians, whichever.

Right--but not descended from Africa as far as I know. Just clearing up from Arbiter's post (I have native american ancestry).

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Originally posted by zig I got your point, i think most people would agree that if somebody is referred to as black, you would automatically think negroid, not Arab or Indian or Pakistani etc. what i am saying by your logic is that to label me white is not accurate either, because my skin is not the colour white.

basically we are saying the same thing...we both agree that labels based on colour are inaccurate..and i didnt mention anything about who was white and who wasnt.

what im saying is that African-American people might be more offended by being labelled Black, because it has been used in the past to differentiate all other ethnic minorities from the 'White' majority, in a way that implies inferiority. i understand that probably most African-American people wouldnt mind being lablelled as Black, but some might, hence me not understanding the comment made earlier.

This would be a more interesting topic if it were a 2 way street. The way I am reading this thread, we're all being insensitive if we don't properly refer to a dark-skinned person by his ancestral heritage. Can I also get offended the next time someone calls me white or caucasian when that doesn't really accurately reflect who I am? (In all honesty I could care less, but I don't want to create a double-standard.) I think it sounds more offensive to refer to an Asian person as "yellow" than it does to refer to an African-American as "black".

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Originally posted by Shakka Right--but not descended from Africa as far as I know. Just clearing up from Arbiter's post (I have native american ancestry).

Well there are two different theories on the origions of homo sapiens, both are yet inconclusive, one theory gives a regional explanation and the other proposes that homo sapiens evolved from a smaller isolated population probably from Africa.

http://www.mnh.si.edu/anthro/humanorigins/ha/sap.htm

Cool ancestry...... ........have you looked much into it?

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Originally posted by Shakka This would be a more interesting topic if it were a 2 way street. The way I am reading this thread, we're all being insensitive if we don't properly refer to a dark-skinned person by his ancestral heritage. Can I also get offended the next time someone calls me white or caucasian when that doesn't really accurately reflect who I am? (In all honesty I could care less, but I don't want to create a double-standard.) I think it sounds more offensive to refer to an Asian person as "yellow" than it does to refer to an African-American as "black".

Couldnt agree more.....but that was really my point.

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Originally posted by svens_bath why do you say this? dont you think that some people may find offense in being labelled as Black? particulalry when theyre actually brown. and if so dont they therefore have a right to be offended?

Well, people label me as white although I'm more or less pinkish..sometimes with a copper tan during the summer. And guess what, I'm not offended. Black is not a derogatory word. People who get offended by being called black will probably invent a new term describing their race in 20 or so years and will thereafter be offended when someone calls them african american.

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youve missed the point i was making. in saying they are actually brown, i am saying that the label Black is not accurate, and is often used to lump together ethinc minorities.

I really haven't heard anyone use the term black for people who have not originated from Africa unless perhaps by mistake, but then again, same mistake would be made for african americans.

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Originally posted by Shakka This would be a more interesting topic if it were a 2 way street. The way I am reading this thread, we're all being insensitive if we don't properly refer to a dark-skinned person by his ancestral heritage. Can I also get offended the next time someone calls me white or caucasian when that doesn't really accurately reflect who I am? (In all honesty I could care less, but I don't want to create a double-standard.) I think it sounds more offensive to refer to an Asian person as "yellow" than it does to refer to an African-American as "black".

slavery; colonialism. thats why its not a 2 way street