I met a guy today that raised an interesting point. He's white, but was born in South Africa, so is he white or african american? Since the term is thrown around incorrectly these days and is misused as a synonym for black, what is he?

3/26/2008 4:15:00 PM

racist

3/26/2008 4:15:21 PM

slave master bob

3/26/2008 4:16:57 PM

3/26/2008 4:17:22 PM

it depends on where he is actually

If he's in America, then he's white
if he's in Africa, then he's African

3/26/2008 4:18:00 PM

That part of Africa doesn't count towards the African-American designation. There has to be a high concentration of black people in the area, a 3:1 black to white ratio is considered classificatory standard.

3/26/2008 4:18:23 PM

haha what, so if you're from Africa but there aren't enough black people you can't be an african american?


god damn this country is fucking retarded

3/26/2008 4:19:44 PM

carl face

3/26/2008 4:19:47 PM

U GOTTA BE BLACK TO BE AFRICAN DUH

3/26/2008 4:20:35 PM

this was the theme of Charlize Theron's SNL monologue.

3/26/2008 4:21:12 PM

so he's a Afrikaner

3/26/2008 4:22:11 PM

African American

...same as my aunt (except she was born in Zambia, but whatever)

Quote :

"That part of Africa doesn't count towards the African-American designation. There has to be a high concentration of black people in the area, a 3:1 black to white ratio is considered classificatory standard."

Yeah...bullshit.

South Africa is African, no matter how many white people are there.

Anyways, according to wiki, as of mid 2006, SA was nearly 80% black.

3/26/2008 4:23:15 PM

yeah I pretty much pulled that outta my turd cutter

3/26/2008 4:24:48 PM

remember african american =/= black, what if a black guy is born in asia, is he african american? or asian american?

3/26/2008 4:31:02 PM

you are the first person to ever think of this and post it on the wolfweb

3/26/2008 4:32:18 PM

like I said, it depends on where this person is when he's being labeled.

It makes you realize just how fucked up and arbitrary this whole nomenclature for race really is.

3/26/2008 4:32:36 PM

Ethnicity v Nationality

3/26/2008 4:37:37 PM

Quote :

"so he's a Afrikaner"

Obviously we shouldn't even be going over this again. But...since African-American has become a more polite/PC synonym for black (or 'dark-skinned person directly or ancestrally of African extraction'), I find it absurd to call anyone who is fair-skinned 'African-American' and if you do so, you're obviously doing so to make a point. While the population of South Africa is slightly unique in its circumstance, If a white man happened to grew up in, say, China, and even if his white parents did so also, you wouldn't call him an Asian-American after he moved here.

I have to assume that this particular form of description is only used in the US anyway. Are black folks in Canada referred to as "African-Canadians"?

3/26/2008 4:46:49 PM

no, everywhere else in the world they ae called black, or negros in spanish countries

3/26/2008 4:51:31 PM

I never understood why we went away from colored

3/26/2008 4:55:15 PM

Technically, we are all African.

3/26/2008 4:56:29 PM

he is white and african american, if hes in the states

putting political correctness aside, hes more african american than any black person born in the us

[Edited on March 26, 2008 at 4:57 PM. Reason : ^ ultimatly true]

3/26/2008 4:56:51 PM

^ exactly

3/26/2008 4:58:12 PM

yeah I think african-american is obviously an American invented term but also, if this guy spent much of his life in south africa and is now an american citizen, hell yeah he is african-american.

3/26/2008 5:01:12 PM

this is not an original thought. Both Charlize Theron and Dave Matthews are South African.

3/26/2008 5:05:13 PM

Quote :

"hes more african american than any black person born in the us"

it's refreshing to see someone with a brain nowadays

3/26/2008 5:09:22 PM

I thought this thread was about Barack Obama.

3/26/2008 5:12:13 PM

Quote :

"I've been to Africa, and let me tell you, I'm an American"

whoopi goldberg

3/26/2008 5:12:22 PM

Quote :

"no, everywhere else in the world they ae called black, or negros in spanish countries"

uh, negro means black in Spanish.

so unless you were trying to say that everywhere else in the world, no matter what language they speak, they are called the English word "black" then the last part of your statement was unnecessary.

3/26/2008 5:14:53 PM

arent english and spanish the top two languages in the world?

stop being contrary

3/26/2008 5:22:31 PM

No.

3/26/2008 5:23:07 PM

Quote :

"U GOTTA BE BLACK TO BE AFRICAN DUH"

3/26/2008 5:23:12 PM

^^^

Mandarin is number one, next follow english and spanish

3/26/2008 5:24:41 PM

Quote :

"it doesn't depend on where he is actually If he's in America, then he's white if he's in Africa, then he's African he's still white"

Quote :

"hes more african american than any black person born in the us"

really?

in his favour: he was born in africa
in the favour of african americans: they are of AFRICAN ancestry

what you said is stupid.

so if my child is born in china and grows up there (i am south asian), can i say my child is more chinese than chinese american kids born in the US?

3/26/2008 5:35:05 PM

That's pretty much been addressed: yes

There's a term for racially foreign, culturally white: white-washed

Quote :

"so if my child is born in china and grows up there (i am south asian), can i say my child is more chinese than chinese american kids born in the US?"

Can you present a good reason they wouldn't be? Just because dad happens to be not-chinese? (and in your case, culturally (arabic?). That doesn't keep them from being thoroughly steeped in chinese culture.

If anything, it simply moves them to the realm of multi-cultural or cosmopolitan

3/26/2008 5:36:48 PM

i don't agree.

imagine this:

a chinese kid is born in sudan.

a sudanese kid is born in china.

you gonna say the 1st one is more sudanese than the 2nd, and the 2nd is more chinese than the 1st?

that's silly.

3/26/2008 5:39:33 PM

Now you're mixing up your scenarios: are they simply born there, or raised there?

Decide, and THEN ask.

3/26/2008 5:41:22 PM

once again, mixing up race and ethnicity

3/26/2008 5:44:09 PM

raised for 5 years.

10 years.

15 years.

does your answer depend on how long they are raised there?

actually, it shouldn't. some kids are born in a foreign country and from the beginning, they adapt the culture of their parents' adopted country. even at the age 5-10, you can't tell them apart from the locals.

and then there are some kids born in very very traditional and closed families, and even at the age of 15-20, they act like people from their country, not their parents' adopted country.

so it all depends on the family.

but yes, in the case of african americans, they are all far-removed from african culture. i can admit that. (unless it is some africans who have moved recently)

3/26/2008 5:45:44 PM

Quote :

"but yes, in the case of african americans, they are all far-removed from african culture."

How do you know this?

Quote :

"so it all depends on the family."

Well, DUH
But when you're wanting to argue over who is more [adopted country]-ese, you have to assume there's a chance for acclimation to happen, and so yes, the longer you're there, the more []ese you are. ESPECIALLY if you consciously embrace the culture of where you are now, instead of where your folks are from

[Edited on March 26, 2008 at 5:49 PM. Reason : ljadf]

3/26/2008 5:47:31 PM

Cracka

3/26/2008 5:48:33 PM

the way i always thought it worked: (insert nationality)-American meant that you were from the other nation and had come to America IN YOUR LIFETIME.

then ethnicity is something very different

[Edited on March 26, 2008 at 5:50 PM. Reason : ]

3/26/2008 5:49:33 PM

3/26/2008 5:50:24 PM

^^yea

my mom's parents are Italian-Americans (immigrated)

but my mom is an American, even though she's pure Italian.

[Edited on March 26, 2008 at 5:52 PM. Reason : .]

3/26/2008 5:52:08 PM

Quote :

"Mandarin is number one"

damn and that one is so easy too

3/26/2008 5:53:02 PM

lets not split hairs here

that guy is more african american than any black person born in the us

if you are born in the united states and you live in the united states then you are american, regardless of what color you are

if you are born in africa and live in the united states, then you are african american. race is not an issue. he is truely one of the few people who can without a doubt call himself an african american

its a matter of classification

3/26/2008 5:56:24 PM

holy fucking mother of DUH

3/26/2008 5:58:31 PM

exactly, duh

3/26/2008 6:00:08 PM

because it has been 200 years since they have been here in the US, and they have not stuck to their culture/traditions.

even in the most traditional african american families, perhaps at the most 5% of their culture is really african.

Quote :

"That doesn't keep them from being thoroughly steeped in chinese culture. "

see my point about how it depends on the family. you can't assume that all kids born in foreign countries adopt the culture of their parents' adopted countries. some families like to preserve their own culture and traditions, and live in secluded "ghettos" with their own type, so as not to mingle with the locals.

but i do agree that the longer you have been in a foreign country, the higher the probability that you and your family have adapted yourself to that country. and these days, almost any kid born in a foreign country adopts the culture of the country s/he is born in. but there always are exceptions.

there are certain communities from certain countries that have moved to other countries, and even after a 100 years, have thoroughly maintained their own culture and stayed in tightly knit families, not marrying the locals, not eating local food, etc. (in asia, africa, south america)

i know those are exceptions, but it does happen.

in the case of african americans, though, as i admitted, they are all far from african these days, so a white person born and raised in south africa could be considered more "african" than african americans in almost all respects.

3/26/2008 6:01:29 PM

words, this is chit chat, not read a bunch of shit chat, amirite?

[Edited on March 26, 2008 at 6:05 PM. Reason : .]

3/26/2008 6:02:37 PM