A
misnomer,
IMO. Not that I dislike
political correctness. I'm actually PC when it comes to words and phrases, generally. The thing I take
exception to is the notion that all
blacks in this country are from
Africa (or in their recent
heritage anyway - yes, I know we're most likely all from Africa originally). You see this represented all the time in polls and statistics and everything else. For example, say we have a poll that's about
high tech jobs. The poll might say "African-American - 10%,
White - 60%,
Asian - 20%, etc..." (note, I am
totally pulling these numbers out of the air, just to
illustrate my point). But what about people who don't fit the "
criteria" of being African-American?
E.g.,
Australian
Aboriginal blacks living in the U.S., or
South American blacks, or
Jamaicans, etc. And I can't remember again just why it is that we're supposed to use this term now. Is it because the word "black" is
offensive? If so, then how do we refer to blacks living outside of the U.S.? Maybe someone can clear this up for me (no, the previous writeups in this node don't help).
I like the writeup about the coworker who likes to be referred to as "Alex". I also don't like to categorize unique, individual people into groups, but if you're going to do this, and you don't like the term "black", then we need something else, because, as I see it, "African-American" just doesn't fit the bill. Yes, I understand the need to feel in touch with your heritage. In that case, you may refer to yourself as African-American if it pleases you. More power to you. But I don't think the rest of the country should be referring to blacks living in the U.S. this way, as a sweeping categorization.
P.S. There's going to be some questions and (maybe) accusations, so I'll tell you: Yes, I am white. No, I don't consider myself to be racist. I think you would find that everyone I know would say the same thing about me. I just don't like overboard political correctness, especially when the word or phrase doesn't seem appropriate.