Raven-Symoné: "I'm not African-American, I am American"

[SoulLove 0]

I understand she meant well with those statements, but it just came off a bit too tacky.

One second she's "everything" and then the next she, "she don't know where she came from exactly"

Lol

[JaggedMonster 2]

"I don't label myself "

"I'm an American "

I see what you did here

[Hot Space 14]

tumblr is going crazy over this, but she definitely has a point. white people don't say they're "european-american" why do we make that distinction with people of other skin colours/ethnicities?

 

and obviously if you're a black person who's cool with the label then that's fine. she's just speaking her truth and what she wants to be labelled as.

 

tbh, I actually hate how hard tumblr/social media is on black women who voice unpopular opinions. black people have different views on things just like everyone else.

[Hauser 1,262]

 

And where did those dark skin people from the Caribbean come from? 

I understand what you are trying to say but to generalize every person who is black as African American is not right. A black person from England who happens to be in the US is not an African American so that is where being politically correct goes awry. 

[LordDisick 1]

Right. "I'm nothing" is more like it. Right? Right LordDisick?

Do you ever feel like people may look at you as a moron?

who exactly? you? 

 

dont you know that i dont care about your opinion, so stay bothered  :ghostney:

 

i do like how your living up to your name,degenerate 

[Retep 0]

I asked this one time and I got told that it was because people feel "pride of their roots." How strange that white people seem to be the only ones that can label themselves as "American" with no questions asked. But if someone from another race simply says they are "American," they get asked "But where are you originally from?" I can say this from personal experience.  

 

 

This so much, I had a similar discussion in this way with s-xuality in a communications class. People who're identify as heteros-xual never at any point need to declare it, it's assumed, when someone deviates it's almost a requirement to 'come out' as if it's a requirement. At the end of the day you're a person, where did you come from? Well it depends, if you're religious one thing if you believe in other variations then you're based from smaller micro-organisms. It's not about being ashamed of your history and that of your families, its about seeing yourself as something much more than a label. 

[Morphine Prince 97,221]

 

This so much, I had a similar discussion in this way with s-xuality in a communications class. People who're identify as heteros-xual never at any point need to declare it, it's assumed, when someone deviates it's almost a requirement to 'come out' as if it's a requirement. At the end of the day you're a person, where did you come from? Well it depends, if you're religious one thing if you believe in other variations then you're based from smaller micro-organisms. It's not about being ashamed of your history and that of your families, its about seeing yourself as something much more than a label. 

And the saddest thing about the whole situation is that if you tell someone "I'm American" and don't acknowledge where your PARENTS are from you get accused of being ASHAMED ( ) of your roots which is totally not the case. 

[Lum 315]

Y'all people saying "well white people don't say 'I'm euro-american!'"

 

[StrawberryBlond 13,493]

Good on her. I'm British and we treat race very different from Americans. On the whole, we try not to draw attention to it. We have a large black and Asian community here but you don't hear any of them referring to themselves as African British or Asian British. They are just simply British. They might add "from ____ originally," or "with ____ roots" or something along those lines at the end, but that's about it. We don't use terms like "strong black woman" or tell a black person that they are "a great role model for the black community." To do that would mean drawing attention to their race and that can be percieved as rude at best, racist at worst. It's quite a faux pas to define someone by their race here. That's not to say that those of different races have denied their roots, not at all. But they don't feel a need to bring them up constantly or for that to be the first thing someone sees when they look at them. I know I wouldn't like it if people frequently mentioned that I was white. What's that got to do with anything? Our race is no different to anything else we were born with that we can't help having. We don't define ourselves by our eye or hair colour, so why our race? If you have lived in a country for a good length of time, you are a citizen of that country and if you were born in and lived in that country all your life, you are definitely a citizen of that country. Race and nationality are two completely different things and it doesn't make sense for them to be fused together in an identity.

 

Yes, America has a sad history in regards to race and I understand why there's so much racial tension and white guilt going on there, but they're not the only country to have mistreated non-whites in the past. Yet these other countries have moved on and don't handle race the same way. I think it's high time America moved into the 21st century with its concepts of race and stop using it to define themselves. When you categorise people, it creates division and with devision comes tension and resentment. In this crazy world we live in, we need to stop thinking trivial things like race make us different from each other. Our personalities, beliefs and cultures make us different, not our races.

[inuborg 4,135]

I understand what you are trying to say but to generalize every person who is black as African American is not right. A black person from England who happens to be in the US is not an African American so that is where being politically correct goes awry. 

Granted, I don't have a straight answer for an European, but thats not what we are talking about here.

[Retep 0]

And the saddest thing about the whole situation is that if you tell someone "I'm American" and don't acknowledge where your PARENTS are from you get accused of being ASHAMED ( ) of your roots which is totally not the case. 

 

Exactly. It's seen as you trying to separate from the grouping that has existed from years. You're challenging the norm that has been put in place which makes people simply uncomfortable, they want to put you into a little box so they can 'figure' you out and make assumptions from that point. In no way am I ashamed of my Hispanic past, I embrace it. But I'd be lying if I saw myself as Guatemalan whatsoever. I am me at the end of the day, and if there's a group of people who want to place together false pretenses due to my grouping so be it; but don't force me into a spot when it's not necessary. 

[Morphine Prince 97,221]

Good on her. I'm British and we treat race very different from Americans. On the whole, we try not to draw attention to it. We have a large black and Asian community here but you don't hear any of them referring to themselves as African British or Asian British. They are just simply British. They might add "from ____ originally," or "with ____ roots" or something along those lines at the end, but that's about it. We don't use terms like "strong black woman" or tell a black person that they are "a great role model for the black community." To do that would mean drawing attention to their race and that can be percieved as rude at best, racist at worst. It's quite a faux pas to define someone by their race here. That's not to say that those of different races have denied their roots, not at all. But they don't feel a need to bring them up constantly or for that to be the first thing someone sees when they look at them. I know I wouldn't like it if people frequently mentioned that I was white. What's that got to do with anything? Our race is no different to anything else we were born with that we can't help having. We don't define ourselves by our eye or hair colour, so why our race? If you have lived in a country for a good length of time, you are a citizen of that country and if you were born in and lived in that country all your life, you are definitely a citizen of that country. Race and nationality are two completely different things and it doesn't make sense for them to be fused together in an identity.

 

Yes, America has a sad history in regards to race and I understand why there's so much racial tension and white guilt going on there, but they're not the only country to have mistreated non-whites in the past. Yet these other countries have moved on and don't handle race the same way. I think it's high time America moved into the 21st century with its concepts of race and stop using it to define themselves. When you categorise people, it creates division and with devision comes tension and resentment. In this crazy world we live in, we need to stop thinking trivial things like race make us different from each other. Our personalities, beliefs and cultures make us different, not our races.

YES  

 

So many people here cannot grasp this simple concept I need to move somewhere where people think like this. 

[Hauser 1,262]

Good on her. I'm British and we treat race very different from Americans. On the whole, we try not to draw attention to it. We have a large black and Asian community here but you don't hear any of them referring to themselves as African British or Asian British. They are just simply British. They might add "from ____ originally," or "with ____ roots" or something along those lines at the end, but that's about it. We don't use terms like "strong black woman" or tell a black person that they are "a great role model for the black community." To do that would mean drawing attention to their race and that can be percieved as rude at best, racist at worst. It's quite a faux pas to define someone by their race here. That's not to say that those of different races have denied their roots, not at all. But they don't feel a need to bring them up constantly or for that to be the first thing someone sees when they look at them. I know I wouldn't like it if people frequently mentioned that I was white. What's that got to do with anything? Our race is no different to anything else we were born with that we can't help having. We don't define ourselves by our eye or hair colour, so why our race? If you have lived in a country for a good length of time, you are a citizen of that country and if you were born in and lived in that country all your life, you are definitely a citizen of that country. Race and nationality are two completely different things and it doesn't make sense for them to be fused together in an identity.

 

Yes, America has a sad history in regards to race and I understand why there's so much racial tension and white guilt going on there, but they're not the only country to have mistreated non-whites in the past. Yet these other countries have moved on and don't handle race the same way. I think it's high time America moved into the 21st century with its concepts of race and stop using it to define themselves. When you categorise people, it creates division and with devision comes tension and resentment. In this crazy world we live in, we need to stop thinking trivial things like race make us different from each other. Our personalities, beliefs and cultures make us different, not our races.

Bless this post  

[Morphine Prince 97,221]

Exactly. It's seen as you trying to separate from the grouping that has existed from years. You're challenging the norm that has been put in place which makes people simply uncomfortable, they want to put you into a little box so they can 'figure' you out and make assumptions from that point. In no way am I ashamed of my Hispanic past, I embrace it. But I'd be lying if I saw myself as Guatemalan whatsoever. I am me at the end of the day, and if there's a group of people who want to place together false pretenses due to my grouping so be it; but don't force me into a spot when it's not necessary. 

Same here! I'm Hispanic, my parents are from Honduras but I was born in the US. I am not Honduran. That is a nationality and I am not a Honduran citizen. That, however does not mean I hate my roots. It is part of who I am, but I do not need to say anything else than "American" when describing myself. I don't buy the concept of "You are where your parents are from" mentality that is so prevalent in the Hispanic community. 

[Navy 495]

"I don't label myself" you just labeled yourself an American though :dead: