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

[Stra 6]

Shut up, all you European-Americans. 

[MonsterOfSpain 8,278]

She already stated why she thinks that way, not getting the draggin against her 

[FFXSoul91 1,088]

African-American and Black are not interchangeable words. I think some people are confused by this.

[StrawberryBlond 13,770]

Colour blindness is nothing to do with erasing your history and culture. It's just about not putting race on such a high pedestal. It's about not having race be the first thing you notice about a person, not defining people by their race (which can lead to stereotypes and assumptions) and promoting the right to live in a unified society where the colour of one's skin doesn't matter. You can be proud of your heritage and indulge in it and inform others about it, but not to the point where you refuse to integrate or identify with other races. What's on the outside doesn't define you, it's what's on the inside. Your outer appearance has no bearing on who you are on the inside. I understand that having a name for a disadvantaged group had its benefits in the past. It raised the status of a group who had been forced to be invisible and ignored under the control of rich white people. Having a name to refer this group said: "We exist, we are strong and we deserve to be here." But there's no need to worry about that element anymore because the black community is huge in America, with lots of very successful blacks in the media and in everyday life. In the early-late 00's, black people ruled the music scene too and now they're making a comeback. Basketball and football teams are really dominated by blacks. I think this proves that labels like African American are not needed anymore. Blacks are such a solid fixture in America (13.2% of the country is black) that they are completely American. If they were born in America and lived their whole life in America, why should it matter what their race is, or anyone else's, for that matter? It's weird that it's just America that has this fascination with racial identity whereas the rest of the world tries its best to integrate in the country that they're not originally from without bringing their race into their identity.

 

And by the way, seeing as some people have brought up Hispanics, this is another thing that's an American-only thing: viewing Hispanic/Latino as a race. Its technical definition is an ethnicity. The entire American continent seems to be the only countries that view Hispanic/Latino as a race and don't consider themselves white. Hispanics are any natives of Central America, South America, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Spain and Portugal. But the Spanish and Portugese don't consider themselves a different race, it's purely a continental American idea. Yes, Hispanics have certain visual differences between them and whites, but not to the extent where they're a separate race. There are many different facial features among whites too - particularly among Scandanavian whites and Mediterranean whites. But that doesn't make them not white. Just because someone's skin is a little bit darker than pure white or there is a slight exotic look to them doesn't make them not white. The perception of white people is that we're all blue-eyed, blonde haired with nothing exotic about us when in fact, there's diversity among all races. Hispanics are just a variation of whites. Don't get me wrong: if you are Hispanic/Latino, be proud, speak Spanish/Portugese, bask in your culture. But be mindful of what being Hispanic actually means. Look up the definition on dictionaries, Wikipedia, the US Census Bureau's definition and so on. It's an ethnicity, not a race.

[Pandora 162]

She has a point.

[Morphine Prince 100,401]

Colour blindness is nothing to do with erasing your history and culture. It's just about not putting race on such a high pedestal. It's about not having race be the first thing you notice about a person, not defining people by their race (which can lead to stereotypes and assumptions) and promoting the right to live in a unified society where the colour of one's skin doesn't matter. You can be proud of your heritage and indulge in it and inform others about it, but not to the point where you refuse to integrate or identify with other races. What's on the outside doesn't define you, it's what's on the inside. Your outer appearance has no bearing on who you are on the inside. I understand that having a name for a disadvantaged group had its benefits in the past. It raised the status of a group who had been forced to be invisible and ignored under the control of rich white people. Having a name to refer this group said: "We exist, we are strong and we deserve to be here." But there's no need to worry about that element anymore because the black community is huge in America, with lots of very successful blacks in the media and in everyday life. In the early-late 00's, black people ruled the music scene too and now they're making a comeback. Basketball and football teams are really dominated by blacks. I think this proves that labels like African American are not needed anymore. Blacks are such a solid fixture in America (13.2% of the country is black) that they are completely American. If they were born in America and lived their whole life in America, why should it matter what their race is, or anyone else's, for that matter? It's weird that it's just America that has this fascination with racial identity whereas the rest of the world tries its best to integrate in the country that they're not originally from without bringing their race into their identity.

And by the way, seeing as some people have brought up Hispanics, this is another thing that's an American-only thing: viewing Hispanic/Latino as a race. Its technical definition is an ethnicity. The entire American continent seems to be the only countries that view Hispanic/Latino as a race and don't consider themselves white. Hispanics are any natives of Central America, South America, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Spain and Portugal. But the Spanish and Portugese don't consider themselves a different race, it's purely a continental American idea. Yes, Hispanics have certain visual differences between them and whites, but not to the extent where they're a separate race. There are many different facial features among whites too - particularly among Scandanavian whites and Mediterranean whites. But that doesn't make them not white. Just because someone's skin is a little bit darker than pure white or there is a slight exotic look to them doesn't make them not white. The perception of white people is that we're all blue-eyed, blonde haired with nothing exotic about us when in fact, there's diversity among all races. Hispanics are just a variation of whites. Don't get me wrong: if you are Hispanic/Latino, be proud, speak Spanish/Portugese, bask in your culture. But be mindful of what being Hispanic actually means. Look up the definition on dictionaries, Wikipedia, the US Census Bureau's definition and so on. It's an ethnicity, not a race.

Yeah, but Hispanics don't consider ourselves white. We're half breeds White/Indiginous. Although technically Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity. In forms it usually asks "Are you Hispanic/Latino?" and then "Race" which we are forced to fill in "White" although we are not really white.

But really Hispanics can be any race and combination. White/Native = Mestizo, White/Black = Mulatto, etc.

[Gagz 2,572]

African is African

Asian is Asian

White is white

There are white Africans. African =/= black.

[Gagz 2,572]

Completely agree with her.

[Prometheus 1,494]

Thats very narrow of her to deny her roots like that. I don't get it. Unless you're 100% Native American, if you're black you have ancestry from Africa. And I don't get why people see that as a bad thing.

If I called myself a European-American I would get so much s--t.

[Pop 4,541]

Ugh, I hate the whole ~no label~ ****.

 

It's pandering to the white straight heteronormative society. 

 

Just be who you are and don't be ashamed of it, but don't try to pretend you're not it. That way you're playing THEIR game. 

[craig 680]

And by the way, seeing as some people have brought up Hispanics, this is another thing that's an American-only thing: viewing Hispanic/Latino as a race. Its technical definition is an ethnicity. The entire American continent seems to be the only countries that view Hispanic/Latino as a race and don't consider themselves white. Hispanics are any natives of Central America, South America, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Spain and Portugal. But the Spanish and Portugese don't consider themselves a different race, it's purely a continental American idea. Yes, Hispanics have certain visual differences between them and whites, but not to the extent where they're a separate race. There are many different facial features among whites too - particularly among Scandanavian whites and Mediterranean whites. But that doesn't make them not white. Just because someone's skin is a little bit darker than pure white or there is a slight exotic look to them doesn't make them not white. The perception of white people is that we're all blue-eyed, blonde haired with nothing exotic about us when in fact, there's diversity among all races. Hispanics are just a variation of whites. Don't get me wrong: if you are Hispanic/Latino, be proud, speak Spanish/Portugese, bask in your culture. But be mindful of what being Hispanic actually means. Look up the definition on dictionaries, Wikipedia, the US Census Bureau's definition and so on. It's an ethnicity, not a race.

 

In Canada, we don't consider Hispanics a race either - any more than Italians or Greeks are a race.

 I wonder if the US decision to define them as racially other makes white American more hostile to Hispanic immigration than they might otherwise be.

 

 

Yeah, but Hispanics don't consider ourselves white. We're half breeds

 

 

Isn't that truer of Mexicans than, say, Cubans or Brazilians or Argentinians. 

[Morphine Prince 100,401]

In Canada, we don't consider Hispanics a race either - any more than Italians or Greeks are a race.

 I wonder if the US decision to define them as racially other makes white American more hostile to Hispanic immigration than they might otherwise be, 

The US doesn't consider Hispanics a race. 

[Morphine Prince 100,401]

Isn't that truer of Mexicans than, say, Cubans or Brazilians or Argentinians. 

It's true for many Hispanics. I personally know Cubans and Colombians that have white skin and still don't consider themselves white. 

[Gov Hooka 8,008]

Humans are humans.....we shouldn't be defined by where we come from. Continuing this only continues separation of people and doesn't promote unity.

at the same time it encourages cultural homogenization and a loss of diversity which isn't good.

 

 

Quite personally I identify as an Indian (although I always say Punjabi) American because I think I'm ignoring the whole cultural Indian side of me if I just call myself an American. I am just as much a Punjabi as I am an American.

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.

this

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.

[Ursula Buffay 73]

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