What's better?

[erin-x]

This could be a silly question but...

In an essay about ethics, is it better to write Black or African American?

See I think Black is fine but when it's written down it doesn't look right.

Sorry if i'm being totally stupid......

[joko]

atlanta... dont be daft ... black is not an offensive term!

[plautus]

"It is not so long ago that the cry was, "Black is beautiful!" so what's happened since?

[wildwood]

African american should really only be applied to one who is born in Africa and is a naturalised American. All this ****-american only serves to prolong racial tension. A person can easily be proud of their heritage without insisting that to be referred to in an description of them. There are many million of Americans who have a little bit of African blood in their makeup and either ignore it or are ashamed/unaware of it.
To me, it is a lot more important that a citizen is a generally good/kind person?

[237SJ]

In the States, they tend to use "African-American" unless you`re on the Oprah Winfrey show and then they`re "Women Of Colour!"

[Old_Geezer]

That makes them sound rainbow-like !

[pastafreak]

I'd just like to echo what FredPuli said...as an American I am very proud of my roots. We are all descended from immigrants who took the chance and left their own shores for one reason or another....and not necessarily due to persecution-but more often to find a new adventure or more prosperous life. Because of this,our ties withe 'the old country' will still be strong-even if only emotionally.
It is the reason there are still so many diverse communities where pride in where we came from is so apparent.
Most immigrants were not treated well,but I imagine African Americans will feel even stronger about how they define themselves because of the way they arrived-and how long the slavery they were under lasted.

[jomifl]

Brown is a colour, but pale pink isn't?

[jomifl]

What's wrong with 'west coast african with a bit of amerindian and bastard white slave owner ' or perhaps a bar code with the genetic history encoded in it?