"African-American" is not a Euphemism
By: Kaitlyn Herdé
When should we use “African-American”? Many people use the term interchangeably with “black” without realizing the history and gravity of each term. As we dive deeper into their origins, major differences can be found in both terms to help us better refer to a person of color.
Reverend Jesse Jackson, the famous Baptist minister and civil rights activist, helped to coin African-American in the 1980s as an alternative to black, which itself had replaced the terms “negro” and “colored” in the 1960s, following the Civil Rights Movement. Jackson pushed for the widespread use of African-American, saying that black only tells you about the color of someone’s skin, whereas African-American “evokes discussion of the world.” However, forty years after his campaign, Jackson’s worldly term still has some issues on its own.
The phrase “African-American” assumes that every black person in America is originally from Africa, because that’s what seems to make sense. We know that black people first came to America as slaves from the African continent, and we know that many of those peoples’ descendants have remained here for generations, so it follows that black Americans would have a direct line to Africa, right? Wrong! A black person can be from Canada, Italy, or really anywhere, especially today, when people have been migrating and moving for centuries. Black people They should not have to claim a nonwhite country as an explanation for their appearance. Using African-American as a blanket term for black people excludes tons of identities and ignores thousands of diasporic communities from around the world. Sure, some people might say that “everyone comes from Africa”, but white Americans or people of white complexions are not as often expected to claim another country that they have no direct connection to solely because it explains their appearance.
Some people use African-American because they feel it’s a more respectful alternative or because it’s easier to say, but it’s important to remember that black isn’t a bad word and referring to someone as black is not taboo. Jackson was right when he said that black only tells you about the color of someone’s skin, but using African-American so as not to appear racist is avoiding the discussion of identity. Using the label that is more comfortable for you rather than for the person you are identifying disregards what they want and ignores entire pieces of their heritage and identity. Those who feel that African-American properly identifies them have the power to make that decision without anyone else’s approval, and such is the same for those who believe that just black is enough for them. And if you're unsure how someone might want you to identify them, the best thing to do is respectfully ask.
As we celebrate Black History Month, it’s important to recognize that not everyone who is black is African-American. Black people come from all over the world. The labels are not interchangeable because there is a difference between ethnicity, race, and nationality. There is a difference between identity and appearance, and identity is much too complex to categorize with one catch-all label.