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HelpRe: African-American section
in reply to a message by Rachel Shaina
Why does it have African in it?
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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African Americans have a naming style that’s entirely unique to them, which is why these names have their own section on BtN. If Keshia was only listed as American racists most likely would still have negative things to say about it because it’s mostly used among African Americans.
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Are you really this obtuse?
It has the word "African" in it because African-Americans exist. They exist and they are not the same as European-Americans or Asian-Americans or any other Whatever-Americans there are. One thing African-Americans have done, unlike other Whatever-Americans, is to create their own naming culture. And they did this as a reaction to centuries of bondage and discrimination. And if you want to ask why African-Americans did this as opposed to the other races and groups, it's because, while other races and groups have experienced discrimination in America, none other have experienced it for so long a time and to the degree that African-Americans have.
So some people are racist and some people see an African-American name and automatically think "ghetto" and "trashy." They do this because they are racist. They are. The names in and of themselves are not racist, and those who categorize the names are not racist.
It actually shows a lack of respect for African-American culture to insist that there is no such thing as an African-American name and/or insist that they shouldn't be categorized as such.
If you are really offended, then you should target the correct people, the people making the racist "ghetto" and "trashy" statements. What you are doing is akin to arguing that all blacks should be moved back to Africa so that whites won't be tempted to act racist towards them.
It has the word "African" in it because African-Americans exist. They exist and they are not the same as European-Americans or Asian-Americans or any other Whatever-Americans there are. One thing African-Americans have done, unlike other Whatever-Americans, is to create their own naming culture. And they did this as a reaction to centuries of bondage and discrimination. And if you want to ask why African-Americans did this as opposed to the other races and groups, it's because, while other races and groups have experienced discrimination in America, none other have experienced it for so long a time and to the degree that African-Americans have.
So some people are racist and some people see an African-American name and automatically think "ghetto" and "trashy." They do this because they are racist. They are. The names in and of themselves are not racist, and those who categorize the names are not racist.
It actually shows a lack of respect for African-American culture to insist that there is no such thing as an African-American name and/or insist that they shouldn't be categorized as such.
If you are really offended, then you should target the correct people, the people making the racist "ghetto" and "trashy" statements. What you are doing is akin to arguing that all blacks should be moved back to Africa so that whites won't be tempted to act racist towards them.
This message was edited 6/19/2018, 2:11 PM
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Sorry if you got that. That's not my point. My point is that I just don't think it should be associated with Africa since the names aren't from African names. You really didn't have to insult me to get your point through.
This message was edited 6/19/2018, 2:58 PM
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The names are not associated with Africa, and nobody on this site says they are. They are associated with African-Americans. If the correct term for African-Americans did not include the word "African", then the title of the name category would not include it, either.
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The term Black Americans could be used. Anyways, this message board wasn't to get something changed. I was just stating my opinion.
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I agree that it's confusing, how usage and origin are distinguished on this website. It's not obvious that that is what's up. Like if you go to the Browse Names page, and look at the list of "Usage," there's no "African-American" listed. But there's an African (languages) list. There's not even an "American" listed. The reason is because that list is really origins, like linguistic or etymological - not usages.
African-American is supposed to refer to usage, not language of origin. That's supposed to be true of all the other usages marked on the individual name pages too, but it's probably a little inconsistent. Like, Mila is not marked as a French usage - but it was the sixth most popular name in France in 2016, so it really should be. But just because a name is listed as one usage, doesn't mean that other usages are excluded (many names listed African-American have been used by both black and non-black Americans).
The usage category is called "African-American" just because that's currently the term that seems to be preferred. It could as well be Black American.
African-American is supposed to refer to usage, not language of origin. That's supposed to be true of all the other usages marked on the individual name pages too, but it's probably a little inconsistent. Like, Mila is not marked as a French usage - but it was the sixth most popular name in France in 2016, so it really should be. But just because a name is listed as one usage, doesn't mean that other usages are excluded (many names listed African-American have been used by both black and non-black Americans).
The usage category is called "African-American" just because that's currently the term that seems to be preferred. It could as well be Black American.
This message was edited 6/19/2018, 3:46 PM
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Thank you.
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