Klarinet Archive - Posting 000303.txt from 1999/02

From: DHmorgan@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] re:Black, or African American
Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 23:47:56 -0500

In a message dated 2/6/99 10:33:06 PM Pacific Standard Time,
James.P.Reed@-----.net writes:

<< As somebody with Arab blood, I'm always amazed that only sub-Saharan
people of African descent are referred to as African-American while
other peoples, just as indigenous to Africa, are not allowed to be
referred to as African-American. There are folks who then draw the
conclusion that African-American is just another, fancier, racist term,
especially since is it used in a discriminatory manner regarding the
peoples descended from Africans - meaning all of Africa, from Egypt to
Morocco to South Africa. Any opinions on this out there? >>

Great point--we're getting WAY off subject here, but quickly: American blacks
have been rediscovering their African roots as a way of getting in touch with
who they are--see my previous post on Immersion/Emmersion and group identity
earlier in this thread. It seems to be a step towards a kind of nativist
movement, where a political identity is forged from a shared ethnic past.
Nativism was a very powerful force in Northern Ireland where they purposely
revived their dying language and re-established dying customs in or to assert
their Irishness as part of a political agenda. The idea is that blacks could
so the same with their Africanness. But the plan has a critical flaw--we are
not in Africa! I think nativism can only hold sway when it's a matte of
taking back one's 'native' land, as the 'blacks' did in South Africa. And
American blacks are so incredibly American it's not even funny. American
blacks built this country's economy, fight it's battles, and are confoundingly
patriotic considering how they've been treated.

Strange as it sounds, if we were to stick to terms like 'dark skinned people'
and 'light skinned people,' we would constantly be pointing out to ourselves
the ridiculousness of discrimination based on such a bizarre criteria!

Truly,
Don

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org