Is a Black US citizen "African American" if s/he is originally from the West Indies?

Question

Or is s/he "West Indian American"?

Answer 1

to be honest with you, there are white african citizens

Answer 2

The person above me has this covered.

*Of west indian and African-American descent*

Answer 3

West Indies//?..I'm African American, which means my ancestors can be linked back to Africa, not the West Indies.

Answer 4

No, that makes you caribbean-american

or if you wanna be specific, jamaican-american, trinidadian-american, cuban-american etc....

Caribbean peoples arent considered african americans because we trace our roots to the slaves of the Caribbean region, not the slaves of the American South who have been here for generations.

Also, although there ARE white africans, they arent considered "african-american" because although they might have been born in Africa, they arent indigenous to Africa and almost invariably have more cultural, political, and social ties to Europeans than to native Africans. Most white-africans are reffered to by their ethnic group, not by their connection to africa (ex: aafrikaner rather than "dutch-african", pied-noir rather than "french-african" etc). A white person born in china isnt asian, is he? so why would a white person born in Africa be African? perhaps by citizenship but not by descent

Answer 5

"African American" is a completely incorrect term. Black people can come from many places. They don't neccesarily need to be African, and white people can be African Americans too.

It is generally used for all blacks, though, no matter their actual origin.

Answer 6

no we aint.

i agree with lex diamond. that dude always got some good answers.

i guess you can call yourself african american, but i don't know.

i usually put african american on my paper becasue that's the only choice i have.

i would prefer to be called black instead if they give me a chance to write

but real african american's are the black people that has had generations and generations of their family here and were born here

like me if someone ask me something about my ethnicity or race. im never gonna just say african american. i would say Haitian first and then. But you know after i say haitian they don't classify me as african american or white or wahtever.

They're just like

Oh oH you're haitian