"African-American" vs. "black" at the Olympics

[Jonathan Lighter]

I too have known students who referred to the Africans in _Heart of Darkness_ as "African-Americans."  Fortunately they were embarrassed once the error was pointed out to them.

  JL

Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Wilson Gray
Subject: Re: "African-American" vs. "black" at the Olympics
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On 3/8/06, Alice Faber wrote:
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Alice Faber
> Organization: Haskins Laboratories
> Subject: Re: "African-American" vs. "black" at the Olympics
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
------
>
> I've read interviews with black hockey players, born in Canada of
> Barbadian ancestry, expressing mild confusion at being labeled
> "African-American" (especially in the press) when they play for US teams.
>
> David Bergdahl wrote:
> > Last fall some of my students referred to the blacks in Conrad's "Heart
> of
> > Darkenss" as African-Americans--I think they assumed that Af-Am is the
> > polite form of "black" and the nationality issue never occured to
> > them--these same students constantly referred to "British imperialism"
> > despite the fact that the novella is set in the Congo--ruled by Belgium
> at
> > the time. I think something similar is going on with the sports-writer=
.
> >
> > On 3/7/06, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >> -----------------------
> >> Sender: American Dialect Society
> >> Poster: Benjamin Zimmer
> >> Subject: "African-American" vs. "black" at the Olympics
> >>
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
------
> >>
> >> From King Kaufman's sports column on Salon:
> >>
> >> -----
> >>
> >>
> http://www.salon.com/sports/col/kaufman/2006/03/07/tuesday/index1.html#ol=
ympics
> >>
> >> Two weeks ago I wrote about NBC giving American speed skater Shani
> >> Davis short shrift by calling him "the first African-American" to win
> >> an individual gold medal at the Winter Olympics when he was in fact
> >> the first black person of any nationality to do so.
> >>
> >>


True, but had he not been American, I, for one, wouldn't have cared.

-Wilson

> ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>
> --
>
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D
> Alice Faber faber at haskins.yale.edu
> Haskins Laboratories tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
> New Haven, CT 06511 USA fax (203) 865-8963
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



---------------------------------
 Yahoo! Mail
 Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org