[blackize]

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if so are you suggesting that the fact that i am black bears no relevance b/c "at the end of the day we're all american"? i really hope not b/c that is just naive. no, it shouldn't "matter" that i'm black, but you do not need to be overly pc to the point where i cannot reference myself as being black/afro-american/etc.

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"At the end of the day we are all American" is basically my opinion on the matter.

It shouldn't matter that you are black and in reasonable circles, it doesn't matter. I don't think it is overly PC to refer to yourself as black or African-American. You aren't from Africa and I would bet that your cultural upbringing had virtually nothing in common with any African cultures or traditions.

Furthermore, what is African culture? Africa is an enormous continent with a variety of different cultures and experiences. It would make more sense for you to call yourself Sierra-Leonean-American than to overly generalize as African-American.

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i'm confident that regardless of their current location, black people can be traced back to africa.

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If you want to go this route then we're all Africans since that is where it is believed humanity originated.

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given that i am a minority, merely saying that i am "american" is not a completely accurate classification.

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This type of thinking is conducive to racism IMO. It implies that there is something different about you because of the color of your skin.

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african americans are just a subset of black people.

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If anything it is the other way around since white people also come from Africa.

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next i suppose you are going to say puerto ricans should just call themselves americans

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I don't see this as different from someone from Texas identifying as Texan or someone from Virginia identifying as Virginian.

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same for american indians, i mean if you were born here you are an american right?

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Native Americans don't refer to themselves as Indian so this example is invalid. Being part Cherokee, I can safely say that they don't identify themselves in overly general historic terms like African Americans or Native Americans but rather as a part of their specific tribe or don't make a distinction at all.

Our goal should be that all members of society be treated the same regardless of race or religion. Focusing on historical mistreatments certainly does not help us move forward IMO.