First of all, I am an American citizen. My parents were born and raised in America, as were my grandparents, my great-grandparents, and even my great-great-grandparents. So, my question is: why am I classified as an “African-American” when the only thing that links me to Africa is my skin color? I am not disregarding my African ancestors, but at the end of the day, I am not African. If I went to Africa I would be deemed as an American, so why is it that in my own country, I am using another nation to classify my ethnicity?
I understand that for years America has struggled with a universal term for the once enslaved race. From the “N” word to the term “colored people” used during the 40s-70s, the term "African-American" wasn’t adopted until 1988 which is fairly new in reference to the history of America. I suppose that looking back, the term isn’t as offensive as its predecessors, however, personally, I still can’t accept the term "African-American" as my label.
Why are we separating an ethnicity of people that have been a part of the foundations of this country? Many of our ancestors have been here since the 17th century, years before many European immigrants arrived. Interesting enough, they aren’t referred to as European-American.
If the goal of our country is to be a cohesive nation that accepts all ethnicities of people, we cannot continue to create a division between us based on our skin color. It starts with the simple “check the box for your race.” Something as insignificant as the color of our skin already creates the idea that we are different because of our race. We are creating unnecessary divisions that reemphasize a division that already exists.
I am an American, and I should be referred to as an American. Forget white-American, black-American, or any other division we have created. We are one universal term that signifies our one nationality… American.
