The question's meant for people who insist the term "African American" is how you refer to a black person in America. They say "African" is in reference to race, and not culture, meaning a black cuban american would still be african american ().. so, I'm curious how they'll respnond.
It's not offensive, it's a skin colour. It's easily recognizable and useful in situations like the OP said.
If saying black is offensive then so is saying white and no one has an issue with that.
We are all the same, skin colour is nothing but skin colour and shouldn't be made a big deal out of. If you need to identify someone quickly skin colour is a big help!
It's not a skin color; it refers to people with significant Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Most black people aren't actually literally black and black people aren't all the same color anyway. Moreover, there are many non-black people who are of similar colors as black people.
My class actually had a tense/awkward conversation about this yesterday. We were discussing the abolitionist movement, and a white girl kept saying "blacks" and the black guy sitting next to me whispered to me "Why does she keep saying blacks?" It's a discussion class, and my professor heard him mumbling, so he asked him what he was saying, so the guy told the girl that he prefers "African-Americans" to "blacks". But the black girl that was sitting next to him didn't speak up at all, so I don't know if it bothered her or not. I guess it really depends on the person. I thought it was weird how our discussion came up around the same time as this thread.
Edit: In my opinion, saying "blacks" does sound kinda weird, but I think "black people" is okay. Something about "blacks" alone makes it seem like they're not even people or something. I also use African-Americans occasionally.
).. so, I'm curious how they'll respnond.
