Ethnicity

[Adam]

Before anything else:
I consider myself a European-Caucasian-African-American.

Debate topic one:
Is it possible to be Caucasian and be African-American?

Debate topic two:
If you have to call a black person "African-American" should "African-Americans" have to call white people "European-Caucasian"?

Info on topic three: People in many other countries are "Black" but are not African. A country that is an example of this is Jamaica.
Debate topic three:
Is "African-American" an appropriate term?

 

[Zearl]

You are taking the relative term much too literal. So literal, in fact, you have pushed away its original meaning.

The term African-American was to replace the word Black. During that time things were very edgy that society thought it was more broadly accepyed to differentiate people by Nationality rather than simple skin tone. The minorities did not concede with this practice.

Conclusion:

Poor thesis. Poor debate.

 

[AaronOliver1993]

Kind of a semantics debate, but a valid point nonetheless. Another good question: is a white person born in South Africa, that moves to America considered an African American?

 

[Adam]

@Above My dad is from South Africa and moved to America. That technically makes me African-American.

 

[Relapse]

Well according to wikipedia to be an African-American you must meet the following criteria

Spoiler

are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States

 

[Adam]

According to that definition if a "black" kids ancestors were not slaves then he/she is not an "African-American". For that reason this definition does not work.

 

[Relapse]

Thats just the original definition, it was later changed to categorize all black people in America for "political correctness"
Since 1977, in an attempt to keep up with changing social opinion, the United States government officially classified black people (revised to black or African American in 1997) as "having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa."

 

[eXero]

This debate is a bit shallow. The correct debate should be what defines a ******, and what defines an African-American. And no I am not racist.