Black or African-American?
The answer is: however they want you to!
If you’re unsure how someone identifies, it is ok to respectfully ask them what term they prefer to describe their racial identity. Being able to choose how we identify ourselves is an act of self-empowerment. Having others respect your choice requires power that people of African descent around the world have historically lacked.
At this moment in history, many people in the United States (where SEE is based) prefer to identify as Black, with a capital B. This term has particularly gained favor among younger Americans. Some older people still prefer African-American and some use the terms interchangeably.
Brianna Noble and her Appaloosa Dapper Dan, May 2020 (Photo credit: Shira Bezalel)
(Photo credit: Matt Harnake)
The term Black is typically capitalized because it is meant to be the proper name of a racial group and not a color.
The term race just refers to groups of people who have biological traits (like eye, hair, or skin color) that society deems socially significant, meaning people are treated differently because of them. Race doesn’t necessarily indicate any shared ancestry, and historically, powerful members of society have decided who was part of various racial groups rather than individuals themselves.
Over the generations, Black people have identified themselves by many terms and the changes in terminology reflect their ongoing struggle to end racial discrimination and violence and create a more just American society. All of the terms in the word cloud were considered polite and acceptable at certain times or in certain situations.
In 1892, Frederick Douglas used the term colored people in his writing, but Ida B Wells used the term Afro-American in the very same publication. The great scholar WEB DuBois used the terms black, not capitalized, and Negro in 1903. The term Negro, capitalized, remained a polite way to refer to Black people through the mid-1960s.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), founded in 1909, and the United Negro College Fund, founded in 1944, both still retain the preferred naming of their era. In the late 1960’s the term Black rose in the context of the Black power movement, which sought to define Black as a proper noun and reinforce that Black identity is beautiful.
Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture (Photo credit: Brian McNichols)
Exhibit on Black Jockeys at the National Museum of African-American History and Culture
The term African-American has been widely used since it was popularized in the 1980’s by the Rev. Jesse Jackson. It was intended to pay homage to many Black people’s ancestry as descendants of enslaved Africans and to assert Black people’s American-ness.
The more recent shift towards the term Black is intended to be more inclusive of Black immigrants who trace their roots to the Caribbean and elsewhere around the world. It also recognizes that many Black families have been Americans for 10 generations and have no direct ties to Africa, particularly in comparison to recent immigrants.
If you’re not sure what term is the right one, just ask what individuals prefer! We all deserve power over how people refer to us.
More Resources on this Topic
Article by Dr. Nell Irvin Painter in the Washington Post
Great discussion on Instagram started by Black Equestrians
Twitter thread by Glo Atanmo
