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The phrase is used as a sort of "catch-all" name for those descendant of slaves in America, but who were actually born in America and not where their ancestors were born. African at the front is to describe where many believe the slaves were born and captured, and to describe what what ancestry that American is, as opposed to Asian American, Latino American, etc.
These phrases serve to identify people in America by the origin of their ANCESTORS, e.g. by the COUNTRY of origin. It has NOTHING to do with race or skin color, it has to do with country of ancestors OR the person. AND the term is NOT assigned from outside the group but from within the group as a form of cultural pride.
Therefore:
- Americans who came from OR have ancestors from Africa are African-Americans.
- Americans who came from OR have ancestors from Asia are Asian-Americans.
- Americans who came from OR have ancestors from Cuba are Cuban -Americans.
- Americans who came from OR have ancestors from Franceare French-Americans.
- Americans who came from OR have ancestors from Germanyare German-Americans.
- Americans who came from OR have ancestors from Mexicoare Mexican-Americans.
- Americans who came from OR have ancestors from Polandare Polish-Americans.
- Americans who came from OR have ancestors from Slovakiaare Slovanian-Americans.
- etc. etc.
Some persons are also described by nationality, such as "He is a French nationalist."
NOTE: These distinctions were far more prevalent during the 1800s up through early 1900s when "foreigners" (as they were called then) came to America, often recruited by coal or steel companies. Between 1900 and 1960s, some people became more 'accepted' and so, people began to accept us all as simply Americans. The last group to fight for acceptance in the 1960s were African-Americans. Then, with influx of people from Mexico and Cuba, those 2 groups joined other groups in fighting to be accepted as simply Americans.
HOWEVER-- Cultures also celebrate their ancestry through these labels. How many communities have street fairs hosted by Polish Americans, German Americans, etc? So even though it SEEMS the term African-American singles out one group, it doesn't AND is a way for the group itself to celebrate its ancestry.
Answer: the answer lies in the structure of the English language, which puts modifiers before nouns. An African American is an American who happens to be African in some way, but an American African is an African who happens to be American in some way. Given the usage that the modifier describes the source, and the noun describes the citizenship or where a person's home is, I would take American African to be used for a person who was a citizen of an African country whose ancestors came from America.
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∙ 11y ago
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