Talk:African Americans
This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the African Americans article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject. |
Article policies
|
Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL |
Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27Auto-archiving period: 60 days |
This article is written in American English, which has its own spelling conventions (color, defense, traveled) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus. |
This level-5 vital article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Previous discussions concerning the infobox in the top right corner of the article can be found at Talk:African Americans/summary. |
Black American over African American
I have been reading that "Black American" is taking precedence as the newest, best preferred term over "African American." Is either acceptable in most articles right now? Iljhgtn (talk) 18:56, 1 January 2024 (UTC)
- Also, is it appropriate to capitalize the "B" in "Black Americans" or is it "black Americans"? Iljhgtn (talk) 20:51, 9 January 2024 (UTC)
- It is correct to capitalize the B in Blacks, as in L for Latinos and A for Asians. However is its NOT correct to do the same for w in whites. Associated Press and New York Times have determined that "white doesn’t represent a shared culture and history in the way Black does." (Personally I see this as regressive in implying all Black cultures are similar, when in reality they are quite varied.) The underlying message however is that whites are the only racial group not befitting a capital letter.
- https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-cultures-race-and-ethnicity-us-news-ap-top-news-7e36c00c5af0436abc09e051261fff1f 107.192.19.201 (talk) 21:03, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- We follow MOS:RACECAPS. It's "Black and White" or "black and white". Rsk6400 (talk) 09:07, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- The most recent move discussion happened last march (link), and it ended in consensus against such a move. I'd recommend researching whether things have changed when it comes to RS usage of the terms. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 13:34, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- At the very least we can say that Black American should be prioritized over Afro-American right? Google searching "Afro Americans"/"Afro-Americans" gives 1.5 million results while "Black Americans" gives around 24.6 million. (Both are searched with quotation marks included) Gabecube45 (talk) 20:02, 7 April 2024 (UTC)
- Support for "Black American" as the recommended preferred usage instead of "Afro", "Afro-" or "African American". Black American is the best, most neutral, and widely used term. Iljhgtn (talk) 15:40, 9 April 2024 (UTC)
- Oppose: On Google books, "Black African" brings up 2,080,000 results [1], whilst "African American" brings up 23,100,000 results [2].I don't know of anyone who uses the old fashioned term "Afro American". To use it as an example is most inappropriate.Tamsier (talk) 16:12, 16 May 2024 (UTC)
African American flag in lead infobox
Hello @Rsk6400,
You reverted my edit which placed the Black American Heritage Flag in the lead infobox, saying that the flag is not universally accepted. Would you have any sources to back up your claim?
I can't find anything saying the flag is universally accepted as well, though I did get flooded with a lot of results on Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/discover/black-american-heritage-flag
There have also been at least two instances, that made the news, where the flag was incorporated into fashion: https://girlsunited.essence.com/article/saweetie-met-gala-filipino-black-culture/ and https://www.milwaukeemag.com/this-milwaukee-native-won-the-united-states-of-america-ms-pageant/ Evaporation123 (talk) 03:10, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
- We need sources for claims, not for the absence of claims. That's why I think to add the flag, you'd need good sources that positively say that the Black American Heritage Flag is universally accepted as representing the group of African Americans. Tiktok videos or fashion articles are not considered reliable sources. You can find more about reliable sources at WP:RS. Rsk6400 (talk) 08:03, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
- The flag was designed by an artist who self published (BookBaby) as cited in the flag's article without page number. Many of the article's refs are not reliable and from social media. Protesting here may also lead other editors to that article and nominate it for deletion as potential WP:OR.Tamsier (talk) 16:22, 16 May 2024 (UTC)
Featured picture scheduled for POTD
Hello! This is to let editors know that File:Sgt. Samuel Smith, African American soldier in Union uniform with wife and two daughters.jpg, a featured picture used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for February 1, 2025. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2025-02-01. For the greater benefit of readers, any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be done before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you! — Amakuru (talk) 12:11, 29 March 2024 (UTC)
African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans or Black Americans, are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. African Americans constitute the third largest racial or ethnic group in the U.S. after White Americans and Hispanic and Latino Americans. Most African Americans are descendants of enslaved people, having West African and coastal Central African ancestry, with varying amounts of Western European and Native American ancestry. This ambrotype depicts African American Union soldier Sgt. Samuel Smith, of the 119th United States Colored Troops, with his family in c. 1863–65. Ambrotype credit: unattributed photographer
Recently featured:
|
Terminology / General — Frequency of Use prior to 1980
The term African American, popularized by Jesse Jackson in the 1980s, although it was in regular use as far back for the ethnic group in the 18th and 19th centuries, for example, in post-emancipation holidays and conferences,
We could improve the WP:WEIGHT of the references to "african american" use prior to 1980. There are practically zero references in books prior to 1980
We have some good citations here including the 1800s newspaper, but in all there might be half a dozen references recorded prior to Jessee Jackson inventing the term.
African american was not in regular use
. Negro was in regular use, and "african american" was an extremely rare exception until 1980.
Tonymetz 💬 21:24, 15 May 2024 (UTC)
- "regular use" was not supported by the text, and I've adjusted the article text accordingly. Good catch. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 23:59, 15 May 2024 (UTC)
Semi-protected edit request on 17 May 2024
17:05, 17 May 2024 (UTC)188.10.18.131 (talk)
This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request. |
Most African Americans are descendants of enslaved people within the boundaries of the present United States.[1][2] While some Black immigrants or their children may also come to identify as African American, the majority of first-generation immigrants do not, preferring to identify with their nation of origin.[3] Most African Americans are of West African and coastal Central African ancestry, with varying amounts of Western Europe.
188.10.18.131 (talk) 17:05, 17 May 2024 (UTC)<ref>https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/decennial-census-measurement-of-race-and-ethnicity-across-the-decades-1790-2020.html <ref> 188.10.18.131 (talk) 17:05, 17 May 2024 (UTC)
- Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. GrayStorm(complaints department|look at what i do) 18:00, 17 May 2024 (UTC)
- ^ Gomez, Michael A: Exchanging Our Country Marks: The Transformation of African Identities in the Colonial and Antebellum South, p. 29. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina, 1998.
- ^ Rucker, Walter C. (2006). The River Flows On: Black resistance, culture, and identity formation in early America. LSU Press. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-8071-3109-1.
- ^ Forson, Tracy Scott (February 21, 2018). "Who is an 'African American'? Definition evolves as USA does". USA Today. Archived from the original on May 16, 2023. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
- Wikipedia articles that use American English
- C-Class vital articles
- Wikipedia level-5 vital articles
- Wikipedia vital articles in Society and social sciences
- C-Class level-5 vital articles
- Wikipedia level-5 vital articles in Society and social sciences
- C-Class vital articles in Society and social sciences
- C-Class African diaspora articles
- Top-importance African diaspora articles
- WikiProject African diaspora articles
- C-Class Civil Rights Movement articles
- Top-importance Civil Rights Movement articles
- WikiProject Civil Rights Movement articles
- C-Class Ethnic groups articles
- Top-importance Ethnic groups articles
- WikiProject Ethnic groups articles
- C-Class United States articles
- Top-importance United States articles
- C-Class United States articles of Top-importance
- WikiProject United States articles