African-American

African American English Alternative forms en African American thumb|Notable African-Americans Etymology Patterned on forms such as Irish-American, popularized by Jesse Jacksonen Isabel Wilkerson January 31, 1989 The New York Times A1 ‘African-American’ Favored By Many of America's Blacks A movement led by the Rev. Jesse Jackson to call blacks African-Americans has met with both rousing approval and deep-seated skepticism in a debate that is coming to symbolize the role and history of blacks in this country. and in common use since the late 1980s.African-American 1960 Pronunciation en /ˈæ.fɹɪ.kən əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.kən/ en LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-African-American.wav US Noun A member of an ethnic group consisting of Americans of black African (particularly Niger-Congo) descent. en Afro-American Afromerican unbleached American slang, archaic, US Thesaurus:person of color en US broadly proscribed sometimes offensive Any black American person; by extension, any black person. en black Negro dated colored dated nigger highly offensive darky highly offensive, dated en person of color nonwhite Usage notes In the US, this term is often seen as a more formal and polite alternative to en black.Cydney Adams Not all black people are African American. Here's the difference. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/not-all-black-people-are-african-american-what-is-the-difference/ CBS News CBS News June 18, 2020 January 18, 2024 https://web.archive.org/web/20260904172208/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/not-all-black-people-are-african-american-what-is-the-difference/ 4 September 2026 Aside from en black and en person of color of color, most other synonyms are dated, and likely to be considered offensive in the US. This term is not generally used for Americans of North African descent, such as Moroccans or Lower Egyptians, nor is it used for European Africans. It is used specifically to denote a population within the United States whose ancestry can be traced to West and Central African peoples brought through the Atlantic slave trade, and whose collective historical experience has been shaped by slavery, racial segregation, and the civil rights movement. However, the term is at times applied imprecisely to other groups, including individuals of West Indian origin, recent African immigrants, or more broadly to any black individual, irrespective of distinct cultural, historical, or national backgrounds. This incorrect usage can cause offense. Derived terms en Africoon-Americoon Translations A black American Arabic: ar أمريكي إفريقي m, ar أمريكية إفريقية f Belarusian: be афраамерыканец m Catalan: ca afroamericà m, ca afroamericana f Chickasaw: cic hattak losa' Chinese: Mandarin: cmn 美國黑人 Měiguó hēirén, cmn 非裔美國人 Fēiyì Měiguórén Chinook Jargon: chn ɬiʔil-man, chn ɬiʔil-tilixam Czech: cs Afroameričan m, cs Afroameričanka f Dutch: nl Afro-Amerikaan m Esperanto: eo afrik-usonano Finnish: fi afroamerikkalainen, fi afrikkalaisamerikkalainen French: fr Afro-Américain m, fr Afro-Américaine f Galician: gl afroamericano m, gl afroamericana f German: de Afroamerikaner m, de Afro-Amerikaner m, de Afroamerikanerin f, de Afro-Amerikanerin f Greek: el αφροαμερικανός m Haitian Creole: ht Afriken-Ameriken Hungarian: hu afroamerikai Irish: ga meiriceánaigh afracacha Japanese: ja アフリカ系アメリカ人 Afurika-kei Amerika-jin Latvian: lv afroamerikānis m, lv afroamerikāne f Lithuanian: lt afroamerikiẽtis m, lt afroamerikiẽtė f Norwegian: Bokmål: nb afroamerikaner m Occitan: oc afroamerican m, oc afroamericana f Polish: pl Afroamerykanin m, pl Afroamerykanka f Portuguese: pt afro-americano m, pt afro-americana f Romanian: ro afroamerican m, ro afroamericană f Russian: ru афро-америка́нец m, ru афро-америка́нка f, ru чёрный америка́нец m, ru чёрная америка́нка f, ru америка́нский негр m, ru америка́нская негритя́нка f Scots: sco Afro-American Serbo-Croatian: sh Afroamerikanac m, sh Afroamerikanka f Spanish: es afroamericano m, es afroamericana f Swahili: sw wamarekani weusi, sw wamarekani wa kiafrika, sw Mwafrika Mmarekani Swedish: sv afroamerikan c Ukrainian: uk афроамерика́нець m, uk афроамерика́нка f Adjective Of a person, pertaining to the African-American ethnicity. en Afro-American en Ben Brumfield Baltimore riots: A few people tried to stop the unrest w:CNN https://www.cnn.com/2015/04/28/us/baltimore-peacemakers-intervene-residents-reverends 2015-04-28 The rioters overshadowed the message of peaceful protesters on prior days: They had called for justice for Gray, a 25-year-old African-American man who died from spinal injuries after police arrested him this month. en US broadly proscribed sometimes offensive of a person black. Of or pertaining to the culture of African-American people. en African-American music Usage notes See the notes about the noun, above. Translations American and black Arabic: ar أمريكي إفريقي m, ar أمريكية إفريقية f Catalan: ca afroamericà m, ca afroamericana f Chinese: Mandarin: cmn 非裔美國人 fēiyì měiguó rén Czech: cs afroamerický Dutch: nl Afro-Amerikaans n Finnish: fi afroamerikkalainen, fi afrikkalaisamerikkalainen French: fr afro-américain m, fr afro-américaine f Galician: gl afroamericano m, gl afroamericana f Georgian: ka აფრო-ამერიკელი, ka აფროამერიკელი German: de afroamerikanisch n, de afro-amerikanisch n Hindi: hi अफ़्रीकी-अमेरिकी, hi अफ़्रीक़ी-अमरीकी Hungarian: hu afroamerikai Japanese: ja アフリカ系アメリカ人 afurika-kei amerika-jin Occitan: oc afroamerican m, oc afroamericana f Polish: pl afroamerykański Portuguese: pt afro-americano Romanian: ro afroamerican m, ro afro-american m Russian: ru афроамериканский Scots: sco Afro-American Spanish: es afroamericano Swahili: sw Mwafrika Mmarekani Swedish: sv afroamerikansk References Further reading African Americans en autohyponyms en American demonyms