An American Rose Called by Any Other Name...

I'm about to ruffle some feathers and it's about time. An Anglo told me that they did not want to offend me but they were confused why some of us are Black and some of us are African-American.

BLACK PEOPLE and ALL People of Color born or naturalized in this country are AMERICANS. PERIOD.

I am an AMERICAN...just look at my passport. Everywhere in the world that I have traveled to, people said, "Oh, you are an American." That's right. No Hyphenated Bullshit.

I recognize that the whites are calling themselves American and NOT a Hyphen American label but ALL the People Of Color are put in a hyphenated category. This has nothing to do with being PC. The MAN has categorized you, AGAIN.

Marinate That Part.

Africa is a continent not a country.

Enslaved Africans were INTENTIONALLY mixed up so they could no longer communicate with their own countrymen in their native languages. So those DNA kits will typically list more than one African country of your ancestry. Ol' Massa raped our African mothers so you most likely have some of his this and that in the mix.

My grandparents (with the exception of my white grandfather) were called "Colored" and born in America.

My parents were called "Negro" (Spanish for Black, also used in slave records) and born in America.

My American birth certificate identifies me as "Negro".

They have labeled us since they brought us here.

I am an American.

I am of one race - Human - and of Mixed Ethnicities.

I identify with my Black Heritage, and acknowledge my European and Native American Heritages.

IMO that hyphen is just another way to separate us from them. It is the new slave label as far as I'm concerned. I have pissed off a lot of Black folks who wave their AA flag proudly, especially when I query where exactly did their people come from. The majority of us do not know and it's not our fault. They are appalled when I say that I am not African-American. They think it has to do with my complexion but it does not. They think I am not proud of my roots for saying such. That is not my narrative.

I grew up with older cousins, fists in the air, voicing, "Say it loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud. Baby, can you dig it?" I am in every sense of the word Black but my Nationality is American.

I know that there are SOME true African-Americans here like President Barack Obama... father from Africa and mother from America. But you don't know anyone's ethnicity just by looking at them. Go to any country, and no matter what people look like, they identify with their NATIONALITY. This New World country was built with the blood of slavery, and this racism will be not be fully dealt with until each and every one of us is finally acknowledged for who we truly are. AMERICANS.

Baby, can you dig it?