[veggiegirl]

I have been researching agencies, facilitators, etc. since we are getting nowhere with the 2 we're already signed up with...on one website, they referred to AA babies as "Black American". Has anyone ever heard this term before? It was new to me. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I don't particularly love the term "Black", but do use it because we have no idea if DD's ancestors are from African, the Caribbean, etc. I also use "African American", mostly when trying to be politically correct with people who don't really understand adoption. AA always seems a bit formal to me though. Black American is pretty wordy, too. I guess it's similar to Native American or American Indian...

[millie58]

I'm American and I use American black Indian. The problem with AA is not all blacks are American.

[sugarandspice697]

I just say Black people. Its short, sweet and too the point.

[SupaModel]

I grew up being just black. Years later it became PC to say African American. I honestly prefer being called black.

[Magic_Hat]

I'm a little unsure about what to say sometimes too because my son's birth mom is African American and his birth dad is Liberian. So usually I say African American/Liberian but if I just say African American, am I including the Liberia, Africa part? I know I don't need to explain to everyone but I want to acknowledge all of his ancestry. I do also say he's black.

[sbaglio]

I think the term "Black American" is a bit outdated. Breaking up the two words, of course, they mean a black American, or AA.

We use the term black. AA and black have become synonymous in the US, and with the African diaspora being so expansive, I think that's quite inaccurate.

I'm not AA, but of African origin. My daughter's bfather is from the Caribbean, and is not AA. My whole family is African, not AA. So we use the term black.

Some are bothered by the term "black", but I'm not sure why. It is what it is, IMO.

[peregrinerose]

We just use black. Considering that some immigrants from South Africa are whiter than I am and are still technically African American and a lot of blacks aren't from Africa at all, AA is a very misleading and often blatantly inaccurate term, not to mention very wordy.

True that 'blacks' aren't really black skinned, but no-one has ever referred to me as 'peachy-beige', only white and I don't find the discriptor of 'white' to be offensive either. But that's just me.

I try to go with whatever the person I'm talking with feels most comfortable with. Given that I work in health care where racial genetics do matter with a lot of diseases, it is a topic of conversation in the exam room, but if I don't know, I go with black/white.

[MB80sgirl]

I usually say black, because you dont know what nationality they are, they could be African, Caribbean, American, or something else. I dont see anything wrong with "black" to describe how someone looks, it's kind of like describing someone as blond or brunette, & anyway, black is beautiful!

[BethanyB]

I too am trying to figure out why so many white people have a hard time with the word black. Can anyone explain this? My kids are black and I'm proud of it.

[manni28]

Actually AA mean an American of African descent. For example, if your ancestors came from Africa, i.e. slave trade, but you were born in America that makes you an American of African origins. Just like a person of Irish ancestry, they identity as Irish-American, they're an American of Irish descent. However, most people of the African Diaspora identity themelves as "BlacK".

-Manni

[nickchris]

I use both Black and AA interchangeably.
West indies background here. My family use Caribbean American.. rarely. Those born in the States use the term African American as well, or Black. Geographically it is all called "The Americas: as well. Since the ancestry is via Africa, the term AA can still apply.

[Sleeplvr]

We use black but will tack on a country of origin if they are an immigrant and the situation could involve cultural differences. One of my doctors is from Nigeria and she uses black but always points out she is of a different culture if the situation warrants.

I've seen the Black American adoption situations online before and thought it was odd. But in looking at how they are posted I assumed that they were indicating that the parents or at least the emom was American and not an immigrant or a non citizen. Sometimes there is extra legal work to be done and extra expenses if the parent is from another country. If the emom is not a citizen she doesn't qualify for medicaid or government services. They may need to hire an intrepreter if english is her second language. Some people may not want to adopt a child who is born of a non citizen.

If you are uncomfortable with the term black you need to figure out why. There is nothing negative to it (it is a race after all) but some people have pegged it as being negative. Since you are raising a black child you need to get comfortable with it or she will eventually pick up that you are not.

[oceanica]

I am really glad you all posted on here... I use the term black at home because that's what most of the people I know use, but I have been careful to avoid saying it when with others because I wasn't sure if it was OK for ME to say. I don't know why I just felt like I shouldn't. With others I use aa but I don't really like the term for reasons others have mentioned. (Well really there are many in the scientific community who say life began in Africa so technically we are all of african origin.... my baby's bdad is Jamaican but of course somewhere along the line his family must have started out in africa.) Anyhow I appreciate the input and feel a little more comfortable with the term now. So it's OK if I have Athena chanting "say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud!" some day? I hope so, because this is the term I'm using from now on.

PS I am sick and tired of older patients at my office using the term "colored"! I hear that several times a week I think.

[Magic_Hat]

Oceanica, I'm not surprised you are hearing older patients use the term colored. I grew up in Florida and was raised thinking that colored was the correct term for black people. It wasn't until probably middle school (early 80s) that we learned it wasn't the right word.

[ChromaKelly]

I'm not uncomfortable using black, my other thread was more about my 4 yr olds being literal, and I didn't know if it would confuse them.

I only started to feel slightly self-conscious about using black when I started getting into adoption forums, and African-American seemed to be used more. But, I've come back around to being comfortable with it.