Reply #12: Blackness is not exclusive to "African-Americans"

[Colobo]

I feel the problem is that people in this country say "black" as if it meant, automatically, "African-American". It does not.

I consider "African-American" to be an ethnic group based on the culture created and shared by the descendents of African slaves in American territory. It is more of a cultural group composed by black people than a racial group with a distinct culture. In fact, there are white Americans that could be considered culturally part of the African-American community.

In this country, there are many, many, many blacks from other parts of the world that have very little to do, culturally, with African-Americans. I am one of them. I'm darker than Frenchiecat, Obama, and many of the people in the pictures. I'm treated as an African-American when I'm in public, until I open my mouth. I'm Puerto Rican and have very little to do, culturally, with African-Americans. (And please don't come up with the "Puerto Rican/Hispanic is a race" because it is not. There are more blacks in Latin America an Brazil than in the US).

For instance, Obama is racially, phenotypically, a black man. That's obvious. Him being part of the African-American community is an issue that should have nothing to do with his skin color.