On CNN, Topic, who is black I heard Black woman say why aren't Norh Africans called Black. What?

[cristales]

To share with Soledad on CNN you should have a little education I would think. But no this giant of intellect demonstrated she doesn'tt know Africa. North Africa is Arab. I don't know why an ignoramus should be given air time to discuss topics they no little or pretened not to know. Does it make them feel better or does it cause their self esteem to up a few notches. I'm of the opinion must people are tired of this crap.

[giganticpail952]

Depends on what you mean by north. West North Africa, commonly known simply as West Africa, is black, except for a few parts. The only Arab parts are Egypt, Libya, and Algeria. Most of North Africa is MUSLIM, but not Arab.

[Kiyanni Lewis]

I saw "Black In America" also.

It was interesting.

Anyway, the Egyptian girl identifies as African American. She is African and American.

[hissinghoney585]

That is because many people living in North Africa are Arabs. That means that their ancestry lies in Arabia. "Blacks" are people who have a long line of ancestors in Africa, who were native to Africa. The Arabs in North Africa, ethnically speaking, are no more African than Arabs in Saudi Arabia except in terms of where they live.

However, any misconception about who is black and who isn't is understandable and does not lie in any sort of low self-esteem. After all, the racial classification system was not based on any consistent fact, evidence, or scientific research. It is a social construct. How do we know who is black and who is not? No gene is exclusively found among "blacks" and not in non-"blacks". Is it based on skin tone? It isn't otherwise the indigenous peoples of Australia, Papua New Guinea, the Andalusians in India, and other populations throughout the world who have predominantly dark skin would be considered to be black but they are not. Are people who have lived in Africa whose families have lived in Africa for more than a century black? They are not otherwise the European-descended peoples, Indians, Arabs, and others in South Africa, North Africa, and other regions of Africa are not.

Those who are "black" are people whose ancestry lies in Africa, whose recent ancestors had cultures and languages that originated in Africa and originated in Africa. So, due to this definition, the Arabs of the North are not Africans but people who have origins outside of Africa.

If there is anything to be tired about, it should be the overuse and over-dependence on a classification system that is not based on fact or science but on ignorance and a need to justify racism. In order to alleviate all of us from its negative implications, it would be best to educate the masses and systematically eradicate its use, especially in the media, in documents, and among political officials.

[Overcome]

Because Black Americans refer to a specific group of people with similar history: They were brought here mostly as slaves and have been in this country for multiple centuries mixing with Native Americans and Whites. They mostly come from west and south Africa. Today they still remain a distinct american group separate from other Americans with African descent (north Africans or recent immigrants from sub saharan Africa. This is why Black American should be used instead of African American.

[Hamiyd]

I'm north African, 1st language Arabic ,Sudanese(north), & i put black(african american decent) on every application so...

[ViolentHunter592]

My friend is Egyptian, she looks like Rita Ora and she says that she is a Black woman. That's how some people are, get over it.

[hugebasket780]

North Africans genetically posses a substantial amount of
Black African ancestry...so it's not surprising. You're focusing
too much on physical appearance. Genetics is a different ball-game.