Is the term African-American offensive to you?

3-) I'm not black and I don't care[.] The exclamation point isn't necessary. I'm not militantly against this issue.

everyone should define themselves to the nth degree, i'm a scottish, german, ontarian, canadian, north american, western hemispherian human being

I'm a English-Sunset Parker-Brooklynite-New York Citier-New Yorker-Massachusitian-New Englander-USer-North American-Western Hemispherian-Homo sapien-Homo heidelbergensis-Homo erectus-Australopithecus afarensis-Eomaia scansoria
-Acanthostega-Placodermi-choanoflagellates-American

I'm a human bean . . . f*ck the rest of that old stupid bullshit.

By the way, Cicibebe, you need to ask yourself why you need a term for people based on the color of their skin or their ancestry. A nasty son of a bitch is a nasty son of a bitch no matter how you describe them. A sweet, gentle person is sweet and gentle no matter what color their skin is.

Why do you care about this?

I care about this because I don't want to be reprimanded and scolded because of not being politically correct.

Who is going to do that to you?

You seem to be missing the point here. Why would you want to describe someone by their skin color or their ethnic heritage? Would you say, for example, "That black man just stole my purse!" Why would you say that--the color of someone's skin doesn't make them a thief. What would be the point?

Cicibebe, it's simple. You don't need to be politically correct or need to understand it. If you don't shove your foot 3 feet down your throat and say something vile, hateful, or simply regrettable then you won't be scolded or reprimanded.

Simply put. Think about what you say before you say it. If it's wrongheaded and mean spirited then don't say it. Win/win for all. Adding to all of the hateful things in the world isn't going to make it better. Leaving these things unsaid isn't going to make things better either but it's not going to make it far worse.

Something tells me that you don't think at all about what you say out loud to others. You say things in a kneejerkish reaction. Something tells me that you're formal education is sorely lacking (and this includes the ability to empathize with others).

When would you be using the term? there are some contexts where it would seem odd (maybe offensive) to describe someone by their heritage. There are a few contexts where it could be appropriate.

Context makes a lot of difference.

Sometimes context is all-important.

I am reminded of a moment in the O. J. Simpson trial where one of the forensic specialists testified that a hair found in a particular cap was “Negroid.”

Defense Attorney Johnny Cochran jumped on it…and said something to the effect of, “Here in America we have gotten away from the term “Negro” and prefer “African American. Apparently the forensics community has not kept up with the times.”

The witness just let that pass.

I always thought the witness should have said, “We tested the hair and determined the race, Mr. Cochran, but there was nothing in the hair chemistry to determine its nationality.”

Sorry to tell you this..but the nature of some online fora is that people will reprimand so you if you're overly sensitive, participation here might sting a bit. Recognize the fact if there's a hint of racial prejudice, people will try to rip the over off it. You might not be aware of your own programming...even though you THINK you are aware.

Some of us have more life experience with this ugly probelm. If you can't recognize it, others can and call you on it.

That goes for all of us..not just you and not just about the issues about prejudice, social insensitivity and hypocracy.

... but you can't hide behind your lack of understanding of North American or western culture and/or language issues.

a few years ago a former colleague of mine wrote to a local paper to complain about how some suspects were being described in police releases - height/weight/eye colour/hair colour/clothing but no skin colour. He felt it was reasonable to use skin colour as one of the descriptors of people police was asking the public to watch out for. I thought he was right.

I don't think people are thieves because of their skin colour, but skin colour can be one of the descriptors of an individual thief.

You know, if some is saying "That black man stole my purse," the implication is that the alleged thief is still in sight. Sheesh . . .

Cos forgive me but I'm not sure how to respond. First, I can't see a connection between the title and the text and second I'm not sure upon what criterion I'm supposed to choose

"African-American" is used much here and is considered perfectly okay. However, so is "black," but that's long puzzled me

unh hunh

and you're still going to have to identify him somehow - and the more info you can provide the better

"that man" just isn't going to be enough unless it's a very small group of slow-moving people you're looking at

I'll call people what they prefer, and that has changed over years, but I agree with Setanta that this is a mess of a question.

I agree with ehBeth that sometimes a skin color clue could be useful, just like a hat with a propellor would be, if someone stole my purse with money and passport and ran. Better though, if I noticed the runner's clothing. Still, then, skin color matters, in my view, plus age estimate, height, and so on.

Oh, wait, a hoodie.

I don't like Identity Politics and I'm not a fan of hyphenation when it comes to an American's self-identification, but "offended?" In no way.

I would just like these sub-groups to pick a damned moniker and stick with it.

It says something about Identity Politics that the preferred label is as permanent as any style.