Where do I begin? I guess there's no place like the beginning...
I am a black American man. I hate the term "African American". Why? It doesn't apply to blacks like me who were born with no visible ties to the mother country other than the tint of our skin. The only way brothers like me can trace their roots to Africa is through DNA testing, and even then we can expect a rude awakening when we find that even the darkest of blacks have caucasian ancestors. Going by skin tone alone, my skin color makes me about as African as Vijay Singh. (I am actually lighter than Vijay Singh, a middle complexioned black I'd say, and while testing I found I also have scandinavian ancestry as well.) Obama, on the other hand, can truthfully make that claim since his father immigrated from the country. Unfortunately, terms like "black" and "African American" are just symptomatic of the underlying racial problems this country faces, a country that has sought to divide and compartmentalize us all no matter what our ethnic and social backgrounds. I could go on all day about the perspective from my side of the racial divide, but that's a discussion for another day.
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