Link Banana

K. A. Dilday’s thoughts on the difference between “black” and “African-American” are useful to a country that too often fears to discuss it. (Though I think she may misunderstand the original purpose of the latter term, which I was taught Jesse Jackson pushed for as a reminder of the dark history of forced emigration from places unknown, not as a way to exclude more recent black immigrants.)

Distinguishing between American black people based on their ancestors’ arrival date ignores the continuum of experience that transcends borders and individual genealogies and unites black people all over the world. Yes, scientists have shown that black means nothing as a biological description, but it remains an important signal in social interaction. Everywhere I travel, from North Africa to Europe to Asia, dark-skinned people approach me and, usually gently but sometimes aggressively, establish a bond.