It seems like a lot of people, when they hear someone say "I'm black and proud," they either freak out and call them racists or sit and wonder why be proud of a genetic difference in which you have no control over. I think this question has been asked a few times and I'm not sure if it's been answered effectively, so here's my answer: Black people like saying "black and proud" because it's a self-esteem and pride thing and it's a way of saying they will not be defined by society's rules, in a country that has historically treated minorities (not just blacks, minorities in general) as second-class citizens. For a long time, being black meant you had no rights and were just the bottom of the barrel, almost to the point where being black was considered a curse, even after the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. On paper, "equal protection under the law" exists via the 14th Amendment but in practice, not so much, otherwise there'd be no reason for the Civil Rights Movement. And while being black today is not really a curse, other people still have the nerve to look at you like you're trash for no reason other than being darker, or just rush to judgments without thinking it through. And no, the phrase is not offensive nor is it suggesting that other races are inferior or they've never encountered struggles.
I completely agree, but I wonder what your response is to the 'white and proud' crowd. They seem pretty blind to context.
The purpose for saying something carries the meaning and intent, not the phrase itself, and with this phrase and those like it, I’d suggest there will be a wide range of different intentions and meanings behind it. It’s true the this whole concept grew out of the fundamental state-sanctioned discrimination against blacks, especially in the US and in that context was a perfectly legitimate response to the clear implication that being black is something to be ashamed of. Today things are much more complex and while there is certainly ongoing social discrimination against black people there is also an element of pushing the pendulum too far the other way and very real attitudes that go beyond equality. In those contexts, that same phase carried very different undertones. As per my standard conclusion in this area, you guys don’t have a white problem or a black problem, you have an American problem and needs action from all Americans to resolve it.
Listen guys !! For those of you who grew up in the North East or the more populated parts of the Midwest or West you would have heard just about very group sy that they are proud of being what they have had no control over. Irish and Proud ! Proud Italian, Proud Potato Picker from Maine - I grew up in the Frog Hollow section of Hartford CT so we had Maniacs obviously from Maine migrant down to work in "our" factories but they were proud to have been French Maine-niacs who picked potatoes. In New Britain CT you saw t-shirts that say "I'm A Proud Polack", Proud Italian. Proud Puerto Rican emerged over the years. Then Black pride showed up...... Then out of the West from the dark corners of San Fransisco the Gay Pride gangs paraded their colorful garb and language.... Proud Queers, Proud Friends of Gays, all the Proud Gay Brides .... Happy Homos..or whatever they were proud of that morning..... Texans must have claimed to be proud at some time or another... as did Texicans and Mexicans. So if some gamoke wants to be proud and tell you all about it and you don't like it , so what - ignore the gaboomka and he will go away....
Sub-Saharan Africans don't identify as "black". Only African-Americans do. In Sub-Sahara Africa people identify with their ethnic group. Most these ethnic groups hate each other, so it is foolish to invent the concept of "black" to try to cluster them socio-politically, but African-Americans are loons who suffer from an identity crisis.
Its because African-Americans are mutts. They're a mix of different West African ethnic groups with substantial mixture from European colonials, and also some Native American. This identity crisis has produced crazy groups like Black Hebrew Israelites, Nation of Islam etc.
Of course, blacks here have all kinds of races and ethnicities they've mixed with over the years where you have black hispanic and non-Hispanic or black Japanese or Chinese and so on. For most of Africa, it's just race and tribal really.
That, and few black Americans know their ancestry. Their names, religion and language were changed and they were forced to forget their heritage.
