North America is a continent. Central America is a region within North America, just as Pasadena is a region within Greater Houston.
Every country has different cultures. Are you going to call me Chinese, thinking that Chinese and Korean have similar cultures? (Even though I was raised in an American culture, and that Chinese and Korean cultures are not similar at all) It's like calling any Hispanics, Mexican, even if they are Honduran, Argentinian, or whatever. I don't get offended just by the fact people call me Chinese, Japanese, or whatever. It's the ignorance that some people have that pisses me off. For Example... Chinese, Korean, Japanese are the same thing. Same culture, same looks, same language, etc. Same could be said with people and their looks with the Hispanics. I don't mind people asking me, "What race are you?" I do mind when people assume I'm Chinese without asking, and ask, "Do you speak Chinese?" Sometimes it seems that people get surprised that I was born and raised in Houston.
Damn this thread has gone on tangents, All I'm asking is that the general american get on the Internet and learn a few damn countries, would that be too hard? Learn about Nigeria,Egypt,Ethiopia,South Africa and many more countries. Understand that you cannot look like a "Continent" for example by saying, Hey you don't look Asian, Iraq is in Asia guys. Just to Clarify there are seven Continents Asia,Africa,Europe,North America, South America, Oceania (Australia) and Antarctica. Central America is a geopolitcal/cultural region and so is the middle east. Middle east is not a damn continent, and the middle east traverses two continents. You cannot look "Asian", just as the same way you cannot look "American", its a a diverse entity, Asia alone contains 60% of the world's population most of them in India,China,Indonesia,Pakistan and Bangladesh.
I'm just teasing you. I've been to Egypt, so I guess I've been to Africa. Rode a camel around the Great Pyramid. Climbed partway up it and went inside. I think I can safely say that Egyptians don't consider themselves Africans. Not the ones I spoke with.
it doesn't matter if they don't consider themselves "African" the fact is Egypt is in Africa but there is no such thing as an African indentity, if there was then why the hell would Hutus and Tutsis kill each other indiscriminately? Why is their so much ethnic strife throughout Africa? It doesn't matter what the average person considers one group to be, there are six inhabited continent, and the people of those countries belong to the continent they're in. The world is a diverse place and there is so such thing as a continental identity.
He'd prefer to be called Charles, but if you have to label him, he calls himself a Jamaican. When people call him African American they are wrong on all counts.
Well his ethnicity is still from a country on the American continent.... People not using labels is too idealistic. I'm not saying that it's not potentially insulting to be identified as a label, but one can't outright dismiss the intentions of the person using them.
LOL! Some Somalians, some South Africans, some Ethiopians, some Mauritians, some Libyans... etc don't consider themselves Africans. Weather it's due to the constant negative coverage of Africa and hence self loathing and hatred of anything African. Or just pure ignorance, the fact is they are all African. They are part of the African Union (AU) and participate events within the african community.
You are correct on the boarders issue. However as you seem to have acknowledged there is a diverse history and culture. Within the individual countries, but also across these artificial boarders. A Nigerian, Tanzanian, Algerian, Madagascan not only do not share the same culture, language or history but in most cases do not even look alike. They have little to nothing in common so why would they all want to be reffered to as the same.
I find that the average European is much more knowledgable on world geography than the average American. Maybe it's due to the fact that they are former colonialists and are therefore taught this in there History and Geography classes.
Ethnic origins According to the 2001 census, Jamaica's population mainly consists of people of African descent, comprising 91.2% of the demographics.[1] Multiracial Jamaicans make up 6.2% of the population,[1] and "other or unknown" Jamaicans (including Indian, Chinese, British, Irish, and German Jamaicans) make up 2.6% of the population.[1] Immigration has been greatly rising from China, Haiti, Cuba, Colombia, and other Latin American countries; 20,000 Latin Americans currently reside in Jamaica. 7,000 Americans also reside in Jamaica.[13][14][15] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You're right, it's wrong to say he is African American. But a tolerable mistake IMO. We have to avoid generalization but also understand that this is NOT a sensitive issue - all humans are the same, and no one should be insulted to be called something else. As long as it's reasonable and not intended in the wrong way, just correct it and move on.
True. Tunisians and Kenyans are just as different as South East Asians and Middle Easterners. Fact of the matter is, continents are useless. No one controls them, no one leads them, no one defines them properly, nothing. They're just an additional way to create hatred without serving ANY notable benefit. What have you ever gained from it? Unless we're going to appoint a king of Africa... otherwise, the "continent" of Africa is a worthless title.
If you really think people from american can tell a nigerian from a Kenyan you have lost it. I was friends with a ton of people in school from AFRICA (my bad) and while I knew which country they were from, it held no significance to me beyond knowing one guy was from where Deke was born and the other guy where Dream was born.
I don't get it. If I go to South America, they can call me North American or American. I wouldn't feel insulted. Why cry about symantics?
I don't get why people would get offended if somebody incorrectly calls them Chinese instead of Korean or vice versa. I'm Chinese myself, and about half of the time I can't even tell a Korean person from a Chinese person. Why should we expect people of other ethnicities to get it right?
