Disrespecting the term “African American”

Apologies for the mess of a post but I don’t have another place I can vent about this, and I keep messing up so this is my third time drafting this post 🫠

I am so over the disrespect that (usually white) non-black Americans show toward the phrase “African American.”

Take goofball #1 here — what does the use of the term “African American” by some black people IN AMERICA have to do with what black people in other places call themselves??

And why would the second commenter address the phrase solely in terms of nationality when that’s ignoring the main reason the phrase came to be used in the first place (the fact that African-American descendants of chattel slavery can’t identify their ancestors’ nation of origin as easily as African-American descendants of immigrants can)?

White people think it’s funny to say that Elon Musk or some other white American born in an African country is African American (“Dave Matthews is the only really African American in the Dave Matthews Band” is a well worn joke 🙄), so I’ve had this chip on my shoulder for a while.

It’s so frustrating when they don’t even try to understand how or why they’re being offensive, but rush to offer some empty-ass apology because apparently I am causing conflict and I am putting them in a position to defend themselves.

End rant.