As a Black American woman—albeit a multi-racial and lighter-skinned Black woman—I've felt called to use my privilege and my platform to speak out how I can with what I know.
One of the questions I've been asked the most often is what terminology non-Black allies should use. Is Black an offensive term? Are African Americans accurate for all Black Americans? What is BAME, and where did the term pop up from?
This is my personal opinion—there is a video explanation on YouTube, originally published as an IGTV video. However, here I'll go into a slightly more detailed explanation:
Watch the video explanation:
Black
Black (with a capital B) is an umbrella term for anyone of African descent, regardless of nationality. Black is appropriate to use when referencing the general Black experience in the United States.
In the past, there seemed to have been a movement to use the term African-American as it was seen as more “PC”. However, not all Black people in the United States are African-American!
Is Black a negative word? NO.
I've received private commentary from white people saying that in their hometowns and growing up, they felt that calling someone Black had a negative connotation. However, by talking to them, they eventually agreed that it was likely the discomfort in addressing race at all, and often the inflection with which racist people would call Black people Black, which was the issue, and not the word itself.
Say it loud: I'm Black, and I'm proud.
POC
POC is an acronym for People of Color is for anyone visibly non-White (Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, etc.) POC essentially means non-white. White people walk through the world with a set of privileges and treatment based on their whiteness and can be directly contrasted with non-white people.
That's not to say white people don't have struggles, grief, hardship, or pain, but they do not suffer from systematic repression because of the color of their skin as non-white—or POC—do. That's it!
There is a lot of terminology floating around with different ways to refer to ethnic minorities. Which are correct, in what context, and why? See my ideas on the topic here. Click To TweetBIPOC
BIPOC stands for Black/Indigenous/People of Color. This term has gained recent popularity in the 2020s as talks about race, and individual racial experiences continue to develop and change.
BIPOC is rising in popularity because it is more nuanced than POC toward the unique history and experiences Black and Indigenous people face in the United States. Black people suffer unnecessarily because the color of our skin is not valued in a white-centric society. Indigenous people are continually erased, stolen from, and neglected in American society.
While each race has its own struggles, and none overshadows another, in the United States, I believe it important to single out the Indigenous and Black experiences.
Hence I personally prefer using BIPOC over POC when generally referring to non-white people.
African-American
This describes Black Americans with a family heritage that is directly linked to African enslaved people who were brought to the United States as part of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, between the 17th and 19th centuries.
Because of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and systematic, generational erasure of their culture, languages, religion, traditions, and histories, it’s extremely rare for African Americans to have knowledge of their historical, ethnic, and cultural roots. Over the centuries, these races, cultures, and traditions were blended and created something else completely—this is the African-American identity.
ADOS (American Descendant of Slavery)
Another Black-identifying term that I've truthfully been introduced to in the past five years:
The following is the official definition by the originators of the term: ADOS—which stands for American Descendants of Slavery—seeks to reclaim/restore the critical national character of the African American identity and experience, one grounded in our group’s unique lineage, and which is central to our continuing struggle for social and economic justice in the United States.
Your daily race education: Terminology. Click To TweetBlack-American
Someone might simply identify as Black-American if they're like me: my father is Jamaican, and my mom is white/American. I am ethnically biracial but visibly Black, but being born and raised outside of Jamaica, I don't feel comfortable claiming to be Caribbean-American, because while that may be true technically (ethnically?), it's not true culturally.
Thus, I identify as Black/Black-American because I am racially Black and American by culture.
Black Americans may not have, or perhaps may not know of, any direct lineage to the enslaved people brought to the Americas. For example, They may be culturally American but have immigrant parents or grandparents.
BAME
This term is the one that is the newest to me and that I'm the least familiar with. BAME stands for Black/Asian/Minority Ethnic. “Minority Ethnic” is relatively similar to ‘POC', but more nuanced for Black and Asian people as it's a UK term, and those are the ethnic majorities in that region.
I don’t know the history, as I mentioned, but I've received commentary by UK residents that the term has recently fallen out of favor like POC as well because it isn't nuanced enough. I expect to see a new UK term coming to light soon!
The Black Lives Matter movement is exactly that—Black
The ongoing movement called BLM is a Black rights movement, and ‘Black' is appropriate because racism is a worldwide issue. Black is not a negative or offensive term. But each term has its own nuance and place in context!
When in doubt, I believe people should be as specific as possible when addressing societal issues and topics connected to a certain race; you should just reference those people.
When in doubt: be specific.
Not simple enough?
Basically, if you're talking about Asian issues, say Asian; if you're talking about Black issues, say Black—the same goes for Indigenous Americans, Latinx, Asian-Americans, African Americans, etc.
Don't be lazy and use terms like BIPOC or POC when you really should be more specific because it erases that specific race's history and unique voice. When you're referring to a specific daughter's or son's grades, you don't say “the kids got a D in Biology”. Be specific!
There are complex ideas behind these terms, which can be confusing, but they are worth researching and trying to understand if you intend to use them.
Why should you care?
Some people might ask: why all the labels? It seems like these terms change every 5 minutes. PC culture is annoying. These terms divide people. When I hear this, I hear, “I don't see color“.
We operate in a white-centric society that does not see us as equal. And it's not about “not seeing” our differences. We'll always have differences! We should acknowledge them accurately and appropriately and embrace them.
So writers, media, and everyday people continue to research these terms further on your own time if you intend to use them!
P.S. While we’re here, race (Black, White) is what society sees you as, ethnicity is what you culturally and/or blood relation-ly identify as, and nationality is where your passport says you’re from
P.P.S. Capitalize the B in Black! But that's another discussion.
Did you learn anything reading this? Are you hearing of any of these terms for the first time?
Let's chat in the comments.
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11 comments
I will be sharing this with my class! We are studying plays by August Wilson, especially Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. As a white male, this is invaluable information that I can confidently teach. I am LGBTQ+, and can speak to discrimination, but for this subject matter, I would rather share the words of a strong Black Woman!
thank you so much!
Thank you so much for sharing this. I actually didn’t realize that BIPOC was pronounced as B I POC, I thought it was pronounced as BI-Pawk. I know that may sound ridiculous and I’m sorry.
This is such an important article to read because without dumping alot onto you, I’ve hesitated a few times to say Black and also have hesitated when trying to figure out the correct termonology to use in the moment of when I’m talking about Race. I think it’s because I feel like I don’t want to hurt anyone and for the same reason you listed in your article, about how Racists will refer to Black people as Black. Also, just trying to figure out when it’s appropriate to refer to someone by their Race. I hadn’t heard of the term ADOS until I read your article.
Thank you again,
I’m sorry for writing a separate comment, I can’t edit my comment because it’s pending approval. I just want to say that I knew what BIPOC stands for before coming across your article, I just pronounced BIPOC as a word instead of letters
Hi Braeydyn, thank you for taking the time to read and learn my perspective! Some people do pronounce it “bi-pawk” I believem so you aren’t incorrect!
Thank you very much. That was really helpful.
Thank you for this, especially how you distinguish “race,” “ethnicity,” and “nationality.” I’ve retweeted to my tiny audience of copyediting nerds. I found your post after seeing “BAME” for the first time at RaceBaitr (https://racebaitr.com/2020/07/28/the-publishing-industry-cannot-continue-to-hide-its-anti-blackness-behind-their-blackbestseller/) and searched to find out what it meant.
I’m glad you found this helpful, Sonia! Thank you for taking the time to read it!
It is very informative to have clear understanding of these terms and especially the acronyms as they seem to pop into media suddenly, thank you.
Two questions; ADOS is described referring only to African descendants, how would southern and eastern European, and/or indigenous colonial slavery fit in?
And how do Latinos fit into any of these criteria, perhaps as POC?
Hello Laurent! To answer in reverse order, Yes, Latinx would fall into People of Color (POC) 🙂
And I believe ADOS was coined because of the long-standing, horrific nature of enslaved Africans in America based solely on the color of their skin. Though Eastern Europeans and Indigenous were sometimes indentured servants and slaves as you mentioned, it was not so long-standing and racially-based as ADOS were, and did not disconnect those people so much from their cultures and heritage, hence the motivation to coin the ADOS.
Thank you for informing us, Gabby. This is such an important and helpful post on racial group terminology.
Thank you for the comment Hazel I’m glad you found it helpful!