discussion Why some americans think black people only exist in the United States?

[Bosque]

Americans in general dominate large parts of online discussions due to their sheer number and because they speak the most accessible language in the world. 
 

They are also sadly often unable to understand that the relatively unique racial dynamics of the USA do not apply 1:1 to all other countries, and certainly not to countries on other continents. You can see this often on this very forum when American users try to directly apply the lens of American race relations to other countries without much critical thought. 

[Scars]

If you scroll enough, you'll find people online claiming that Africans aren't Black or that African-americans are indigenous to the US. Some will go as far as claim that Black Americans are the true Jewish people.  The thing is that there's conspiracies about literary anything and some people just have too much time in their hands to spread misinformation, you shouldn't view insane Twitter takes as the mainstream attitude of an entire group of people towards a topic. Most Black Americans view Africans/non-spanish speaking Afro-Caribbeans as Black in real life.

 

Said that, yeah, Black americans aren't really educated on Blackness in Latin America. That's where it gets messy.

 

1. The average american has no idea the Transatlantic Slave Trade included other colonial nations outside of the US and some Carribean islands, which is insane considering that slavery actually started in Latin America and Brazil was the last country to abolish it. Brazil also had a much higher number of African slaves than the US, hence our big afro-brazilian population.

 

2. Most people don't really know the nuanced difference between race and ethnicity, so coupled with american exceptionalism, things get really frustrating to those of us relatively educated on the topic.

 

3. Some people have this weird entitled sense of american ownership towards Blackness because they believe that "Black" as an identity is exclusively linked to the African-american experience and heritage. Considering that latinidad/latinidade is a nuanced cultural identity by itself that is quite confusing for many to fully understand, people end up having this reactionary sense of gatekeeping Black Latinos from Blackness.

 

4. "Negro" (the word black in spanish) as a racial term was actually first coined by the Portuguese/Spanish and later used by the British. Black Americans described themselves as "Negroes" for centuries. If we're applying their logic, Black Brazilians would be the real Black People. 

Edited August 6 by Scars

[AvadaKedavra]

I love Americans like 97% of the time (so sweet) but........

One thing i dont like about some americans is they way they love to delete our heritage as they please and disrespect our roots. 
They way their "social views" "political views" should be the views of the whole planet. 
They dont understand how the dynamics of the USA are different to the rest of the planet. The history and social constructions are different
Even if we have very similar things cause we are humans we can live really different lives shaped by so many different situations
In Latinoamerica, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia, Oceania....

Im a native southamerican. White skinned aka 60% of my country is basically like this. Im also multiracial from 4 backgrounds (Kinda rare for my country)
I grew up in southamerica in this land. With spanish as native language. My memories and everything started here. Im a latino from raudal.
been livin 32 years in this country and never been outside of my southamerican country
I have talked to americans online and so many times they have treated me like im "not a real latino" and i can only be a real latino if im dark-skinned
or i can be only a real latino if i like reggaeton,soccer,dancing and follow their stereotypes of "how a latino should be" 
Latinos come in all shapes and colors and hobbies. We are not a monolith  same with people from different continents. 
Countries can be more diverse than u think



I dont like how They treat me like im another white person. Yes sure!!! 
Of course i acknowledge how i have it better in life just for that........:
But i will never be as privileged as a blondie blue eyes american with an english,french,italian or germanic name-last name
Yes like racism is non-existant Yes i like have the same luck of white people just cause i have white skin   



They always come with the "white passing" thing
I seen them doin this to singers like Charli XCX,Olivia rodrigo or even singers like Tinashe (Cause she's from a white mother)
Deleting their race and their culture. Is so sick.
is is one of the reasons why singers like them probably dont explore their beautiful roots.
Theyre afraid of being gatekeeped from their own culture and havin the army of hounds behind them
It must suck to be multiracial in the States cause they get so much fire from everyone. Alienated and without a place to belong
I dont like that from the states

Edited August 6 by AvadaKedavra

[TheBoss]

Los estadounidenses son tan raros

[shyboi]

malnourishment me thinks 

[YoungDreamer]

Not every american but always an american

Edited August 6 by YoungDreamer

[Trash]

39 minutes ago, Trent W said:

To be fair in the rural areas and I would say even some people in bigger cities might think that Brazil is a state of Mexico

 

They think all latin america/south america is Mexico

So the american education system is really in hell? 

And even if it is, their lack of interest to inform themselves for trivial purposes or even for the sake of knowing something about the stuff they talk **** about on a regular basis 

[BrokenMachine]

Don't be harsh, wbk it's illegal to study geography and history in the USA 

[Trent W]

6 minutes ago, Trash said:

So the american education system is really in hell? 

And even if it is, their lack of interest to inform themselves for trivial purposes or even for the sake of knowing something about the stuff they talk **** about on a regular basis 

 
To be fair America has both the smartest( a smaller portion) and dumbest people in the world

 

The system is indeed in hell, and Hollywood and the media also makes the American population think that the world spins around America

 

There has been lots of propaganda for decades about how this is the best country in the world to live in.

[Pikachoo]

33 minutes ago, AvadaKedavra said:

I love Americans like 97% of the time (so sweet) but........

One thing i dont like about some americans is they way they love to delete our heritage as they please and disrespect our roots. 
They way their "social views" "political views" should be the views of the whole planet. 
They dont understand how the dynamics of the USA are different to the rest of the planet. The history and social constructions are different
Even if we have very similar things cause we are humans we can live really different lives shaped by so many different situations
In Latinoamerica, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia....

Im a native southamerican. White skinned aka 60% of my country is basically like this. Im also multiracial from 4 backgrounds (Kinda rare for my country)
I grew up in southamerica in this land. With spanish as native language. My memories and everything started here. Im a latino from raudal.
been livin 32 years in this country and never been outside of my southamerican country
I have talked to americans online and so many times they have treated me like im "not a real latino" and i can only be a real latino if im dark-skinned
or i can be only a real latino if i like reggaeton,soccer,dancing and follow their stereotypes of "how a latino should be" 
Latinos come in all shapes and colors and hobbies. We are not a monolith  same with people from different continents. 
Countries can be more diverse than u think



I dont like how They treat me like im another white person. Yes sure!!! 
Of course i acknowledge how i have it better in life just for that........:
But i will never be as privileged as a blondie blue eyes american with an english,french,italian or germanic name-last name
Yes like racism is non-existant Yes i like have the same luck of white people just cause i have white skin   



They always come with the "white passing" bullshit. 
I seen them doin this to singers like Charli XCX,Olivia rodrigo or even singers like Tinashe (Cause she's from a white mother)
Deleting their race and their culture. Is so sick.
is is one of the reasons why singers like them probably dont explore their beautiful roots.
Theyre afraid of being gatekeeped from their own culture and havin the army of hounds behind them
It must suck to be multiracial in the States cause they get so much fire from everyone. Alienated and without a place to belong
I dont like that from the states

question, do people in your country with italian, french, english (non-spanish names) get treated better? I know I've heard people say that Brazilians and Argentinians with non-Spanish family names feel superior.

[mons†er]

They clearly don't know the difference between nationality and race  

[Santhosh]

Dumb Americans 

[AvadaKedavra]

43 minutes ago, Pikachoo said:

question, do people in your country with italian, french, english (non-spanish names) get treated better? I know I've heard people say that Brazilians and Argentinians with non-Spanish family names feel superior.

In my country is really crazy cause is like the reverse.
The people from lower incomes here name their kids with latinized anglo names and theyre mocked. Names like Brayan, sneyder, Britanny,Estiven,Laidy,Arnold,Brigit...........
Theyre treated like "tacky" names
 
People here dont care that much about names i think. Maybe in the upper echelons of my country? the country club type? 

Of course skin color is important for people here. The world is very racist worldwide and latinoamerica is.....
Someone here from whiter skin will have it far far easier than brown skin and there's people who are upper class can be very racist.
Spanish Colonialism damage is still here in 2024

One thing in my country..............Here we dont talk about our roots. People rarely ask you about your ancestors or heritage.
We dont have that big obssesion with race like the States.
Honestly i think like 70% of my country is very unaware of their heritage
When i was in high school i dont remember havin classes about racial issues.
It was all about the spanish conquerors and indigenous people and thats it.
We had one day of the race but it was all about games and entertainment
The new gens probably have a different type of education cause the world is more aware today and the curriculums changed?


But i think people here care more about your money than race.
Classism is the biggest issue of my country. 
If you have a bachelor degree or master. if Your from a top university. If you have a good career. Where you live
If you have a car. If you travel all the time to different countries.
People here from no money get in debt just to buy an iphone and havin a better "social status"  

 

Edited August 6 by AvadaKedavra

[Badgalbriel]

16 minutes ago, Pikachoo said:

question, do people in your country with italian, french, english (non-spanish names) get treated better? I know I've heard people say that Brazilians and Argentinians with non-Spanish family names feel superior.

No one in Brazil has Spanish names because we were not colonized by Spain 

[Pikachoo]

2 minutes ago, Badgalbriel said:

No one in Brazil has Spanish names because we were not colonized by Spain 

Portuguese

[BGKC]

A lot of Americans don't know anything of the colonization of South America. If you told them more African slaves were sent to Brazil than the US they'd consider it news. 

Edited August 6 by BGKC

[Tropez]

Don't some Latinos of clear African descent don't consider themselves black? Isn't it better to just say their nationality and not assume someone's race? 

[GentleEarthquake]

USA has the dumbest people in the world so this is no surprise

[Badgalbriel]

1 hour ago, Tropez said:

Don't some Latinos of clear African descent don't consider themselves black? Isn't it better to just say their nationality and not assume someone's race? 

No? Latin is not a race, it's an ethnic group that includes everyone born in Latin America, and that includes white people, black people, indigenous people, Asian people, mixed-race people. 

[Tropez]

41 minutes ago, Badgalbriel said:

No? Latin is not a race, it's an ethnic group that includes everyone born in Latin America, and that includes white people, black people, indigenous people, Asian people, mixed-race people. 

That's not what I said. 

[Bosque]

3 hours ago, AvadaKedavra said:

Names like Brayan, sneyder, Britanny,Estiven,Laidy,Arnold,Brigit...........
Theyre treated like "tacky" names
 
 

 

 

Points were made by your countrymen

[BrokenMachine]

2 hours ago, Tropez said:

Don't some Latinos of clear African descent don't consider themselves black? Isn't it better to just say their nationality and not assume someone's race? 

Personally I can't be general since each country/region has its own history when it comes to that, so it would depend on each case. Still, the one-drop-rule is such a USA centralized thing

[Digitalism]

5 hours ago, Bosque said:

They are also sadly often unable to understand that the relatively unique racial dynamics of the USA do not apply 1:1 to all other countries, and certainly not to countries on other continents. You can see this often on this very forum when American users try to directly apply the lens of American race relations to other countries without much critical thought. 

This is it. 

It's impossible to talk about the racial dynamics of a country if you don't live there. But someone on a class in college told them they could.

[dumbsparce]

What about immigrants from Africa from the last 150 or so years who were never enslaved and neither did their ancestors? Are they not black too according to these tweets?

[Princess Aurora]

That is pretty obvious. The US is full of dumb people