African American

[ af-ri-kuhn uh-mer-i-kuhn ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

an American with Black African ancestry.

adjective

of or relating to African Americans.
��·��·��-��·��·��·��, occurring between the United States and Africa:
Several international charities are promoting African-American cooperation in expanding access to safe drinking water.

African-American

noun

an American of African descent

adjective

of or relating to Americans of African descent

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Usage Note

During the 1980s, many Americans sought to display pride in their immigrant origins. Linguistically, this brought about a brief period of short-form hyphenated designations, like Italo-Americans and Greco-Americans. The Black community also embraced the existing term Afro-American, a label that emphasized geographical or ethnic heritage over skin color. The related label, African American, also saw an increase in use among activists in the 1970s and 1980s. African American was even more widely adopted in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s after high-profile Black leaders advocated for it, arguing, as Jesse Jackson did, that the term brought “proper historical context” and had “cultural integrity.” See Black ¹.

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Usage

This is the currently preferred term in the US for people of African ancestry

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Word History and Origins

Origin of African American¹

An Americanism dating back to 1780–90

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Stylistically, Simon smoothly moves from charismatic symphonic writing through a wide range of African American musical styles, leaving improvisational room for the vocal soloists.

From

“A lot of community health centers have been scraping their websites and taking words like ‘trans’ and ‘African American’ off their websites.

From

Harvard student Sa'maia Evans, who is an activist and member of the university's African and African American Resistance Organization, said the university's decision to take a stand was a long time coming.

From

The only African American player on the team knew what he had to do.

From

I mean surviving abolitionists, some abolitionist feminists, African Americans, other sort of labor activists, they continue to contest.

From

Africana African American English

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