African American

African American (pronunciation: /ˌæfrɪkən əˈmɛrɪkən/) refers to an ethnic group of Americans with total or partial ancestry from any of the black racial groups of Africa. The term is usually used for Americans with at least partial sub-Saharan African ancestry.

Etymology

The term "African American" has been in use since the late 1980s and is now the standard term in the United States for black Americans. It was popularized by black activists in the 1960s and 1970s who sought a term that would both encompass the entirety of their African heritage and distinguish them from the white majority.

Related Terms

African diaspora: The worldwide collection of communities descended from native Sub-Saharan Africans or people from Sub-Saharan Africa, predominantly in the Americas.
Black people: A racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion.
Race (human categorization): The concept of dividing people into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of physical characteristics.
Ethnic group: A category of people who identify with each other, usually on the basis of presumed similarities such as common language, ancestry, history, society, culture, nation or social treatment within their residing area.
Sub-Saharan Africa: The area of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara Desert.