I was speaking the other day with someone whose opinion about such things I hold in almost higher regard than anyone else, about the term "African-American." I know that throughout the blog I have used this term as a catch-all for Black people in the United States, but it was pointed out to me that there are a few concerns with that term, and that usage. First, not all Black people in the U.S. are of African descent. The term thus erases the experiences of POC from numerous Caribbean, Central American, South American nations. Secondly, it has some difficult resonances to slavery, a problem that should certainly be addressed, but not necessarily linguistically attached to an entire cultural group.
A short delineation of the conversation, but enough, I think. I'm going to spend the next little while seeing if I can comb through the blog and change "African-American" for "Black." I feel like it's better to revise the posts and avoid potentially insulting someone than to leave it as a historical artifact of language.
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