Subject and Course Guides: African American History in the Archives: Home

Ma' Rainey's Jazz Hounds performing at Breckenridge, Texas, 1922. From the Basil Clemons Collection.

Key Terms

Throughout history, there have been several different terms used throughout African American and African diaspora communities. These terms are not always interchangeable and often carry specific information about the identity of an individual and community. It is important to be mindful of these terms as they are presented in texts. When writing about members of these communities, it is important to observe how they self-identify or clarify how they identify. Multiple identities can also be used by the same individual.

Historical Note

Historical records in our archives will reflect terms that are no longer in use, and are not appropriate to use by non-members of the African American and African diaspora communities. Using established titles such as "The Negro Baseball League" helps maintain historical accuracy, but it is important to not refer to the community or individuals by antiquated terms such as Negro or Colored.

African American

This term is used to refer to people of African descent/ancestry in the United States. It was popularized by Rev. Jesse Jackson and other community leaders in the 1980's, and was viewed as a term that put the community into a proper historical context, and acknowledged the African ancestry of the community. The earliest known mention of the term African American is in a 16-page pamphlet entitled "A Sermon on the Capture of Lord Cornwallis", published in 1782. The term Afro-American was used from the 1960's to the early 1990's, and held a similar meaning as African American.

Afro-Latino

Latin and Hispanic identities are based on culture and nationality. Afro-Latinos are descendants of the African diaspora that were brought to Latin America and the Caribbean by Spanish and Portuguese colonizers or later African migrants. Mexico and other nations have communities of Afro-Latinos who escaped slavery in the United States. Afro-Latino culture has had major impacts on Latin American music, cuisine, religion, and style. Prominent Afro-Latinos include Celia Cruz, Alfonso Múnera Cavadía, Esther Pineda G, Rafael Cepeda, Marfa Inofuentes Pérez, and Jharrel Jerome. Lists of prominent Afro-Latinos can be found on Wikipedia.

Afro-Latino communities often have complex identities. The casta system created unique distinctions within communities, and the effects of the casta system and colorism continue to have an impact on Afro-Latino communities. Members of these communities may identify themselves as Afro-Latino, Black Latino, by their national identity only, or by the identities of their specific communities, such as the Quilombola people of Brazil.

Afro-Latinos also include people who are of African and Indigenous descent. Individuals from these communities may define themselves as Indigenous, Black Indigenous, Afro-Indigenous, or by the identities of their specific communities, such as the Garifuna community. Black Native Americans and Black Indigenous peoples of North America may identify solely by tribal or national affiliation, or may clarify identities using the framework of Black [indigenous], such as Black Seminoles or Afro-Seminoles.

Black [nationality], Hyphenated Identities and Ethnicities

Members of African diaspora communities may identify themselves by nationality or dual nationality. It is common to see individuals identify as Black American, or Black, some examples include: Black Mexican, Black British, and Black Panamanian. It is also common for immigrants and their descendants to use Hyphenated Identities, such as Nigerian-American. Ethnic identities are also used among the diaspora: nations in the African contact were often constructed regardless of already existing community boundaries, leading to at times conflicting ethnic and national identities. People and communities may identify by their ethnicities, such as Igbo, Shilluk, and Hausa.

Other Terms

Identities can vary from family member to family member, and variation is even greater between different nationalities and ethnicities. As always, it is important to pay attention to how an individual identifies or ask for clarification in a respectful manner.

References

MAKING AFRICAN AMERICA: A Virtual Symposium on Immigration and the Changing Dynamics of Blackness
The Making African America symposium brought together fifty-three scholars, journalists, activists, curators, filmmakers and writers to discuss how immigration has shaped and is continuing to reshape what it means to be black in the United States. Available online via the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
PBS: Why Do We Say "African American"?
Language is constantly changing and ethnonyms are no exception. From "Negro" to "Colored" and "African American" to "Black," the people and cultures of African origin living in the United States have had many names. Danielle Bainbridge looks at the etymology and reclamation surrounding Black history and identity.
The Black Indigenous Afro Indigenous Experience - Webinar
The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) held a webinar on October 14, 2020 -- "The Black-Indigenous/Afro-Indigenous Experience" as part of their Black Lives Matter webinar series.
Black in Latin America
12.5 million Africans were shipped to the New World during the Middle Passage. While just over 11.0 million survived the arduous journey, only about 450,000 of them arrived in the United States. The rest--over ten and a half million--were taken to the Caribbean and Latin America. This astonishing fact changes our entire picture of the history of slavery in the Western hemisphere, and of its lasting cultural impact. These millions of Africans created new and vibrant cultures, magnificently compelling syntheses of various African, English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish influences. Starting with the slave experience and extending to the present, Gates unveils the history of the African presence in six Latin American countries--Brazil, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, and Peru--through art, music, cuisine, dance, politics, and religion, but also the very palpable presence of anti-black racism that has sometimes sought to keep the black cultural presence from view.
Say it loud : great speeches on civil rights and African American identity
Following the success of the path-breaking Say It Plain (New Press, 2007), which documented the great tradition of African American political speech, this new edition adds depth to the oral and audio history of the modern struggle for racial equality. Focusing directly on the pivotal questions black America has grappled with over the past three decades, this essential document features recordings and transcripts from the speeches of Malcolm X, Fred Hampton, Angela Davis, Bayard Rustin, Cornel West and Toni Morrison.
The African diaspora in the U.S. and Canada at the dawn of the 21st century
Drawing on the work of social scientists from geographic, historical, sociological, and political science perspectives, this volume offers new perspectives on the African diaspora in the United States and Canada. It has been approximately four centuries since the first Africans set foot in North America, and although it is impossible for any text to capture the complete Black experience on the continent, the persistent legacy of Black inequality and the winds of dramatic change are inseparable parts of the current African diaspora experience. In addition to comparing and contrasting the experiences and geographic patterns of the African diaspora in the United States and Canada, the book also explores important distinctions between the experiences of African Americans and those of more recent African and Afro-Caribbean immigrants.
Four hundred souls : a community history of African America, 1619-2019
Four Hundred Souls is a unique one-volume "community" history of African Americans. The editors, Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain, have assembled ninety brilliant writers, each of whom takes on a five-year period of that four-hundred-year span. The writers explore their periods through a variety of techniques: historical essays, short stories, personal vignettes, and fiery polemics. They approach history from various perspectives: through the eyes of towering historical icons or the untold stories of ordinary people; through places, laws, and objects. While themes of resistance and struggle, of hope and reinvention, course through the book, this collection of diverse pieces from ninety different minds, reflecting ninety different perspectives, fundamentally deconstructs the idea that Africans in America are a monolith--instead it unlocks the startling range of experiences and ideas that have always existed within the community of Blackness.
African-Americans & the Black Experience: African-American Identity & Culture
This libguide from Missouri Valley College provides a comprehensive overview of African-American history, experiences, and resources. Of particular note is the first page, African-American Identity and Culture, which provides primary resources on African-American identity and biographies of prominent African-Americans.