It comes down to this: black people were stripped of our identities when we were brought here, and it's been a quest since then to define who we are.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Like any group that has endured much, African Americans have created a strong and mutually reinforcing sense of group identity. That's not a bad thing in and of itself.
Sometimes black people really want to hold onto our oppression - 'This is ours! This belongs to us.' You can't just talk about equality for somebody else. Let's pass it on. Let's pass it on to somebody else. At the end of the day, it is all about inequality.
I consider myself a human being, a Christian, a father, a husband, so many things, before being a black person.
There are so many people who have this idea of who I am because I'm black.
I am an African-American in America. That will never change. But I don't have to be defined by that.
It is a call for black people in this country to unite, to recognize their heritage, to build a sense of community. It is a call for black people to define their own goals, to lead their own organizations.
Black people, we are not this monolithic group, you know?
Merely by describing yourself as black you have started on a road towards emancipation, you have committed yourself to fight against all forces that seek to use your blackness as a stamp that marks you out as a subservient being.
In a typical history book, black Americans are mentioned in the context of slavery or civil rights. There's so much more to the story.
My identity is very clear to me now, I am a black woman.