Talk:Black people

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Black, White Or Both

This may sound stupid but I have crossed countless people who have called themselves black althought they physically look white. So that made me ask: Can a person who looks white but has black people in their bloodline be labeled “black?” 80.200.150.84 (talk) 11:16, 9 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]

As our article makes entirely clear, 'Blackness' is ultimately a social construct. What constitutes 'looking black' (or 'looking white') varies from place to place, and time to time. It is routinely contested. Attempts to divide humanity with its complex patterns of diversity into simplistic binary categories are rooted in the realms of politics, not science. And to be more specific with regards to your question, there have been contexts where having any 'black people in your bloodline' made you 'black' in the eyes of (white) social norms, regardless of appearance, and regardless of any own personal identification: see the so-called one-drop rule in the United States. 'Appearance' is but a small part of what society constructs its arbitrary racial categories from. AndyTheGrump (talk) 13:05, 9 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]

What's the difference of black people and African people 2601:2C3:C77E:F3D0:645C:7CEC:508:FBE9 (talk) 23:58, 5 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The difference is like that between being white and being European. Not all white people are European, and not all Europeans are white, although whiteness is generally thought to apply to Europeans and people of European descent.

More specifically, Africans may or may not be Black (e.g., white South Africans). And even if we might consider them Black, they may not consider themselves to be Black. Blackness is a relative term that was invited by Europeans, so it doesn't apply universally. I have known Africans who said they only "became" Black when they moved to the UK, because they didn't see themselves as part of a wider Black race before that (they saw themselves as Nigerian, or Igbo, etc).

While Nigerians and Kenyans may see themselves as distinct in Africa, if they moved to Germany or the USA, they may later find/gain/develop a shared Black identity, because their skin colour and the prejudice they face because of it may make them feel greater solidarity with each other. National and regional differences become less important than the shared experiences they have in white majority societies.

Similarly, some Black people in the diaspora don't see themselves as African, even though they have African descent. E.g., Black Caribbeans may see themselves as uniquely Caribbean, even if they have African heritage.

A very simplistic way to look at it is (assuming people of sub-Saharan African descent):

In Africa, such people tend to see themselves as African and they may or may not see themselves as Black
In the diaspora, such people tend to see themselves as Black and they may or may not see themselves as African
Others may not see you the same way you see yourself
Moving to the diaspora may change how you see yourself
In either case, "Blackness" is relative to another population so it's not a universal experience Lewisguile (talk) 06:23, 12 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Black as a Social class in South Africa

In 1950, the Apartheid government of South Africa introduced the Population Registration Act No.30 which effectively forced the Xhosa people and other nations organic to the land to be registered under the National Socialist system into either one of four categories, Black, White, Colored and Asian.

This Act effectively alienated the Xhosa people from their collective identity as a nation unto themselves and forced the label "Black African" on them as a social and legal status.

This Act not only alienated the Xhosa from their collective identity but also from their resources and property as well with the implementation of the Black Codes from the 1913 Black's land Act and Groups Areas Act.

This has been the cause of cultural erosion in this community and has prevented the redressing of many injustices that were committed against the Xhosa people. Benjamin knox (talk) 23:34, 22 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Is this text you wish to add to the article? If so, do you have sources for the above? I can add it if you do, and if it still needs doing. Lewisguile (talk) 19:53, 20 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

"Blacks"

Want to recommend that someone with more access than me double-check this article to ensure that the preferred term "Black people" (or another noun as appropriate in place of "people") is always used over "blacks," except in context like quotes, titles, or the South Africa section where Blacks had a formal legal status. The US National Archives defines "blacks" as an offensive term that should always be capitalized and replaced with "Black people." TheMiddleWest (talk) 18:28, 30 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]