Black vs African-American: Which One Do You Prefer to be Called?
African-American or Black: Which do you prefer? We asked these authors do they prefer to be called "Black" or "African-American" and here's what they had to say.
Click on each author's photo to read their full bio.
Click on each author's photo to read their full bio.
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Taylor Kirk
(Elyria, Ohio) 
“I prefer to be called an African American. I feel like it’s less stereotypical and sounds more professional.”
Author C. Monet (Clarksville TN)
“I identify as black, and the best explanation is the most honest and transparent for me. I cant say that I know enough about my heritage to identify as African American; black is what I've been raised to identify as.”
Simone Quick (Bronx, New York)
“I identify as both African-American and Black. It depends on the forum. If I am filling out an application which states black not of Hispanic origin then I identify as black. In researching my ancestors, I search for the terms colored, Negro, or black as that is what they had to claim to census takers during a certain time frame. When I identify as African-American it is in a more professional environment or in the midst of having a heated discussion with members of another race whether on facebook or other social media sites. To me, identifying as African-American is the strongest statement one could make. We are put down and belittled not only by white people, but other ethnic groups as well.
Lisa W. Tetting (Birmingham, AL)
“It doesn't really matter to me how I am referred to as far as it is African American or Black. It changes with the person who is labeling me. It all means the same to me.”
Mahasolin Mack (Columbus, Georgia)
“I prefer to be identified as black, but it does not matter one way or another. In my every day conversation I would never say I'm an African- American woman. I would always say I'm a black woman. When someone sees the color of my skin the first thing comes to their mind is she's black. The fact of the matter is I know who I am and really and truly the only time I associate myself as an African-American is when I'm checking the box next to African-American/black on a questionnaire."
Breanna J
(Rochester NY) 
“I identify as African American not black. From my point of view, black is a color to describe material object(s). Black has no history or anything to be happy about or learn about. But African American is a race; it is a group of people with history and stories and things to be proud of. History to share and most of all reasons to stick together.”
Chris McClean (Philadelphia, PA)
“I prefer Black over African-American because I believe the term BLACK is more powerful and a more unified term. There is so much more to Black people than being American. Once outside the USA, I could stand in a room with other Black people from different countries and nothing about me will reflect an "American" based solely on my appearance. On the other hand, everything about me reflects a PROUD BLACK MAN."
Debra Bonneau (Pittsburgh, PA)
“Our family lineage is Haitian and Jamaican and American . While I respect both descriptions, African American limits my bloodline to a stereotype. I AM A PROUD BLACK PERSON..”
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Shay Renee
(Houston, Texas) 
“I don't consider myself to be identified as black. Black is a color that describes something. I consider myself an African American. However, I have been studying my roots and my heritage for awhile now. I have been reading about the Moors and their history and origin to gain better knowledge of who I am and where I came from.”
Karlia Franklin (Rochester, NY)
“I identify as Black. My ancestors were ripped away from their home land, and as an unfortunate result of that, I do not know, Africa as my home. Being American is a choice that we as Black people did not get to make for ourselves. Being Black however, is my birthright.”
Whitney Hogans (Owings Mills, MD)
“I am fine with either term but I do love African American because I love to honor my ancestors in any way that I can. I am proud to be of African descent and never want to hide that. I am also proud to be black and view that as an honor as well."
Stephanie Wilson
(San Bernardino, CA) 
“African American is what I prefer to be called”
Annie M Johnson
“I prefer to identify myself as African-American. Although I was born here in America, our ancestors originate from Africa. I honor them. This is my personal preference to be identified as African-American. I am not mad at our sisters and brothers that prefer to be identified as Black. It is their personal preference.”
Rose Rodriquez (Atlanta GA)
“I consider myself African American. I prefer this over black because I view black as a color. My roots are from Africa and I am an American.”
Tiera M. Jones (Missouri City, TX)
“I'm Black. No ifs, ands or buts about it. I fully understand I'm of African descent but I also understand I am not an African-born person who became an American citizen. I was born and raised in America. I am not a fan of making every non-white person who was born in America a hyphen while the white people are just Americans or Caucasians when we're being politically correct. I am a black woman born and raised in Missouri City, Texas to American born parents who descended from kidnapped Africans. A black American is my preferred identity.”
Tishawna
“I am not offended by either. I grew up knowing myself as a black girl and as I grew older I learned that I am an African American. The argument I've heard is that being African American is a culture and being black is only talking about the color.”
JM Benjamin
“I am a descendent of Africans...Born in America, a man of color, so I am a Black man, with African blood flowing thru my veins but I am an AMERICAN citizen. Black is not a race rather a color. I am African AMERICAN"
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Rachel Slaughter (Lansdowne, PA)
“My preference is African-American because I appreciate how the term connects me to my African origins. I also love how the term always keeps the idea in my mind that I have an intersectionality of African and American in my blood.”
Kevin E. Eastman (Riverside, CA)
“I identify as both, but professionally speaking, I prefer African-American. I'm of African descent, but I was born in America. I have no problems being identified as black, but from a professional standpoint, African-American fits better.”
Dr. Frank Chase Jr, Th.D
(Madison Alabama) 
“I choose African-American because my heritage and history began in the land of the Blacks. It is where all my ancestors are from before we all became stolen africans.”
KR Bankston (Jonesboro, GA)
“I prefer African-American. While I have been able to trace my lineage as far as Trinidad-Tobago, I know that my ancestors also are spirit of the earth that makes up the continent of Africa. I celebrate the deep, rich, everlasting resilience of a people who still give me strength, courage, and endurance by DNA passed throughout generations.”
Danielle T. Preston (Trenton, New Jersey)
“I would like to be identified as a young, vivid bi-racial young woman.”
Bre’youn Delton (Shreveport, LA)
“I refer to myself as both. I use African American because that’s what’s politically correct. My ancestors are from Africa and they’re apart of me. I may have never been to Africa but that’s where it all started for us. I’m ok with saying that I’m black too, because that’s what I am. Both are ok to me.”
London Starr
(Griffin, GA) 
“African-American. It's the closest title to embracing and specifying the two parts of my heritage. My ancestors are from Africa of course, but I'm American as well as Native American. Black is too broad a term, little more than a color to me. It doesn't include the range of skin tone of all African Americans. We come in all colors.”
Octavia Taneka Grant (Jacksonville, FL)
“Personally, I prefer to identify as Black, not African American. Because not all black people are African American.”
Christy Sanderson (Jackson, MS)
“I prefer to identify myself as an African American because of all the past hurt and pain our ancestors from Africa had to deal with from Africa to make a way for people like myself to live a life of freedom with no limits.”
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LaKesa Cox (Richmond, VA)
“I would prefer Black only because there's so much strength and power behind Blackness now #BlackGirlMagic not to mention the Black Panther movie!
Sontia Levy- Mason
(Wichita, KS) 
“ I prefer to be called African American simply because I would like for my African heritage to be acknowledged when referring to me. I feel like when we settle for being called black, we are simply allowing them to call us the color of our skin and we are so much more than that.”
Mrs. Monica Reed
“African-American is preferred, however, I am ok with both."
Kanika Harris (Benton AR)
“Though my ancestors originated from Africa, I have not researched what tribe or what part my bloodline stems from. I also acknowledge that my black is beautiful and we have come a long way and yet we still have so far to go as a race."
Theresa M. Odom-Surgick
(Albany, New York)  “I am a women of color…that’s it! African-American or Black, neither matters.”
Tiffany N. Stallings, M.Ed.
(Piscataway, NJ) 
“I prefer to be called African American because I like to identify with my African ancestors."
Orjanette Bryant (Palm Coast, FL)
“At first glance, I thought African American author because I was born in America and that is what the history books will portray me as the legendary African American author. However, my heritage is worth more than the birthplace, and in some manner, the connotation that I am a part of American oversees the strength of African within me. AA dismisses part of me that is rich in intelligence, skill, craft, heritage, and some of my identity was stolen by a name that honestly has nothing to do with me. I am a black woman or black author and proud. The symbolism in the black speaks volumes because of the strength, gift, and heritage. Black may be more appropriate because it signifies the tone of my skin enriched with melanin."
Pamela Valentine (Jackson, TN)
“I identify myself as black because not every person identified as African American is actually black. There are many ethnicities identified as African American simply because one of their parents are black."
Dedra Beard
(Chicago, IL) 
“I would identify myself as African-American because black is a color and my skin is brown!”
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Desiara Moore (Richmond, Virginia)
“I love to identify myself as black or as African American. As a race, I feel as though we have overcome so many obstacles just as other races. We've been thrown so many obstacles that were meant to break us. But we used it to make us better.”
Arica Quinn
(Denver, CO) 
“I like to be referred to as both African-American and Black. They both to me represent power, being bold and unapologetic. Black is beautiful; African American is royal. They both come with responsibility to be aware of self and to negate poorly misguided steryotypes. Whether refered to as African American or Black show the beauty and variety of God's creation. As African American or Black I will not let my skin color define my experiences but yet allow who I am to be a source of pride to anyone who graces my shadow.”
Shanté J
(Memphis, TN) 
“I prefer to be identified as black simply because slavery wasn't limited to just the United States. Most of us have no clue exactly where our ancestors come from.
Of course, we originate from Africa but our ancestors could have been sold into slavery in many other countries.”
James Turner III (Dayton,Ohio)
“I would prefer to be identified as African American because it is more professional in identifying me as a black american.”
Taja Maynie
 “I prefer to identify as black, because my identity transcends, or goes beyond, being American. When I say I am black, I find that I can relate to more people of color across the diaspora. It also is of no particular importance to me, to be politically correct in naming myself- which the term “African-American” attempts. Since I am visibly of color or “black,” I do think that even plainly identifying as “American” (when traveling abroad, for instance) does suffice. I would consider “African-American” to be a dangling modifier, in any case."
J. Elliot Howard (Houston, TX)
"I don't have a preference because I view being Black is general, and African-American as being region specific. My wonderful black people are everywhere on this planet. To call myself a Black Man, is a sense of pride to be counted among all of my people everywhere. To be an African-American is a wonderful honor for what my family has fought and sacrificed for in the United States. There are Afro-Mexicans, Afro-Puerto Ricans, Afro-Cubans, Liberians, Nigerians, and Ethiopians. Each title indicates where you are immediately from, but we are all Black and awesome.”
Debra Clark (Pittsburgh PA)
“I'm neither African-American nor Black. Had my DNA done and it said we came from West Africa around the slave coast but our hablo blood type isn't the same as Africans...we were E1B1A and they are E1E1B...”
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