African American

[ af-ri-kuhn uh-mer-i-kuhn ]

noun

1. an American with Black African ancestry.

adjective

1. of or relating to African Americans.
2. Af·ri·can-A·mer·i·can, occurring between the United States and Africa:

   Several international charities are promoting African-American cooperation in expanding access to safe drinking water.

African-American

noun

1. an American of African descent

adjective

1. of or relating to Americans of African descent

Usage Note

During the 1980s, many Americans sought to display pride in their immigrant origins. Linguistically, this brought about a brief period of short-form hyphenated designations, like Italo-Americans and Greco-Americans. The Black community also embraced the existing term Afro-American, a label that emphasized geographical or ethnic heritage over skin color. The related label, African American, also saw an increase in use among activists in the 1970s and 1980s. African American was even more widely adopted in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s after high-profile Black leaders advocated for it, arguing, as Jesse Jackson did, that the term brought “proper historical context” and had “cultural integrity.” See Black ¹.

Usage

This is the currently preferred term in the US for people of African ancestry

Word History and Origins

Origin of African American¹

An Americanism dating back to 1780–90

Example Sentences

Constitution in 1868 with the ratification of the 14th Amendment, which was intended to grant citizenship and civil liberties to formerly enslaved African Americans.

From Salon

In 2016, Gabbin and Giovanni, who had been friends for more than 30 years, were given a preview opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

From Los Angeles Times

But what Senna shows, carefully, is that even age-old questions are complicated when the people trying to answer them are African Americans.

From Los Angeles Times

“This is the first time that I can remember that our Black and African American students have risen with everyone else,” Schmerelson said, citing recent standardized test scores.

From Los Angeles Times

Discover the work of George Washington Carver, a plant-based engineering pioneer — and one of the nation’s earliest proponents of sustainable agriculture — at the California African American Museum.

From Los Angeles Times