Originally Posted by DCAllAmerican
But why do Carib./Afr. get mad at EACH OTHER when OTHER people are labeling them wrong? I don't understand the beef.
It's stupidity, then a competitive thing, it is as simple as that. There is a stigma attached with being labeled African American for some "black" people, and those from the carib do not care for it. Old school West Indians will suggest that African Americans are "lazy", as if being a hard worker is somehow an entitlement. Suggesting this is also a way to get next to the "white man" with the money, putting down others in order to get ahead. Look at Latin America and it is the same thing. Don't tell a Dominican that he is actually Haitian. Don't call Trini a Puerto Rican or Dominican, with all of them sharing the shade of Manute Bol.
"I am not like THOSE people. I am West Indian," is how some would break it down.
Some African Amercans from the old school would look down on West Indians suggesting their lack of sophistication, manners, speech, and then their holding on to superstition in order to survive.
Marcus Garvey tried to put an end to this crap. His movement was to unite all Black people under one umbrella, defining us all as being Black, then all fighting for the same cause. But you know what happened to him, right?
This kinda put the brakes on the unity that could have been, but the stereotypes still exist, then are a major wedge for many of the old school generation to this day.
However, I am happy to say that much of the younger generation does not cosign this behaviour. I'd like to thank racist White people for this awareness. As the cops who shoot people of color in the back, front and sides, have kinda' shown everyone that you are ALL the " n word ", regardless of where you come from!