I think “African” became synonymous with “Black” the moment both those words became negative descriptions of the continent, and the indiginous peoples of that continent…as well as their shades of skin color, which is anything but white, since “White” is its polar opposite.

i used to work with a white s.african who’d refer to himself as African-American.

Perhaps we should replace “African” with “Sub-Saharan”

Gazsi

i think it’s dangerous to approach this problem with this pre-condition. corporations, especially multi-nationals, are the most efficient source of economic development in poor countries and invest their own capital, freeing up $$$ to be used for other ventures. they embrace technological innovation, without which the Malthusians would have been proven right and we’d all be starving by now. Pollen may be right that this will destroy industries and jobs in rich countries but I don’t care.

The elimination of EU/US/Japan subsidies will not mean that the African farmer will suddenly have access to markets because distribution systems are too costly to develop, sustain and grow unless *surprise suprise* you are big, can absorb the costs, and have economies of scale.

You don’t have to develop your own distribution system.

That’s why the “winners” in the developing countries are not te poor pictured in our weeklies but Brazilian corporate ag, Indian corporate ag, South African corporate ag.

It’s not an either/or. The poor may win when corporations win. look what globalization has done for india and China. The poorest countries are ususlly lacking large corporations.

someone will always take offense because they’re not insert enthnicity here enough, or they embrace one ethnicity more than the other.

Unfortunately that’s true, but the person concerned shouldn’t let other people dictate to them who they should and should not identify with. It’s a fact of life that there will always be someone out there who will be offended by whatever one does.

As long as the mixed-race person doesn’t denigrate or unjustifiably disparage the ethnic group he/she identifies less with, I don’t see the problem.

see my links above. it is higher for black males.

Would a Zadie Smith or the football player Rio Ferdinand be considered black or would such an identification be up to them?

Zadie Smith is considered black or mixed-race. I don’t know about Rio Ferdinand.

Remember that British society does not have the same “one-drop rule” concept of what constitutes black ethnicity as the US does. However, generally people of such mixed ancestry here do tend to identify more with their black side. I guess it depends a lot on what their basic facial features are like (it’s not just about skin-colour).

The answer is very easy. Let the people concerned make up their own minds who they identify with and how much they identify with them. Leave it up to them to decide.

It’s not always that easy for mixed individuals to identify with or all of their heritage, as referenced by some of the comments I’ve read on SM, someone will always take offense because they’re not insert enthnicity here enough, or they embrace one ethnicity more than the other.

Jai, thank you for very interesting observations, as usual.

Another question: Would a Zadie Smith or the football player Rio Ferdinand be considered black or would such an identification be up to them? I ask this in light of the fact that the discussion has turned, once again, to “what is race?”