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Originally Posted by Xazy
My brothers both happened to marry Moroccan (one 1/2 Moroccan) and their kids are technically able to check off the African American box, and I do not see why they should not. African American does not mean black.
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It's kind of a game of silly semantics, but if you say "African American" in a vacuum to 99.99% of Americans, they will assume you mean that the person is black as opposed to someone currently living in America whose family came from Africa. I guess we can then argue if the majority of people are using the language wrong or if majority use defines meaning.
I'd be inclined to say that if they check off that box and then meet someone in person who has read that sheet, they're very likely to get asked about it or the person will not ask but wonder fairly seriously what's going on. It's technically true, but practically disingenuous.
Either way, this is kind of an odd conversation. Personally, I think the melting pot mentality is preferable to one that encourages segregation, though I wouldn't want people or groups to totally lose their individuality or identity. The OP clearly was more concerned about making a quasi-racist tirade than making a legitimate point, though.