ProudAfricanHere
Today, my co-worker, a black woman born and raised in Oklahoma, rudely implied I shouldn't call myself african, even though I was born and raised in Cape Town, a city my family has lived in since its foundation. It seems the fact I am white is what troubles her about the whole situation. FML
Top comments
The_candyman 13
tell her to stop being a racist. You can't judge people on the color of their skin
hunterchik 25
As Karen would say, 'If you're from Africa, why're you white?'
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Comments (78)
hunterchik 25
As Karen would say, 'If you're from Africa, why're you white?'
Elizabeth Burley 22
This was my first thought too. You beat me to it! lol Sorry OP, some people are just plain ignorant.
Sacha-Lee Richardine Abrahams 3
Hahahaha
Casaundraaa 9
please say you're joking
ryzzostar 16
you can't just ask someone why they're white...
Sandra Foran 10
Damn it! You beat me to this comment lol
ScarlettVixen_fml 8
Karen! You can't just go around asking people why they're white! ?
The_candyman 13
tell her to stop being a racist. You can't judge people on the color of their skin
yeongji 31
Quite sure a friend of mines who was born there experiences this as well, except he is Asian.
Lemou_fml 25
You're calling him asian? He's clearly african, you racist wench.
NostalgiaFreak9 43
People like her should seriously consider picking up a history book and reading it before spewing ignorant bullshit from their mouths.
gobiteme2 34
Why would she pickup a history book, It won't justify her position. If she did she probably say it was written by a white person.
Sacha-Lee Richardine Abrahams 3
"If you're from Africa how come you're white" mean girls quote. You know what they say take it with a pinch of salt :)
Mungolikecandy 19
She is of African ancestry but is not actually African, you are (presumably) of Dutch ancestry and can actually define yourself as being African. She is just being racist or stupid about history.
bee delivery 5
Comment moderated for rule-breaking.
to her credit, white africans are of european descent, whereas she is more than likely of african descent regardless of where she was actually born. i can she why she would have taken offense even if you are technically right. africanism is her history more so than it's yours and it's pretty obtuse to be missing the point this vastly in my opinion. i'm not saying you are wrong for calling yourself african if that's your birthplace since you clearly are african in that regard, but i think her discontent has more context than you're realizing/admitting, which is an easy point for white people to miss.
Nova Solarius 10
I'm not sure if you realize, but all humans are of African descent. It's where humans originate. Besides what does it matter if the co-worker is black? She is not African and has no right or reason to tell OP not to consider themselves African.
Mungolikecandy 19
Using that criteria no one can state they are American other than Native Americans or those with Native American ancestry.
thedon6191 15
Using your criteria, anyone born in America after Columbus would also be native Americans. That's a more bizarre result.
Lemou_fml 25
"You're Danish? You don't look like one. Are you sure?" "Yeah, quite sure. My family has been here for centuries and by judging your last name, your family haven't been in this country that long, but you perceive yourself a Dane and you say I'm not is what's wrong with this world." and I'm happy to continue my quest - you are what's wrong with this world.
jttorkildson 21
You don't get to decide what people's history is based on their skin color. What you are saying about a white person not being entitled to her own family history because of her skin color is pretty prejudiced.
thedon6191 15
OP is entitled to her own family history. OPs family is European and moved to Africa. That doesn't make her African.
bee delivery 5
"everyone" originated from africa thousands of years ago. black people in america came here within the last couple hundred of years - same with white south africans. again, completely obtuse and missing the point. also, sad to see that i'm "what's wrong with this world" when we currently have literal nazis traipsing about in virginia killing people. snooze. lots of white people in this thread trying to explain racism.
thedon6191 15
Your comment is spot on and I don't understand why you are getting so many down votes. If OP identified herself as being from Africa, there wouldn't be a problem. But to classify yourself as being African denotes that you are of Negroid heritage, which she is not. The same way someone being born in Asia does not make them Asian if they are not of Mongoloid heritage. OP is of European or Caucasoid heritage. regardless of how long OPs family lived in Africa, she is not of African heritage. While the subject of the post should not tell OP how to live her life, she is not wrong for suggesting OP not refer to herself as African despite being from Africa.
shadowl 11
So what word would you have OP use to describe what continent they are from? Does it have to be 'I am from Africa' or do you allow 'African' there? I don't think OP is trying to invoke some ethnicity thing, but merely stating where they're from. You can't say you're European if you or your parents and grandparents have never set foot there.
thedon6191 15
Stating that you are African automatically invokes ethnicity. That is why the subject of the post was not wrong in suggesting OP not refer to herself as African. OP saying that she is from Africa is fine. Not every person born in Africa is African. Egypt is in Africa. Egyptians don't consider themselves to be Africans. Morocco is in Africa, yet the Moroccan government specifically disavows its people being considered African. The subject of the post isn't a racist for pointing this out.
Mungolikecandy 19
The problem is that your definition of it appears to be that only people historically from an area can say they are from that area which raises very troubling precedents and gives some of the arguments that racists do use validity.
thedon6191 15
This has nothing to do with racism. Racists believe that a person's value to society is determined by the color of their skin and that certain races are biologically unfit to live in a civilized society. Neither the subject of the post nor anyone whom has defended her position is espousing that. This is about whether white South Africans (who brought their own culture and colonialized the African People) who have only inhabited the continent for less than 500 years are to be considered equally native with people who have inhabited the continent for millennia. Just because I was born in America, My parents were born in America, and my Grandparents were born in America does not make me Native American. Just because someone's ancestor's were on the Mayflower does not make them a Native American. Same applies to OP regardless of whether her family were among the first European settlers of South Africa.
colibrius 30
Ok so, what color do you to be, to have the right to call yourself European or South American ? It's always the same story with Africa... Can't you just not forget that Africa = continent and not ethnicity ?!
at0micmin3r 23
Racist bigot is what she is. Defining someone by the color of their skin. (And if someone is white, white is still a color. Don't argue with me please) Sounds familiar!
Fucc_Logic_4evah 13
White supremacy! Shame on you! Next you'll tell me she's not African, more than you, even if her family hasn't seen Africa in 2 centuries!
bubbles8365 8
If her family hasnt seen Africa in 2 centuries, then shes of African descent but she's hardly African. More so American, if that's where she was born and raised.
thedon6191 15
American is a nationality, not a race. Anyone Born in the United States is an American regardless of their family origin. However, of African descent would be a proper way to refer to her ethnicity.