Vanessa
Minneapolis, MN
I HATE the term African-American. I don’t hold citizenship to any country on the African continent so why do people feel the need to call me that. I’m the descendent of people who were forcible sold and brought to the country, raped, beaten, and denied personhood and their rights. They slaved and worked to help build a country that saw them as property and third class citizens. With blood like that running through my veins, I refuse to be called “African-American”. Through their struggles, America became my birthright and I fully intend to claim it…ALL 100% of it. I’m an American who happens to be black NOT an African-American.
