Giving back the name

I just wanted to let everybody know -- despite what I might have said in earlier discussions, I am not African-American. \nI'm black (and Filipino). \nI doubt that I actually used the term African-American, but just in case, I take it back. Or better yet -- I'm giving it back. \nUniversity of California Berkeley linguist John McWhorter, a black man, not to be confused with an African-American man, told me to give African immigrants their identity back. So I'm relinquishing my rights to the title African-American.\nMcWhorter said, "With the number of African immigrants in the United States nearly tripling since 1990, the use of African-American is becoming increasingly strained."\nAnd since this sista didn't want to be a burden to anybody, I quickly conceded to his request.\nTo tell you the truth, the transition hasn't been too tough. Most of my T-shirts say "Black Pride," not "African-American Pride". \nI'm just worried about what I'll do in February. I mean, all the African-American History Month stuff, what will I do with it? \nSomeone suggested I ship it off to Sen. John Kerry's wife, Teresa. \n"I'm an African-American," Heinz Kerry said, according to ads released by Washington D.C.-based organization People of Color United.\nA bit of a stretch, but, I guess she's right. She can have it.\nTruth is, I never really dug the term anyway. To identify brown people as such means assuming all brown people are of African heritage, and we all know where assumptions can get us.\nLet's take Sammy Sosa, for instance. He's darker than I am, but he's also from the Dominican Republic. If you go by the "all brown folks are African-American" rule, then with a passport, Sosa's Latino, but without it, he's African-American. \nApparently the age-old question "What's in a name?" has become quite the topic of the moment.\nCheck out a copy of the ABC program "This Week With George Stephanopoulos" in which Republican senatorial candidate Alan Keyes complained about a statement his brown-skinned rival, Barack Obama, made about being African-American.\n"Barack Obama claims an African-American heritage." Keyes said. "Barack Obama and I have the same race, that is, physical characteristics. We are not from the same heritage."\nKeyes has one thing right: He and Obama aren't from the same heritage.\nObama is the son of a Kenyan-immigrant father and a white mother from Kansas, not a descendant of black slaves and, therefore, not an African-American, according to Keyes' theory.\nBut does Keyes really have a greater right to call himself African-American?\nOr, better yet, who really cares?\nBlack folks have been called everything from negro to colored to black and thanks to Jesse Jackson, African-American.\nJackson made the push for the name change in hopes of giving black folks a name that linked them with a country. Since Italian-Americans and German-Americans could link themselves to a country, Jackson decided black folks should be able to do the same.\nBut I really don't think the Rev's big idea panned out. \nMaybe it's because I missed out on the early-Queen Latifah headwrap days, but I don't feel very connected to the continent.\nFor some folks, African-American is a title that feels right. For me, it's black. If Barack Obama wants to call himself African-American, I think he has just the same right to it as Alan Keyes. It's like the African proverb, "It's not what you are called, it's what you answer to"