Blog 2

There is at least one theme which runs through all of the readings. That theme is assimilation of the minority race of people into the majority race of people. I was born in 1952 and I can remember when black people in the United States use to be called negros and colored people. Years ago there use to be a code hidden in the language when talking about a black person. If the person in question had dark skin they would call him a Negro. If the person in question had light skin they would call him a colored person or a person of color. A colored person, or a person of color, would mean the person in question had both black and white ancestors. A dark skin person who looked as if all of his ancestors decsended from Africa would more than likely be called a negro rather than a colored person, although the word negro applied to all light or dark.
When I was a boy I use to hear the word mulatto used quit a bit. If a white person and a black person had a child together the child was called a mullato. Now days, if a white person and a black person have a child together the child is a member of the black race of people.
The term Afro-American was not used as much then as it is today. Black people with college degrees were the ones who use to call themselves Afro-Americans. The majority of black people without a college degree did not want to identify with Africa. They were too busy tring to assimilate into a culture that was dominited and controled by white people.