The article What's in a Name: Who Is an African American? led to an overwhelming outpouring of responses as DiversityInc readers shared their thoughts and opinions with us on this issue. Here's what some of you had to say in your unedited comments below:

Why can't "Blacks" or "African Americans" be just "Americans" like the rest of us?

If that is the case, I will now call myself a "German, Native American, American" when writing, or conversing where race is being discussed!
--Judy Knudsen

DiversityInc Partner and Cofounder Luke Visconti responds:

It's your choice to describe yourself as you wish to be described. Shouldn't it be everyone's choice to describe themselves as they wish to be described?

I'll bet that this will be less of an issue when economic realities for all Americans cannot be attributed to race. But please don't hold your breath.

Black households have one-tenth the wealth of white households, and at the current rate of closure, it will take 1,000 years for them to catch up.

Here are some more comments: 

Thank you so much for this article. Being one of four African American females in my company of 60+ these questions comes up quite a bit. When to use African-American as opposed to Black.

I have always chosen African American because coming from "other races"; it does not sound too condescending or derogatory and it sounds more formal. But the "other" cultures in my office could, or shall I say would, never understand the difference.

I am sending this article to all of my co-workers. This may help them to understand much better. Because it helped me.

--Dee Dee Jones

It is very important to understand and know how an individual or persons of color prefer to be identified.  I would also add that some persons of color from the Caribbean refer to themselves as Afro-Caribbean.  Keep up the good work and great articles DiversityInc.
--Melva Hayden

I agree with Raymond and appreciate his insights on his column. But as everything related to race and ethnicity the landscape is beautifully complex. And would NOT have any other way!

My name immediately places me in the "Hispanics" group, for which I am very content to have one my languages and Spanish heritage recognized. But I also consider myself an "African American". My family and ancestors were Spanish, African, and Tainos (inhabitants of the Eastern Caribbean in the 1500's). And my family celebrates and honors ALL of my roots, heritage, and ancestors.  not one over the other.

So even when I understand the colloquial use of the African American term, and agreed with your words, my family, my sons, and I consider ourselves African Americans, native Americans, and European Americans.

There had been times when we felt that society wanted us to give up our "blackness" in order to simplify the task "of bucketizing" groups. I believe that this discussion will equip all of us to recognize the breath of diversity, heritage, and ancestry we have been blessed with!

Thanks for your commitment in allowing our society have these discussions of the heart.

--Chago Rodriguez

Being a white AA/EEO professional I do get a little anxiety over this issue because of the historical negative connotations associated with references to race. I feel that if I am "white" then "Black" is appropriate because both take into consideration the varied ethnic backgrounds that could be in play. When celebrating diversity anyone is free to choose to self describe as Italian-American or African American etc. It is too bad that "colored" is so awful because the world is made up of many beautiful people of all colors and I myself, would love to be of color, rather then the Eastern European inherited pasty white that I am!!! Color is beautiful! Ok, so I went a little off on this but the reader probably understands my sentiment! Thank you Raymond for this thoughtful piece.

--Sandra Cochran 

For many years I had to fill out the emergency cards for my kids during their elementary school years.  I always saw lavishly long culturally descriptive terms for people of various origins... except for mine.  It's always been just 'white'.  That always bothered me a great deal.  I used to cross it out and write the word AMERICAN, not wanting to be categorized by the color of my skin while everyone else was called by their ancestry.

"African American" refers to one's ancestral heritage.  Black is a physical descriptor, like 'tall' or 'skinny'.  Any one of these words though can be used in a nice way or in a mean way.

--Sandy Beach

I disagree with parts of the article. Certainly the historical context is correct. However, African American is an ethnicity and Black is race. The former is based on a shared heritage and/or cultural experience of a people and the latter is biological.

As the author mentioned there are Black people that hail from other parts of the globe. They have similar experiences within the cultural group in which they were reared. It may be similar, but many times is different that the heritage of those of us who are descendents of slaves brought to this country. Therefore not a shared heritage. Even for those Blacks who came from a country where there was slavery, Haiti for instance, the history of how slavery progressed and was abolished is very different and the way that heritage is passed to each generation is different than in the U.S.

As a diversity director in a highly diverse organization, I see every day where Black people from other countries are clear that they are not African American and are clearly offended when referred to as such. The are ethnic groups within other countries and we do a disservice to Black immigrants when we label them as African American because we are not acknowledging the cultural differences of their homeland. I am constantly challenged to help employees understand these differences. I guess that is why I hoped this article would shed light, but unfortunately, it continued to confuse the distinctions.

Senator Obama is not African American because his father is Kenyan. Kenya has a rich history with various groups within the country. While Senator Obama certainly has a great understanding of the plight and history of African Americans because he was reared in this country; we should respect that his roots come from Kenya and there is a richness and completeness in that culture that shouldn't be missed.

--Kim Nash

I've taught my daughter, who is bi-racial, to consider herself an American.  Our familial ancestries are such a hodge-podge of different origins and cultures that we don't think about labeling ourselves.  We are enriched by who we came from, what is passed from generation to generation and by the fact that we are born in this country.  The people who continually label or categorize us by design purposefully confuse who we really are.  I am an American first and an Americans I shall die!  I shall continue to instill this sentiment in the minds of the young people in my family irrespective of past histories.  Just my humble opinion.

--Marion Logan 

This is yet just another issue thrust upon people who share an African heritage, and sadly causes fierce discussion and disagreement among the different geographical groups.  There are some who are violently opposed to being linked with Africans born here in American "African American" and will dispute the connection.  I have witnessed this many times, and found it very sad to witness.  The Miami Herald did an excellent series on "the color problem" and its denial among groups in various countries to define themselves as Black or having any African linkage, regardless of where they may have been born, they seem to prefer to identify themselves based on their country of heritage, such as you described in the article. I really don't know what the answer is, but it certainly reveals all that we still have to deal with regarding this topic, how far we have come and yet we are stuck on this.

--Karol Jenks

I prefer not to select African American vs. Black, because of the assumption that all blacks came from Africa.  Having Indian in my blood and being born and raised in America, I gladly select black. When it has only African American, I select other.  This is just my preference, not that it would offend me to see that someone checked African American for me.  I have friends from Africa whom has citizenship here, I consider them African American.

--Melodye Thomas

As an African born American, I found the term "African American" the greatest output of the Civil-Rights era. As in Jews America, Irish Americans, Italian Americans, Mexican Americans, Indian Americans, etc, we have to have "African American," as well otherwise History they said have a way of repeating itself.

--Luther Ismaila