Being of African descent is not a stereotype, it's an ethnicity. It would be a stereotype to call black people "basketball-playing Americans," or "urban-poor Americans." Suggesting that we all just call "them" "American" is insulting -- there is an important and distinct cultural identity shared by many African-Americans that they wish to continue identifying with, at least in part.
I'm Indian-American, and if you told me to just call myself American, I would feel a) that you consider yourself to be in possession/authority over the definition of what it means to be American, and b) you had some strange interest in me behaving exactly like you, instead of expressing cultural differences.
You are offering a false dichotomy -- either be American or be African-American, but not both. Try this instead: how about you be alright with African-Americans as both African and American, and not give so much of a shit about which cultures other Americans choose to embrace?
Being of African descent is not a stereotype, it's an ethnicity. It would be a stereotype to call black people "basketball-playing Americans," or "urban-poor Americans." Suggesting that we all just call "them" "American" is insulting -- there is an important and distinct cultural identity shared by many African-Americans that they wish to continue identifying with, at least in part.
I'm Indian-American, and if you told me to just call myself American, I would feel a) that you consider yourself to be in possession/authority over the definition of what it means to be American, and b) you had some strange interest in me behaving exactly like you, instead of expressing cultural differences.
You are offering a false dichotomy -- either be American or be African-American, but not both. Try this instead: how about you be alright with African-Americans as both African and American, and not give so much of a shit about which cultures other Americans choose to embrace?