Teachers of Reddit, they say there are no stupid questions, but what's the most stupid question

a student has ever asked you? Not a question, but more a statement that prompted a whole

discussion when I was student teaching. To set the stage, I'd like to point out that I'm white

and my leading teacher was African American, and the classroom was about 60% African American, 30% Latino, and the

remaining 10% a mixture of Asian and white.

This was also my advanced class, and we were discussing the apartheid in Africa.

Me.

So the black Africans and white Africans, and I immediately get interrupted.

A student races their hand.

Uh, Miss Ducky, you can't say that.

Me. Say what? Student. Black. It's African American. Me. Trying my hardest not to die a little

inside. No, that is actually not the correct phrase. Can anyone tell me why African American is not

the correct term for this situation?

I met with silence.

Me.

Okay, guys, look at it this way.

Are we talking about Americans?

No, we're not.

We're talking about a racial issue in Africa with no relation to America at all.

The definition of African American is a person of African descent living in America. So if the

people we're talking about are not American, they can't be African-American, can they? So to talk

about the racial issue, the labels are used as black Africans and white Africans, as outlined by our

...