Not going to watch the video, but I also believe "black Americans" have a unique history, identity and should definitely have the right to take ownership of a description they feel
properly represents them.
My issue though, is a lot of people are doing it simply because they don't want to be associated with the African continent and not because they want a unique identity. It's the demeaning disassociative comments that are a problem. That "we ain't African"..."we don't look African"..."Africans don't fukk with us"..are comments used to further drive a wedge and distance y'all from the continent.
If it were truly about embracing your collective history, then there would be more of an appreciation of the hardships endured by your ancestors to get to America in the first place. This topic is only acknowledged when it comes to reparations, otherwise folks would rather dismiss the thought of being linked to Africa all together.
I get it to a degree, being called "African-American" you can never feel fully embraced by American culture or feel you are allowed to have a truly American identity, which black Americans fully deserve. But the hoops and tricks I've seen people pull to deny any African origin is amazing.
People will claim a native American identity, while others will say that they are idigenous to the land and their people were always in America, all to dismiss any associatiion with Africa and Africans. Rather than say the things that truly make your people "black American", some would rather say the things that make them not "African-American", so it echos a sentiment of believing their is a stigma with being described as African. It comes back to brown paper bag tests and feeling looser hair is "good" while, coarser hair is "nappy". Even features that are purely African don't have as much appreciation as Europeanized features - which in many instances is a legacy of the rape of African women by their white slave masters.
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