Jesse Jackson’s Significant Legacy Includes Promoting the Term ‘African American’
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who passed away at age 84, was instrumental in promoting the widespread use of the term “African American” as a means of cultural self-identification.
A protégé of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Jackson joined the efforts of NAACP members and other civil rights leaders in the late 1980s to replace terms like “colored” and “blacks” with a designation they believed better reflected the community’s ancestral heritage and conveyed a sense of dignity.
“To be called African Americans has cultural integrity — it puts us in our proper historical context,” Jackson stated at the time. “Every ethnic group in this country has a reference to some base, some historical, cultural base.”
Jackson, a two-time presidential candidate who led the Civil Rights Movement for decades following King’s assassination, had a rare neurological disorder and died in Chicago surrounded by family, his daughter Santita Jackson confirmed Tuesday.
Throughout his life, Jackson advocated for voting rights, employment, and educational opportunities for poor and underrepresented individuals, and he amplified calls for Black pride. He believed that a change in terminology, originating from within the Black community itself, would help foster self-esteem.
While “African American” had been used by some academics long before Jackson and the NAACP’s advocacy, it did not enter common usage until the reverend galvanized community support. The term first appeared as early as 1782 on the title page of a pamphlet containing a sermon titled “By an African American,” published in Philadelphia, according to Yale law librarian Fred R. Shapiro.
Jackson drew inspiration from the movements of other minority groups who were also seeking to redefine their labels and recognition.
Discussions arose in the 1990s regarding the terms “Latino” and “Hispanic.” Additionally, Asian Americans had recently succeeded in their lobbying efforts with the U.S. Census Bureau to ensure Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders were included for the first time in the 1990 census. Although the popularization of “African American” occurred too late for that year’s census, the agency did issue guidance stating that “Black or Negro includes African-Americans.”
Sociologist Walter Allen, who is Black, described the adoption of the term as “a significant psychological and cultural turning point” in a January 1989 article published in the New York Times.
This statement followed a meeting convened by Jackson a month earlier, bringing together 75 Black organizations, including fraternities, sororities, advocacy groups, and social clubs, where organizers reported an “overwhelming consensus” in favor of the change. Some school districts in Chicago and Atlanta quickly embraced the term and integrated it into their educational materials.
Currently, the terms “Black” and “African American” are frequently used interchangeably in the U.S., although “Black” is often considered more encompassing. It is broader and can include individuals from Latin America and the Caribbean.
Those who express reservations about the term “African American” argue that it places a qualifier on their American identity or implies a contemporary, personal connection to Africa that may not align with their lived experiences.
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Associated Press reporter Jack Dura contributed to this report.