The idea of black people's thoughts and activities are the focus of black history goes hand in hand with with the self naming/racial identification discussion. By focusing on accomplishments, discoveries, triumphs, etc. this proves how unfounded and undeserving these names/identities that were given to black people were.
There seems to be a contradictory relationship between historical definitions and contemporary debates of racial identification. Instead of basing being African American soley on ancestory we are now looking at the big picture. Barack Obama faced discrimination and hardships moreso having parents of two races. African American history is being seen moreso as great people who overcame obstacles, made advancements, discoveries, and changed the world. Thus, African American studies will focus on these great things.
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Hopefully, we can all start to see the difference between the negative stereotypes and ideas about blackness that we have all been expected to accept and internalize, and the truth of the thoughts, activities and ideas that black intellectuals and artists and others have created for themselves as alternatives to the negative. Obama's personal history, and that of others like him, does indeed pose a challenge to an idea of African American heritage rooted solely in the historical legacy of slavery. Personally, I feel confident that the meaning of the existing label "African American" can accommodate this new perspective, and professionally, I see myself hopefully contributing to this by also introducing the term "African Diaspora." There is diversity within the group that is even stronger and more interesting than the idea of a monolithic and homogeneous blackness or Africanness.
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