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The term '''black people''' is used in [[Race (classification of human beings)|systems of racial classification]] for humans of a [[Human skin color|dark skinned]] [[phenotype]], relative to other racial groups.

Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a role so that relatively dark-skinned people can be classified as [[White people|white]] if they fulfill other social criteria of whiteness and relatively light-skinned people can be classified as black if they fulfill the social criteria for blackness.<ref>{{cite journal |last = McPherson |first =Lionel K |coauthor= Shelby, Tommie |year = 2008|title = Blackness and Blood: Interpreting African American Identity|url =http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/content/BPL_Images/Journal_Samples/PAPA0048-3915~32~2~10%5C010.pdf |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc |isbn= |page=179|accessdate = }}</ref>

As a biological phenotype being "black" is often associated with the very dark [[Human skin color|skin color]]s of some people who are classified as 'black'. But, particularly in the United States, the racial or ethnic classification also refers to people with all possible kinds of skin pigmentation from the darkest through to the very lightest skin colors, including [[albinos]], if they are believed by others to exhibit cultural traits associated with being "[[African-American]]" and to have African ancestry. The term 'black people' is not an indicator of skin color but of socially based racial classification.<ref>{{Cite book |last =Glenn |first =Evelyn Nakano |coauthor= |year = 2009|title =Shades of difference: why skin color matters |url =http://books.google.ca/books?id=WewhspE2Q9UC&lpg=PR1&dq=Shades%20of%20difference%3A%20why%20skin%20color%20matters&pg=PA225#v=onepage&q&f=true|page=225 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=9780804759984|accessdate = |postscript =<!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}} }}</ref>

Some definitions of the term include only people of relatively recent [[Sub Saharan Africa]]n descent (see [[African diaspora]]). Among the members of this group, dark skin is most often accompanied by the expression of natural [[Afro-textured hair|afro-hair texture]] (recent scientific study notes that human skin color diversity is highest in sub-Saharan African populations).<ref>Human skin color diversity is highest or sub-Saharan African populations. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11126724 NIH.gov]</ref> Other definitions of the term "black people" extend to other populations characterized by dark skin, sometimes including people indigenous to [[Oceania]].<ref>Various isolated populations in Southeast Asia sometimes classified as black include the [[Austronesian]]s and [[Papuan]]s, the [[Andamanese]] islanders, the [[Semang]] people of the [[Malay peninsula]], the [[Aeta]] people of [[Luzon]], and some other small populations of indigenous peoples.</ref><ref>black. (n.d.). ''Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)''. Retrieved April 13, 2007, from [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/black Dictionary.com website]</ref>

==Physiological traits==
===Dark skin===
{{further|[[Human skin color]] }}
[[File:Unlabeled Renatto Luschan Skin color map.svg|thumb|350px|right|Map of [[indigenous people|indigenous]] skin color distribution in the world based on [[Von Luschan's chromatic scale]].]]
[[File:Sub-Saharan-Africa.png|right|thumb|Map showing Sub-Saharan Africa colored green and North Africa colored gray.]]
The evolution of dark skin is linked intrinsically to the loss of body hair in humans.
By 1.2 million years ago, all people having descendants today had the same receptor protein of today's Africans; their skin was dark, and the intense sun lowered the chance of survival of those with lighter skin that resulted from mutational variation in the receptor protein.<ref name="Rogers">{{cite journal|last=Rogers|first=Alan R.|title=Genetic variation at the MC1R locus and the time since loss of human body hair|journal=Current Anthropology|volume=45|issue=1|pages=105–8|url=http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/381006|accessdate=2008-07-22|doi=10.1086/381006|month=February | year=2004|oclc=193553649|publisher=The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research|last2=Iltis|first2=David|last3=Wooding|first3=Stephen}}</ref> This is significantly earlier than the [[speciation]] of ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' from ''[[Homo erectus]]'' some 250,000 years ago.

[[Skin cancer]] as a result of [[ultraviolet|ultraviolet light]] radiation causing mutations in the skin is less common among people with dark skin than it is among those with light skin.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Skin Cancer |first=Keyvan |last=Nouri |publisher=McGraw-Hill Professional |page=32 |year=2007 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=TlhFQYziim8C&pg=PA32 |isbn=0-071-47256-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Health and Wellness|first1=Gordon |last1=Edlin |first2=Eric |last2=Golanty |publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning |year=312 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=Ki_fbxDZsHcC&pg=PA312 |isbn=0-763-76593-7}}</ref> Dark skin prevents an essential B vitamin, [[folate]], from being destroyed. In the absence of modern medicine and diet, a person with dark skin in the tropics would live longer, be healthier and more likely to reproduce than a person with light skin. As evidence of this expectation of adverse effects of light skin in the tropics, [[White people|white]] Australians have some of the highest rates of skin cancer.<ref>{{cite web| title = Australia Struggles with Skin Cancer| url=http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_1_1x_Australia_Struggles_with_Skin_Cancer.asp}}</ref> Conversely, as dark skin prevents sunlight from penetrating the skin, it hinders the production of [[vitamin D|vitamin D<sub>3</sub>]]. When humans migrated to less sun-intensive regions in the north, low [[vitamin D|vitamin D<sub>3</sub>]] levels became a problem, and humans with lighter skin were more successful in reproducing. White people of Europe, who have low levels of [[melanin]], naturally have an almost colorless skin pigmentation, especially when [[Sun tanning|untanned]]. This low level of pigmentation allows the blood vessels to become visible, which gives the characteristic pale pink color of white people. The loss of melanin in white people is thought to have been caused by a mutation in one letter out of 3.1 billion letters of DNA.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/15/AR2005121501728_pf.html "Scientists find DNA change accounting for white skin"]. ''[[Washington Post]]''.</ref>

===Hair===
{{Main|Natural afro-hair}}
The texture of [[hair]] in people of Sub-Saharan African ancestry is noticeably different from that of Eurasian populations. [[Herodotus]] described the peoples of [[Ancient Libya|Libya]] (the "western Ethiopians") as ''wooly-haired''.

Such "[[natural afro-hair|afro-hair]]" texture is denser than its straight counterparts. Due to this, it is often referred to as 'coily', 'thick', 'nappy', 'bushy', or 'woolly'. For several reasons, possibly including its relatively flat cross section (among other factors<ref>Franbourg et al. "Influence of Ethnic Origin of Hair on Water-Keratin Interaction" In ''Ethnic Skin and Hair'' E. Berardesca, J. Leveque, and H. Maibach (Eds.). page 101. Informa Healthcare. 2007</ref>), this hair type conveys a dry or matte appearance.<ref name="Arrojo">Nick Arrojo, Jenny Acheson, ''Great Hair: Secrets to Looking Fabulous and Feeling Beautiful Every Day'', (St. Martin's Press: 2008), p.184</ref><ref name="Johnson">Dale H. Johnson, ''Hair and hair care'', (CRC Press: 1997), p.237</ref> It is coarse,<ref name="Arrojo"/> and its unique shape renders it prone to breakage when combed or brushed.<ref name="Johnson"/>

The specific characteristics of the natural afro-hair form are unique among all mammals.{{Clarify|date=July 2009}}{{Dubious|date=July 2009}}<ref>''Ethnic Skin and Hair'' E. Berardesca, J. Leveque, and H. Maibach (Eds.). Informa Healthcare. 2007</ref> The texture likely predates the evolution of [[dark skin]]. It evolved when, as pre-human [[Australopithecines]] lost most of their fur to enable perspiration, the need to protect the newly exposed pale skin underneath this [[body hair]] was crucial (see<ref>Iyengar, B. "The hair follicle is a specialized UV receptor in human skin?" ''Bio Signals Recep'', 7(3), pages 188–194. 1998{{Failed verification|date=July 2009}}</ref> in light of Rogers and others., 2004 and Harding and others., 2000). The trait ceased to be essential to survival at the equator upon the evolution of hairless dark skin. Yet it has continued to be expressed vestigially among most Melanesians, Andaman Islanders, and sub-Saharan Africans.

==Africa==
===North Africa===
{{Main|Arab slave trade}}

===Sub-Saharan===
{{See|Demographics of Africa}}
[[File:Albino boy tanzania.jpg|thumb|right|upright|A black woman and her [[albino]] son from [[Tanzania]] ]]
[[Sub-Saharan Africa]] is a common, if imprecise term that encompasses African countries located south of the [[Sahara]] Desert. It is commonly used to differentiate the region culturally, ecologically, politically and, more controversially, [[Race (classification of human beings)|racially]], from [[North Africa]], which has historically been part of the Mediterranean sphere.

Because the indigenous people of this region are primarily dark-skinned, it is alternatively called "Black Africa".<ref>{{cite journal| first = Lansana | last = Keita| title = Race, Identity and Africanity: A Reply to Eboussi Boulaga| journal = [[Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa|CODESRIA Bulletin]] | volume = 1 & 2| pages = 16| year= 2004| publisher = [[Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa]] }}</ref> Some criticize the use of the term, because, as it has become in many quarters synonymous with ''Black Africa'', people may not realize that there are also indigenous black populations in North Africa. In addition, the Sahara cuts across countries such as [[Mauritania]], [[Mali]], [[Niger]], [[Chad]], and [[South Sudan]], leaving some parts of them in North Africa and some in sub-Saharan Africa.

[[Owen 'Alik Shahadah]] argues that the term sub-Saharan Africa has racist overtones:

{{quote|Sub-Saharan Africa is a racist byword for "primitive", a place which has escaped advancement. Hence, we see statements like “no written languages exist in Sub-Saharan Africa.” “Ancient Egypt was not a Sub-Saharan African civilization.” Sub-Sahara serves as an exclusion, which moves, jumps and slides around to suit negative generalization of Africa.<ref name=Shahadah/>}}

Some Black Africans prefer to be culturally distinguished from those who live in the north of the continent.<ref>{{cite book| last = Keith B. | first = Richburg| title = Out of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa| publisher = Harvest/HBJ Book| date = Reprint edition (July 1, 1998)| isbn = 0156005832 }}</ref>

==Cultural ideas of a black race==
===South Africa===
[[Image:San tribesman.jpg|thumb|A [[Khoisan]] man, an ethnic group in South Africa.]]
In [[South Africa]] during the [[History of South Africa in the apartheid era|apartheid era]], the population was classified into four main racial groups: ''Black'', ''White'', ''[[Asia]]n'' (mostly [[India]]n), and ''[[Coloured]]''. <!--These terms are capitalized to denote their legal definitions in South African law.--> The Coloured group included people of mixed [[Bantu peoples|Bantu]], [[Khoisan]], and [[European ethnic groups|European]] descent (with some [[Cape Malays|Malay]] ancestry, especially in the [[Western Cape]]). The Coloured definition occupied an intermediary position between the Black and White definitions in South Africa.

The [[apartheid]] bureaucracy devised complex (and often arbitrary) criteria in the [[Population Registration Act]] to determine who belonged in which group. Minor officials administered tests to enforce the classifications. When it was unclear from a person's physical appearance whether a person was to be considered Colored or Black, the "pencil test" was employed. This involved inserting a pencil in a person's hair to determine if the hair was kinky enough for the pencil to get stuck.<ref>{{cite news | last = Nullis| first = Clare | title = Township tourism booming in South Africa| publisher = The Associated Press| year= 2007| url = http://www.canada.com/topics/travel/features/story.html?id=59ec6285-c9fb-41ab-93f9-419f62733f07&k=67896}}</ref>

During the apartheid era, those classed as 'Coloured' were oppressed and discriminated against. But, they had limited rights and overall had slightly better socioeconomic conditions than those classed as 'Black'.

In the post-apartheid era, the ANC government's laws in support of their [[affirmative action]] policies define 'Black' people to include "Africans", "Coloureds" and "Asians". Their [[affirmative action]] policies have also favored 'Africans' over 'Coloureds'. Some South Africans categorized as 'African Black' openly state that 'Coloureds' did not suffer as much as they did during apartheid. The popular saying by 'Coloured' South Africans to illustrate their dilemma is:

{{quote|We were not white enough under apartheid, and we are not black enough under the ANC ([[African National Congress]])}}

In 2008, the High Court in South Africa ruled that [[Chinese South Africans]] who were residents during the apartheid era (and their descendents) are to be reclassified as "Black people" solely for the purposes of accessing affirmative action benefits, because they were also "disadvantaged" by racial discrimination. Chinese people who arrived in the country after the end of apartheid do not qualify.<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article4168245.ece "We agree that you are black, South African court tells Chinese"], ''The Times''</ref>

Other than by appearance, 'Coloureds' can usually be distinguished from 'Blacks' by language. Most speak [[Afrikaans]] or English as a [[first language]], as opposed to [[Bantu languages]] such as [[Zulu language|Zulu]] or [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]]. They also tend to have more European-sounding names than Bantu names.<ref>{{cite news | last = du Preez| first = Max| title = Coloureds – the most authentic SA citizens| work= The Star|date=2006-04-13| url = http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3201857}}</ref>

===In the Middle East===
====Arab world====
{{See also|Afro-Arab}}
Black African and [[Near East]]ern peoples have interacted since prehistoric times.<ref>[http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=70522 "Mauritania: Fair elections haunted by racial imbalance"]</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6510675.stm Remembering East African slave raids]</ref> Some historians estimate that as many as 14 million black slaves were transported across the [[Red Sea]], [[Indian Ocean]], and [[Sahara Desert]] in the [[Arab slave trade]] from 650 to 1900 CE.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-85410331.html "The Unknown Slavery: In the Muslim world, that is – and it's not over"]</ref><ref>[http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24156 Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Black History]</ref> The Moroccan Sultan [[Moulay Ismail]] "the Bloodthirsty" (1672–1727) raised a corps of 150,000 black slaves, called his [[Black Guard]], who coerced the country into submission.<ref>[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/lewis1.html Lewis. ''Race and Slavery in the Middle East''. Oxford Univ Press 1994.]</ref><ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1276/Abid-al-Bukhari ʿAbīd al-Bukhārī (Moroccan military organization)]. Encyclopædia Britannica.</ref>
[[File:Slaves Zadib Yemen 13th century BNF Paris.jpg|thumb|13th century slave market in [[Yemen]]. Yemen officially abolished slavery in 1962.<ref>"[http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/07/27/d40727150297.htm Slaves in Saudi]". Naeem Mohaiemen. ''[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]]'', 27 July 2004.</ref>]]

In more recent times, about 1000 CE, interactions between black people and Arabs resulted in the incorporation of extensive Arabic vocabulary into [[Swahili language|Swahili]], which became a useful ''[[lingua franca]]'' for merchants. Some of this linguistic exchange occurred as part of the slave trade; the history of [[Islam and slavery]] shows that the [[Madh'hab|major juristic schools]] traditionally accepted the institution of [[slavery]].<ref name="Lewis">Lewis 1994, [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/lewis1.html Ch.1]</ref> As a result, Arab influence spread along the east coast of Africa and to some extent into the interior (see [[Swahili people]]). [[Timbuktu]] was a trading outpost that linked [[West Africa]] with [[Berber people|Berber]], Arab, and Jewish traders throughout the [[Arab World]]. As a result of these interactions, some female-mediated gene flow into the [[Middle East]] from Sub-Saharan Africa can be observed in certain populations.<ref>[http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1180338 "Extensive Female-Mediated Gene Flow from Sub-Saharan Africa into Near Eastern Arab Populations"], National Institutes of Health</ref>

According to Dr. Carlos Moore, resident scholar at Brazil's University of the state of Bahia, Afro-multiracials in the Arab world self-identify in ways that resemble [[Latin America]]. He claims that black-looking Arabs, much like black-looking [[Latin Americans]], consider themselves white because they have some distant white ancestry.<ref>{{cite web| last = Musselman| first = Anson | title = The Subtle Racism of Latin America| publisher = UCLA International Institute| url=http://www.international.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=4125}}</ref>
[[Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-177-1465-16, Griechenland, Soldaten der "Legion Freies Arabien".jpg|thumb|left|250px|Soldiers of the [[Turkic, Caucasian, Cossack, and Crimean collaborationism with the Axis powers#Arabian_volunteers|Free Arabian Legion]] in Greece, September 1943.]]
Moore also claims that a film about [[President of Egypt|Egyptian President]] [[Anwar Sadat]] had to be canceled when Sadat discovered that an [[African-American]] had been cast to play him. In fact, the 1983 television movie ''Sadat'', starring [[Louis Gossett, Jr.]], was not canceled. The [[government of Egypt|Egyptian government]] refused to let the drama air in Egypt, partially on the grounds of the casting of Gossett.<ref>[http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/Louis_Gossett_Jr/192411 Louis Gosset Jr.] Hollywood.com</ref>

Sadat's mother was a dark-skinned [[Sudan]]ese woman and his father was a lighter-skinned [[Egyptians|Egyptian]]. In response to an advertisement for an acting position he remarked, "I am not white but I am not exactly black either. My blackness is tending to reddish".<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=PoW4pO4q9VwC&printsec=frontcover#PPP1,M1 Joseph Finklestone, ''Anwar Sadat: Visionary Who Dared''], pages 5–7,31 ISBN 0-7146-3487-5</ref>

[[Fathia Nkrumah]] was another Egyptian with ties to Black Africa. She was the late wife of [[Ghana]]ian revolutionary [[Kwame Nkrumah]], whose marriage was seen as helping plant the seeds of cooperation between Egypt and other African countries as they struggled for independence from European colonization. This helped advance the formation of the [[African Union]].<ref>[http://ausummit-accra.org.gh/index1.php?linkid=289&adate=04%2F07%2F2007&archiveid=140&page=1 African Union Summit]</ref>

Because of the patriarchal nature of Arab society, Arab men had more use of black female slaves than black male slaves, more black women were enslaved than men. The [[Qur'an]] was interpreted to permit [[Ma malakat aymanukum and sex|sexual relations between a male master and his female slave]] outside of marriage,<ref>See [[Tahfeem ul Qur'an]] by [[Maududi|Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi]], Vol. 2 pp. 112–113 footnote 44; Also see commentary on verses {{Quran-usc-range|23|1|6}}: Vol. 3, notes 7–1, p. 241; 2000, Islamic Publications</ref><ref>[[Tafsir ibn Kathir]] 4:24</ref>, leading to many [[mixed race]] children. When an enslaved woman became pregnant with her Arab master's child, she became ''umm walad'' or “mother of a child”, a status that granted her privileged rights. The child was allowed to prosper from the wealth of the father and was given rights of inheritance.<ref name="Arab Slave Trade">{{cite web|url=http://www.arabslavetrade.com|publisher="[[Owen 'Alik Shahadah]]"|title=Slavery in Arabia}}</ref> Because of the society was [[patrilineal]], the children were born free, with the status of their fathers. Some succeeded their fathers as rulers, as was the case with Sultan [[Ahmad al-Mansur]], who ruled [[Morocco]] from 1578 to 1608. His mother was a [[Fulani]] concubine of his father.

Such tolerance, however, was not extended to wholly black persons, even when technically "free." Arabs commonly believed that blacks were slaves.<ref>{{cite web| last = Hunwick| first = John| title = Arab Views of Black Africans and Slavery| url=http://www.yale.edu/glc/events/race/Hunwick.pdf|format=PDF}}</ref> The term "[[Abd (Arabic)|abd]]", ({{lang-ar
|عبد}},) "slave," remains a common term for black people in the Middle East, often though not always derogatory.<ref>{{cite news| first = Theola
| last = Labbé
| coauthors = Omar Fekeiki
| title = A Legacy Hidden in Plain Sight
| work = Washington Post
| url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A6645-2004Jan10
| date = 2004-01-11
| accessdate = 2008-01-29
}}</ref>

====Turkey====
{{See also|Afro-Turks}}
Beginning several centuries ago, a number of sub-Saharan Africans were brought by slave traders during the [[Ottoman Empire]] to plantations between [[Antalya Province|Antalya]] and [[Istanbul]] in modern-day [[Turkey]].<ref>[http://www.afro-turk.org/index.php/ayvalikin-renkli-dernegi Ayvalık’ın renkli derneği, retrieved 28 August 2008]</ref> Some of their descendants remain, mixed with the rest of the population in these areas, and many migrated to larger cities. Some came from the island of [[Crete]] following the [[population exchange between Greece and Turkey]] in 1923.<ref>[http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=141522 "Turks with African ancestors want their existence to be felt"], ''Today's Zaman'', 11 May 2008, Sunday, retrieved 28 August 2008]</ref>

====Israel====
[[File:Black hebrews Dimona children.jpg|thumb|right|130px|An [[African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem]] child in [[Dimona]].]]
About 150,000 black people live in Israel, amounting to just over 2% of the nation's population. The vast majority of these, some 120,000, are [[Beta Israel]],<ref>[http://www.cbs.gov.il/hodaot2009n/11_09_252b.pdf "The Ethiopian Population In Israel"], Reuters. July 16, 2009.</ref> most of whom came during the 1980s and 1990s from Ethiopia.<ref>"[http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0902/p06s01-wome.html Why Jews see racism in Israel"], ''Christian Science Monitor'', September 1, 2009.</ref> In addition, Israel is home to over 5,000 members of the [[African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem]] movement, who reside mainly in a distinct neighborhood in the Negev town of [[Dimona]]. Unknown numbers of black converts to Judaism reside in Israel, most of them converts from the UK, Canada, and the United States. Thousands of mixed-race individuals with non-black Jewish relatives also live in Israel.

===In the Americas===
{{See also|Afro-American peoples of the Americas}}
Approximately 12 million Africans were shipped to [[the Americas]] during the [[Atlantic slave trade]] from 1492 to 1888. Today their descendants number approximately 150 million,<ref>[http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/galci/Archive.htm "Community Outreach" Seminar on Planning Process for SANTIAGO +5 ], ''Global Afro-Latino and Caribbean Initiative'', February 4, 2006</ref> most of whom live in the [[United States]], the [[Caribbean]] and [[Latin America]], including [[Brazil]]. Many have a multiracial background of African, [[Amerindian]], European and Asian ancestry. The various regions developed complex social conventions with which their multi-ethnic populations were classified.

====United States====
{{Main|African American}}
[[File:Harriet Tubman.jpg|thumb|right|[[Harriet Tubman]], an [[African American]] abolitionist and conductor of the [[Underground Railroad]].]]
In the first 200 years that black people were in the [[United States]], they commonly referred to themselves as Africans. In Africa, people primarily identified themselves by ethnic group (closely allied to language) and not by skin color. Individuals would be [[The Ashanti|Ashanti]], [[Igbo people|Igbo]], [[Kongo people|Bakongo]] or [[Wolof people|Wolof]]. But when Africans were brought to [[the Americas]], they were forced to give up their ethnic affiliations when they were combined with other groups from Africa. In areas of the Upper South, different ethnic groups were brought together. This is significant as Africans came from a vast geographic region, the [[West Africa]]n coastline stretching from [[Senegal]] to [[Angola]] and in some cases from the south east coast such as [[Mozambique]]. A new identity and culture was born that incorporated elements of the various ethnic groups and of European cultural heritage, resulting in fusions such as the [[Black church]] and [[AAVE|Black English]]. This new identity was based on African ancestry and slave status rather than any one ethnic group.<ref name=Shahadah>{{cite web| last = Shahadah| first = Owen 'Alik| authorlink =Owen 'Alik Shahadah| title =Linguistics for a new African reality| url=http://www.africanholocaust.net/news_ah/language%20new%20reality.htm}}</ref>

In March 1807, [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]], which largely controlled the Atlantic, declared [[Abolition of the Slave Trade Act|the trans-atlantic slave trade illegal]], as did the United States. (The latter prohibition took effect January 1, 1808, the earliest date on which [[United States Congress|Congress]] had the power to do so under [[wikisource:Constitution of the United States of America#Section 9|Article I, Section 9]] of the [[United States Constitution]].)

By that time, the majority of black people were U.S.-born, so use of the term "African" became problematic. Though initially a source of pride, many blacks feared the use of African as an identity would be a hindrance to their fight for full citizenship in the US. They also felt that it would give ammunition to those who were advocating repatriating black people back to Africa. In 1835 black leaders called upon black Americans to remove the title of "African" from their institutions and replace it with "[[Negro]]" or "Colored American". A few institutions chose to keep their historic names, such as the [[African Methodist Episcopal Church]]. "Negro" and "colored" remained the popular terms until the late 1960s.<ref>[http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1594200831/ African American Journeys to Africa page63-64]</ref>

The term ''black'' was used throughout but not frequently as it carried a certain stigma.
In his 1963 "[[I Have a Dream]]" speech,<ref>{{cite video|url=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1732754907698549493 | people = Martin Luther King, Jr.| title = I Have a Dream| medium = Google Video| location = Washington, D.C.|date=August 28, 1963 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2009}}</ref> [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] uses the terms ''Negro'' 15 times and ''black'' 4 times. Each time he uses ''black'' it is in parallel construction with ''white'' (for example,, black men and white men).<ref>{{cite journal| last = Smith|first= Tom W.|title = Changing Racial Labels: From "Colored" to "Negro" to "Black" to "African American"| journal = The Public Opinion Quarterly| volume = 56| issue=4|pages = 496–514|oclc=192150485| url=http://www.soc.iastate.edu/soc522a/PDF%20readings/Smith.pdf|date = Winter, 1992| publisher = Oxford University Press| doi = 10.1086/269339|format=PDF}}</ref>

With the successes of the [[African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)|civil rights movement]], a new term was needed to break from the past and help shed the reminders of legalized discrimination. In place of ''Negro'', activists promoted the use of ''black'' as standing for racial pride, militancy and power. Some of the turning points included the use of the term "[[Black Power]]" by Kwame Toure ([[Stokely Carmichael]]) and the release of James Brown's song "[[Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud]]".
[[File:Jordan Lipofsky.jpg|thumb|left|African American [[Michael Jordan]], considered by many the greatest basketball player in history.]]
In 1988 [[Jesse Jackson]] urged Americans to use the term [[African American]] because the term has a historical cultural base. Since then African American and black have essentially a coequal status. Controversy continues over which term is more appropriate. Some such as [[Maulana Karenga]] and [[Owen Alik Shahadah]] argue African-American is more appropriate because it accurately articulates geography and historical origin.<ref name="Shahadah"/> Others have argued that "Black" is a better term because "African" suggests foreignness, despite the long presence of Black people in the US.<ref>{{cite news| last = McWhorter| first = John H.| title = Why I'm Black, Not African American| work= Los Angeles Times|date=8 September 2004| url = http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_latimes-why_im_black.htm| accessdate = 26 September 2010}}</ref> Still others believe the term black is inaccurate because African Americans have a variety of skin tones.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} Surveys show that the majority of Black Americans have no preference for "African American" or "Black,"<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/28816/black-african-american.aspx|title=Black or African American?|first=Frank|last=Newport|publisher=Gallup|date=28 September 2007|accessdate=26 September 2010}}</ref> although they have a slight preference for "Black" in personal settings and "African American" in more formal settings.<ref>{{cite book| last1 = Miller| first1 = Pepper| last2 = Kemp|first2=Herb | title = What's Black About? Insights to Increase Your Share of a Changing African-American Market| page=8|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=1OzZr_U2x_wC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA8#v=onepage&q&f=false|publisher = Paramount Market Publishing, Inc| year= 2006| isbn = 0972529098|oclc=61694280}}</ref> Increases in the number of immigrants to the United States from [[African immigration to the United States|Africa]], the Caribbean and Latin America have brought up questions about who uses the term African American. The more recent African immigrants may sometimes view themselves, and be viewed, as culturally distinct from native-born people who are descendants of African slaves.<ref name="Swarns">{{cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE5DB1F3EF93AA1575BC0A9629C8B63|title='African American' Becomes a Term for Debate|last=Swarns|first=Rachel L.|date=2004-08-29|work=The New York Times|accessdate=2008-07-22}}</ref>

The [[Race (United States Census)|U.S. census race definitions]] says a black is a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as "Black, African Am., or Negro," or who provide written entries such as African American, Afro American, [[Kenyan]], [[Nigerian]], or [[Haiti]]an. However, the [[Census Bureau]] notes that these classifications are socio-political constructs and should not be interpreted as scientific or anthropological.<ref>[http://www.census.gov/mso/www/c2000basics/00Basics.pdf 2000 US Census basics]</ref>

A considerable portion of the [[U.S. population]] identified as ''black'' also has some [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] or [[Europe|European]] ancestry. For instance, genetic studies of African American people show an ancestry that is on average 17–18% European.<ref>[http://www.isteve.com/2002_How_White_Are_Blacks.htm How White Are Blacks? How Black Are Whites? by Steve Sailer]</ref>

=====One drop rule=====
Since the late nineteenth century, the South used a [[colloquial]] term, the ''[[one-drop rule]]'', to classify as black any known African ancestry. This practice of hypodescent was not put into law until the early twentieth century.<ref name=Davis>{{cite web| last = James| first = F. Davis| title = Who is Black? One Nation's Definition| url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/mixed/onedrop.html| publisher = [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]]}}</ref> Legally the definition varied from state to state, and was more flexible in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries before the American Civil War. For instance, Thomas Jefferson held persons who were legally white (less than 25% Black) according to Virginia law at the time, but, because they were born to slave mothers, they were born into slavery, according to the principle of ''[[partus sequitur ventrem]],'' which Virginia adopted into law in 1662. ,band legally slaves (mother was a slave).

Outside of the US, some other countries have adopted the one-drop rule, but the definition of who is black and the extent to which the one drop "rule" applies varies greatly from country to country.

The one drop rule may have originated as a means of increasing the number of black slaves<ref>[[Clarence Page]], [http://www.pbs.org/newshour/essays/page_5-1.html A Credit to His Races], ''[[The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer]]'', May 1, 1997.</ref> and been maintained as an attempt to keep the white race pure.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://backintyme.com/essays/?p=25|title=Presenting the Triumph of the One-Drop Rule|last=Sweet|first=Frank|date=2006-04-01|work=The One-Drop Rule|accessdate=2008-07-22}}</ref> One of the results of the one drop rule was uniting the African-American community.<ref name=Davis/> Some of the most prominent civil rights activists were multiracial, and advocated equality for all.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}

=====Blackness=====
[[File:Official portrait of Barack Obama.jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[Barack Obama]], the first black president of the [[United States]], was throughout his campaign criticized as being either "too black" or "not black enough".<ref name=obama-speech>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/18_03_08_obama_speech.pdf |title=Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: 'A More Perfect Union' (transcript) |accessdate=2008-06-27 |date=2008-03-18 |publisher=BBC News|format=pdf |quote=This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either "too black" or "not black enough." We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well. |pages=p2 }} See also: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWe7wTVbLUU video]</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/27/barackobama.ralphnader?gusrc=rss&feed=commentisfree |title=Too black or not black enough, Obama just can't win |accessdate=2008-06-27 |first=Lola|last= Adesioye |date=2008-06-27 |work=The Guardian|work=Comment is Free | location=London}}</ref><ref name=obama-time>{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1584736,00.html |title=Is Obama Black Enough? |accessdate=2008-06-27 |first=Ta-Nehisi Paul |last=Coates |date=2007-02-01 |work=Time |quote=Barack Obama's real problem isn't that he's too white — it's that he's too black.}}</ref>]]

The concept of blackness in the United States has been described{{By whom|date=June 2008}} as the degree to which one associates themselves with mainstream [[African American culture]] and values. To a certain extent, this concept is not so much about race but more about culture and behavior. Blackness can be contrasted with "[[acting white]]" where black Americans are said to behave with assumed characteristics of stereotypical white Americans, with regard to [[fashion]], [[dialect]], taste in [[music]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.kent.edu/Magazine/Spring2007/ActingWhite.cfm|title=Acting White|last=Edler|first=Melissa|date=Spring 2007|work=Kent State Magazine|accessdate=2008-07-22}}</ref> and possibly, from the perspective of a significant number of Black youth, academic achievement.<ref>Ogbu, J. "Black American students in an affluent suburb: a study of academic disengagement". Erlbaum Associates Press. Mahwah, NJ. 2003.</ref>

The notion of blackness can also be extended to non-black people. [[Toni Morrison]] once described [[Bill Clinton]] as the first black president,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://dir.salon.com/story/books/int/2002/02/20/clinton/index.html|title=Blacks and Bill Clinton |last=Hansen |first=Suzy |date=2002-02-20 |work=Salon |accessdate=2008-07-22}}</ref> because of his warm relations with African Americans, his poor upbringing and also because he is a jazz musician. [[Christopher Hitchens]] was offended by the notion of Clinton as the first black president noting "we can still define blackness by the following symptoms: alcoholic mothers, under-the-bridge habits...the tendency to sexual predation and shameless perjury about the same".<ref>No One Left to Lie to by Christopher Hitchens, 1999, pg 47</ref> Some black activists were also offended, claiming Clinton used his knowledge of black culture to exploit black people like no other president before<ref>{{cite news| url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1637/is_200204/ai_n6880693 | title=Find Articles 404 File not found}} {{Dead link|date=August 2010|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}</ref> for political gain, while not serving black interests. They note his lack of action during the [[Rwanda genocide]]<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/mar/31/usa.rwanda|title=US chose to ignore Rwandan genocide|last=Carroll|first=Rory|date=2004-03-31|work=The Guardian|accessdate=2008-07-22 | location=London}}</ref> and his [[welfare reform]] which some claim led to the worst [[child poverty]] since the 1960s<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/jun1999/welf-j02.shtml|title=Clinton's welfare reform has increased child poverty|last=Roberts |first=Larry|date=1999-06-02|publisher=World Socialist Web Site|accessdate=2008-07-22}}</ref> along with the fact that the number of black people in jail increased during his administration.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.counterpunch.org/gray1207.html|title=Soul Brother? Clinton and Black Americans|last=Gray|first=Kevin A.|date=2002-12-07|work=Counterpunch|accessdate=2008-07-22}}</ref>

The question of blackness also arose in Democrat [[Barack Obama]]'s [[United States presidential election, 2008|2008 presidential campaign]]. Commentators have questioned whether Obama, who was elected the first black [[President of the United States]], is black enough, as his mother was [[white American]], and his father was a black Kenyan immigrant.<ref name=obama-speech/><ref name=obama-time/> Obama refers to himself interchangeably as black and [[African American]].<ref name=Kroft>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/11/60minutes/main2458530.shtml|title=A Transcript Excerpt Of Steve Kroft’s Interview With Sen. Obama|last=Kroft|first=Steve|date=2007-02-11|publisher=CBS News|accessdate=2008-07-22}}</ref>

====Brazil====
{{Main|Race in Brazil}}

The topic of race in Brazil is a complex and diverse one.{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}} A Brazilian child was never automatically identified with the racial type of one or both parents, nor were there only two categories to choose from. Between a pure black and a very light mulatto over a dozen racial categories would be recognized in conformity with the combinations of hair color, hair texture, eye color, and skin color. These types grade into each other like the colors of the spectrum, and no one category stands significantly isolated from the rest. That is, race referred to appearance, not heredity.<ref name="skidmore">{{cite journal| first = Thomas E. | last = Skidmore | title = Fact and Myth: Discovering a Racial Problem in Brazil| journal = Working Paper| volume = 173|url=http://www.nd.edu/~kellogg/publications/workingpapers/WPS/173.pdf| month = April | year = 1992|format=PDF}}</ref>

There is some disagreement among scholars over the effects of social status on racial classifications in Brazil. It is generally believed that upward mobility and education results in reclassification of individuals into lighter skinned categories. The popular claim is that in Brazil poor whites are considered black and wealthy blacks are considered white. Some scholars disagree arguing that whitening of one's social status may be open to people of mixed race, but a typically black person will consistently be identified as black regardless of wealth or social status.<ref name=Telles>{{cite book| last = Edward E. | first = Telles| title = Race in Another America: The Significance of Skin Color in Brazil| pages = 95–98| publisher = [[Princeton University Press]]| year= 2004| isbn =0691118663 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| first = Edward E. | last = Telles| title = Racial Ambiguity Among the Brazilian Population| journal = Ethnic and Racial Studies|url=http://www.ccpr.ucla.edu/ccprwpseries/ccpr_012_01.pdf| volume = 25| pages = 415–441| date= 3 May 2002| publisher = California Center for Population Research| doi = 10.1080/01419870252932133|format=PDF| issue = 3}}</ref>

=====Statistics=====
{{See also|Race and genetics#Admixture in Latin America}}
{| class="wikitable" border="1" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 0.5em 1em;"
|+Demographics of Brazil
|-
! Year!! White !! Pardo!! Black
|-
| 1835
| 24.4% || 18.2%||51.4%
|-
| 2000
| 53.7% ||38.5%||6.2%
|}
From the year 1500 to 1850 an estimated 3.5 million Africans were forcibly shipped to Brazil.<ref name=Telles/> An estimated 80 million Brazilians, almost half the population, are at least in part descendants of these Africans. Brazil has the largest population of Afro-descendants outside of Africa. In contrast to the US there were no segregation or anti-[[miscegenation]] laws in Brazil and as a result intermarriage has affected a large majority of the Brazilian population. Even much of the white population has either African or Amerindian blood. According to the last census 54% identified themselves as white, 6.2% identified themselves as black and 39.5% identified themselves as [[Pardo]] (brown)- a broad multiracial category.<ref>{{cite web| title = CIA World Factbook: Brazil| url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/br.html}}{{Dead link|date=August 2009}}</ref>

A philosophy of [[Racial whitening|whitening]] emerged in Brazil in the 19th century. Until recently the government did not keep data on race. However, statisticians estimate that in 1835 half the population was black, one fifth was Pardo (brown) and one fourth white. By 2000 the black population had fallen to only 6.2% and the Pardo had increased to 40% and white to 55%. Essentially most of the black population was absorbed into the multiracial category by intermarriage.<ref name="skidmore"/> A recent study found that at least 29% of the middle class white Brazilian population had some recent African ancestry.<ref>[http://www.funpecrp.com.br/gmr/year2007/vol2-6/gmr0330_full_text.htm Sex-biased gene flow in African Americans but not in American Caucasians]</ref>

=====Race relations in Brazil=====
[[File:Filhas-de-santo moradoras do terreiro.jpeg|thumb|right|200px|Afro-Brazilian women during a [[Candomblé]] ceremony.]]
Because of the ideology of [[miscegenation]], Brazil has avoided the polarization of society into black and white. The bitter and sometimes violent racial tensions that divide the US are notably absent in Brazil.

However, the philosophy of the racial democracy in Brazil has drawn criticism from some quarters. Brazil has one of the largest gaps in income distribution in the world. The richest 10% of the population earn 28 times the average income of the bottom 40%. The richest 10 percent is almost exclusively white. One-third of the population lives under the poverty line, with blacks and other non-whites accounting for 70 percent of the poor.<ref>{{cite web| last = Barrolle| first = Melvin Kadiri| title = African 'Americans' in Brazil| publisher =New America Media| url=http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=5b8d531de860940110af2433244782c6| accessdate=2009-08-05}}</ref>

In the US, black people earn 75% of what white people earn.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} In Brazil, non-whites earn less than 50% of what whites earn. Some have posited that Brazil does in fact practice the [[one drop rule]] when social economic factors are considered. This is because the gap in income between blacks and other non-whites is relatively small compared to the large gap between whites and non-whites. Other factors such as illiteracy and education level show the same patterns.<ref>{{cite web| last = Roland| first = Edna Maria Santos| title = The Economics of Racism: People of African Descent in Brazil| url=http://www.falapreta.org.br/durban/racism.doc}}</ref>
Unlike in the US where African Americans were united in the civil rights struggle, in Brazil the philosophy of whitening has helped divide blacks from other non-whites and prevented a more active civil rights movement.

Though Afro-Brazilians make up half the population there are very few black politicians. The city of [[Salvador, Bahia]] for instance is 80% Afro-Brazilian but has never had a black mayor. Critics indicate that US cities that have a black majority, such as [[Detroit]] and [[New Orleans]], have never had white mayors since first electing black mayors in the 1970s.<ref>Charles Whitaker, "[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_n4_v46/ai_9329550/pg_3 Blacks in Brazil: The Myth and the Reality]," ''[[Ebony (magazine)|Ebony]]'', February 1991</ref>

Non-white people also have limited media visibility. The Latin American media, in particular the Brazilian media, has been accused of hiding its black, indigenous, and mixed-race population. For example the [[telenovelas]] or [[Soap Opera|soaps]] are said to be a hotbed of [[white Brazilian|white]], largely [[blond]]e and [[eye color#blue|blue]]/[[eye color#green|green-eyed]] actors.{{fact|date=October 2011}}

These patterns of discrimination against non-whites have led some to advocate for the use of the Portuguese term 'negro' to encompass non-whites so as to renew a black consciousness and identity, in effect an African descent rule.<ref>[http://www.newamerica.net/publications/articles/2006/brazil_separates_into_a_world_of_black_and_white Brazil Separates Into a World of Black and White], ''Los Angeles Times'', September 3, 2006</ref>

===In Asia and Australasia===
[[File:Siddi Folk Dancers, at Devaliya Naka, Sasan Gir, Gujarat.jpg|right|thumb|200px|[[Siddi]] folk dancers performing at Devaliya Naka, [[Gir Forest National Park|Sasan Gir]], [[Gujarat]].]]
====China====
As of August, 2008, ''The Migration Information Source'' article noted that "A Nigerian Embassy spokesman estimated that Nigerians possibly make up the largest group of Black Africans in China, with about 2,000 to 3,000 Nigerians in Guangdong in 2006. Most businessmen only stay temporarily."<ref>[http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=690 China and Africa: Stronger Economic Ties Mean More Migration]. By Malia Politzer. ''Migration Information Source''. August 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.chinatravel.net/forum/Guangzhou-Guangzhou-Chocolate-City-Africans-Seek-Their-Dreams-in-China/1499.html Guangzhou "Chocolate City": Africans Seek Their Dreams in China]. 18-Dec-2008.</ref>
[[File:Ati woman.jpg|thumb|150px|left|An ethnic [[Ati (tribe)|Ati]] woman of the [[Philippines]]. The Negritos were the earliest inhabitants of [[Southeast Asia]].]]
====India and Southeast Asia====
{{See also|Indo-African (disambiguation)}}
The [[Great Andamanese]] are one of five [[Afro Asians (African Asians)|Afro Asian]] ethnic groups ([[Adivasi]] or tribal) native to the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]; they are among the first inhabitants of what is now India, arriving over 70,000 years ago. They are facing extinction.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4314267.stm Extinction threat for Andaman natives]. ''BBC News.'' March 5, 2005.</ref> The other four ethnic groups are the [[Jangil]], [[Jarawa (Andaman Islands)|Jarawa]], [[Onge people|Onge]] and [[Sentinelese people|Sentinelese]]. By their external physical appearance ([[phenotype]]) such people resemble Black Africans with dark skin and sometimes tightly coiled hair. There have been suggestions of a Black African origin. However, in the case of the Andamanese people, a study conducted by the [[National Center for Biotechnology Information|NCBI]] indicated that the Andamanese people possessed closer affinities with the Southeast Asian population than with the Black African population.<ref>{{cite journal| first = Kumarasamy | last = Thangaraj| title = Genetic Affinities of the Andaman Islanders, a Vanishing Human Population|url=http://hpgl.stanford.edu/publications/CB_2002_p1-18.pdf| journal =Current Biology | volume = 13| issue=2| pages = 86–93| date= 2003-01-21| doi = 10.1016/S0960-9822(02)01336-2|oclc=112009350|format=PDF|accessdate=2009-08-05| pmid = 12546781| last2 = Singh| first2 = L| last3 = Reddy| first3 = AG| last4 = Rao| first4 = VR| last5 = Sehgal| first5 = SC| last6 = Underhill| first6 = PA| last7 = Pierson| first7 = M| last8 = Frame| first8 = IG| last9 = Hagelberg| first9 = E}}</ref>

In [[South India]] there are also several communities of Black African descent, such as the [[Sheedi|Sheedis/Siddis]], specifically the [[Siddis of Karnataka]], who descend from [[Zanj]] (Black African) slaves. In Pakistan, Zanj descendants are known as the [[Makrani]].

Other black people of Southeast Asia, collectively known as [[Negritos]], include the [[Semang]] peoples of Malaysia, the [[Mani]] of Thailand the [[Aeta]] of [[Luzon]] and the [[Ati (tribe)|Ati]] of [[Panay]] in the [[Philippines]].<ref name=andaman>[http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/chapter6/text6.htm Chapter 6: The Negrito Race]</ref>

====Melanesia====

There are several groups of dark-skinned people who live in various parts of [[Asia]], [[Australia]] and [[Oceania]] who sometimes are referred to as black people. They include the [[Indigenous Australians]], the [[Melanesians]] (now divided into [[Austronesian]]-speaking populations and [[Papuan]]s, and including the great genetic diversity of [[New Guinea]]), the [[Semang]] people of the [[Malay peninsula]], and indigenous first nation [[Fijians]].

===In Europe===
[[File:Albrecht Dürer - The Negress Katherina - WGA07097.jpg|thumb|150px|Portrait of a black woman, Katherine, in [[Antwerp]], 1521, by [[Albrecht Dürer]].]]
{{Main|Black people in Europe}}

====United Kingdom====
{{Main|Black British}}
{{See also|Black British population|British African-Caribbean community|Black Scottish}}

According to the [[Office for National Statistics]], as of the 2001 census, there are over a million black people in the [[United Kingdom]]; 1% of the total population describe themselves as "Black Caribbean", 0.8% as "Black African", and 0.2% as "Black other".<ref>[http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=273 National Statistics Online<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Britain encouraged the immigration of workers from the [[Caribbean]] after [[World War II]]; the first symbolic movement was those who came on the ship the ''[[Empire Windrush]]''. The preferred official [[umbrella term]] is "black and minority ethnic" (BME), but sometimes the term "black" is used on its own, to express unified opposition to racism, as in the [[Southall Black Sisters]], which started with a mainly [[British Asian]] constituency.

====France====
{{Main|Afro-French}}
[[File:MC Solaar Invité du RH Factor.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The pioneering [[Chad]]ian-French rapper [[MC Solaar]].]]
France is an ethnically diverse nation, with about 2.5 – 5 million black people.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12396-2005Apr23.html Europe's Minority Politicians in Short Supply]. The Washington Post. April 24, 2005.</ref><ref>[http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0112/p01s04-woeu.html In officially colorblind France, blacks have a dream – and now a lobby]. Csmonitor.com. January 12, 2007.</ref>

====Balkans====
Due to the [[Slavery (Ottoman Empire)|Ottoman slave trade]] that had flourished in the [[Balkans]], the coastal town of [[Ulcinj]] in [[Montenegro]] had its own black community.<ref>[http://www.cyber-adventures.com/yugo.html Yugoslavia – Montenegro and Kosovo – The Next Conflict?]</ref> As a consequence of the slave trade and [[privateer]] activity, a considerable number of Ulcinj inhabitants until 1878 were black.<ref>[http://www.visit-montenegro.com/cities-ulcinj-h.htm ULCINJ – HISTORY]</ref> The [[Military of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Army]] also sent an estimated 30,000 Black African troops and cavalrymen to its expedition in [[Hungary]] during the [[Austro-Turkish War of 1716–18]].<ref>[http://www.cwo.com/~lucumi/russia2.html African Slave Trade in Russia], By Dieudonne Gnammankou in La Channe et le lien, Doudou Diene, (id.) Paris, Editions UNESCO, 1988</ref>

====Eastern Europe====
As African states [[Decolonization of Africa|became independent]] in the 1960s, the [[Soviet Union]] offered many of their citizens the chance to study in Russia. Over a period of 40 years, about 400,000 African students from various countries moved to Russia to pursue higher studies, including many Black Africans.<ref>[http://www.mediarights.org/film/black_russians MediaRights: Film: Black Russians]</ref><ref>[http://www.africana.ru/Golden/info/black_russians_project_engl.htm Лили Голден и Лили Диксон. Телепроект "Черные русские": синопсис. Info on "Black Russians" film project in English]</ref> This extended beyond the Soviet Union to many countries of the [[Eastern bloc]].

==Debates on race==
===In Afrocentrism===
{{Main|Afrocentrism|Ancient Egyptian race controversy}}
[[File:Egyptian races.jpg|thumb|1820 drawing of a [[Book of Gates]] fresco of the tomb of [[Seti I]], depicting (from left): [[Berber people|Berber]], [[Nubian people|Nubian]], [[Asian people|Asiatic]], [[Egyptians]].]]
A controversy over the skin color and ethnic origins of the [[ancient Egypt]]ians was sparked as part of the [[Afrocentrism|Afrocentric]] debate.<ref name = "hrsvxs">[http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/afrocent_roth.html Building bridges to Afrocentrism]</ref> [[Afrocentrism|Afrocentrist]] scholars such as [[Cheikh Anta Diop]] contend that [[ancient Egypt]] was primarily a "black civilization". One source cited in support of their argument is [[Herodotus]], who wrote around 450 B.C. that "Colchians, Ethiopians and Egyptians have thick lips, broad nose, woolly hair and they are burnt of skin."<ref>{{cite web |title=Huge Ancient Egyptian Photo Gallery| url=http://www.freemaninstitute.com/RTGhistory.htm}}</ref> However, Classical scholar [[Frank M. Snowden, Jr.|Frank Snowden, Jr.]] cautions against the reliance on accounts by ancient writers to describe the physical characteristics of other ancient peoples, as they held different connotations from those of modern-day terminology in the West. He also points out that other ancient writers clearly distinguished between Egyptians and Ethiopians.<ref>{{cite book | last=Snowden, Jr. | first=Frank M. | editor=Mary R. Lefkowitz and Guy MacLean Rogers (eds.) | title=Black Athena Revisited | location=Chapel Hill | publisher=University of North Carolina Press | year=1996 | pages=113–14 | quote=....the Afrocentrists are mistaken in assuming that the terms ''Afri'' (Africans) and various color adjectives for dark pigmentation as used by Greeks and Romans are always the classical equivalents of Negores or blacks in modern usage.... That the pigmentation of the Egyptians was seen as lighter than that of Ethiopians is also attested by the adjective ''subfusucli'' ("somewhat dark") which Ammianus Marcellinus (22.16.23) chose to describe the Egyptians....}}</ref>

Keita and Boyce confront this issue in a 1996 article entitled, "The Geographical Origins and Population Relationships of Early Ancient Egyptians". As anthropologists, they point out the danger in relying on ancient interpretation to reveal for us the biological make up of a population. In any case they contend, the relevant data indicates greater similarity between Egyptians and Ethiopians than the former group with the Ancient Greeks.<ref>{{cite book | last=Keita, Boyce | first=Shomarka, A.J.| editor=Theodore Celenko(ed) | title=Egypt in Africa | location=Chapel Hill | publisher=Indianapolis Museum of Art | year=1996 | pages=25–27 | quote=....''The descriptions and terms of ancient Greek writers have sometimes been used to comment on Egyptian origins. This is problematic since the ancient writers were not doing population biology. However, we can examine one issue. The Greeks called all groups south of Egypt "Ethiopians". Were the Egyptians more related to any of these "Ethiopians" than to the Greeks? As noted, cranial and limb studies have indicated greater similarity to Somalis, Kushites and Nubians, all "Ethiopians" in ancient Greek terms.''....}}</ref>

Ancient Egyptians are often portrayed in modern media as [[White people|Caucasians]]. Afrocentrists, in particular, have been critical of this.<ref>{{cite web| title = The Identity Of Ancient| url=http://www.calumet.purdue.edu/mcnair/cynthia_research.pdf|format=PDF}}</ref> According to [[Egyptology|Egyptologists]], ancient Egypt was a multicultural society of Middle Eastern, Northeast African, and Saharan influences.<ref name = "hrsvxs"/><ref>[http://homelink.cps-k12.org/teachers/filiopa/files/AC383EB269C648AAAA659593B9FC358C.pdf Were the Ancient Egyptians black or white]</ref> Afrocentrists argue that anthropological and archaeological evidence shows that what they term an ''Africoid'' element was evident in ancient Egypt,<ref>{{cite video| people = [[Basil Davidson]]| title=The Nile|url=http://www.lincoln.edu/history/his307/davidson/1/dif3.wmv}}</ref> which they argue was predominant in [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]] in the [[First dynasty of Egypt]].<ref>Studies and Comments on Ancient Egyptian Biological Relationships, by S.O.Y. Keita, History in Africa, 20: 129–154 (1993)</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Keita | first=S.O.Y. | title=Further studies of crania from ancient northern Africa: an analysis of crania from First Dynasty Egyptian tombs | journal=[[American Journal of Physical Anthropology]] | year=1992 | month=March | volume=87 | issue= 3 | pages=245–254 | url=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/110482899/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 | accessdate= 2007-09-23 | quote=The predominant craniometric pattern in the [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]] [First Dynasty] royal tombs is "southern" (tropical African variant)... However, lower Egyptian, Maghrebian, and European patterns are observed also, thus making for great diversity... The centroid values of the various upper Egyptian series viewed collectively are seen to vary over time. The general trend from Badari to Nakada times, and then from the Nakadan to the First Dynasty epochs demonstrate change toward the northern-Egyptian centroid value on Function I with similar values on Function 11. This might represent an average change from an Africoid (Keita, 1990) to a northern-Egyptian-Maghreb modal pattern.... This northern modal pattern, which can be called coastal northern African, is noted in general terms to be intermediate, by the centroid scores of Function I, to equatorial African and northern European phenotypes. | doi=10.1002/ajpa.1330870302 | pmid=1562056}}{{Dead link|date=August 2009}}</ref>

==See also==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-4}}
* [[African-American]]
* [[African diaspora]]
* [[African Jews]]
* [[Afro-Europeans]]
* [[Afro-Asian]]
* [[Afro Asians (African Asians)]]
* [[Afro-Latin American|Afro-Latino]]
* [[Afro-Trinbagonian]]
{{col-3}}
* [[Black British]]
* [[Black Canadians]]
* [[Black Hispanic and Latino Americans]]
* [[Black Indians]]
* [[Black Jews]]
* [[Black nationalism]]
* [[Black Power]]
* [[Black pride]]
* [[Black separatism]]
* [[Black supremacy]]
{{col-3}}
* [[Creole peoples]]
* [[List of topics related to the Black Diaspora]]
* [[Mulatto]]
* [[Negrito]]s
* [[Stereotypes of black people]]
* [[Sub-Saharan Africa]]
* ''[[The Minds of Marginalized Black Men]]'' (book)
{{col-end}}

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Historical definitions of race}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black People}}
[[Category:Black African people| ]]
[[Category:Latin American caste system]]
[[Category:Race]]

[[ca:Raça negra]]
[[de:Schwarze]]
[[et:Neegrid]]
[[es:Negro (persona)]]
[[eo:Nigrulo]]
[[fr:Noir (humain)]]
[[ko:흑인]]
[[la:Nigrita]]
[[pt:Negros]]
[[simple:Black people]]
[[sv:Svart (hudfärg)]]
[[uk:Негр]]
[[ug:قارا تەنلىكلەر]]
[[wuu:黑人]]
[[yi:שווארצע]]
[[zh-yue:黑人]]
[[bat-smg:Negrā]]
[[zh:黑人]]

Revision as of 16:23, 7 November 2011

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