Re: Maya Angelou died (28-5-2014)

On 30/05/2024 7:34 p.m., Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:

On 2024-05-29 10:59:23 +0000, Ross Clark said:
 

African-American writer and activist.

 African American? She was born in the USA of American parents, lived in the USA, worked in the USA, and died in the USA. She was American. She may have had some ancestors from Africa, but that doesn't make her African. I have very recent ancestors from Ireland (including my mother), but I am not Irish.

Nor was she African. "African-American" (note hyphen) is a standard term for Americans with African ancestry (within the last few centuries, that is). Wikipedia also calls her just "American" (at the top), but later considers her "African American" (no hyphen). It's clear that her membership in that ethnic group had a great deal to do with her life and work. (She did actually live in Africa for a few years in the 1960s.)