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The categorisation of African descent populations in Europe and the USA: should lexicons of recommended terminology be evidence-based?

Aspinall, Peter J. (2008) The categorisation of African descent populations in Europe and the USA: should lexicons of recommended terminology be evidence-based? Public Health, 122 (1). pp. 61-69. ISSN 0033-3506. (doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2007.02.018) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:24711)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2007.02.018

Abstract

This review attempts to evaluate a proposed lexicon for African-descent populations from the viewpoint of saliency amongst those described and wider official and scientific usage, focusing on Britain and the USA. It is argued that it is unsatisfactory to privilege the term ‘African American’ over ‘Black’ for Africandescent populations in the USA as the evidence base shows that both labels compete

as self-designations on co-equal terms, while ‘Black’ is the prevalent term in scientific writing. Moreover, ‘African American’ is not an inclusive term for the African-descent population and it is not known how prevalent and enduring the term will prove to be. With respect to Britain, the census terms of ‘Black African’ and

‘Black Caribbean’ are well established, the increasing popularity of ‘Black British’ also being recognized in census labels. Given the increasing interest in the

relationship between ethnic identity and health, there are arguments for documenting the diversity of terminology amongst different user constituencies in

country-specific settings. The approach of synthetic glossaries of consensual terms may, through the need for economy and parsimony in the use of terminology,

contribute to an unsatisfactory paring of that diversity.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1016/j.puhe.2007.02.018
Uncontrolled keywords: African American; Black; Race; Ethnicity; Terminology
Subjects: D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D901 Europe (General)
D History General and Old World > DT Africa
E History America > E11 America (General)
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology
H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research > Centre for Health Services Studies
Depositing User: Tony Rees
Date Deposited: 07 Sep 2010 14:41 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:03 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/24711 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Aspinall, Peter J..

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