Oscar winning actor Morgan Freeman came out swinging in an interview this week. He lambasted the terms “African American” and “Black History Month.”
He commented that it was an insult to relegate his history to a month, and that African American was simply inaccurate.
“I don’t subscribe to that title. Black people have had different titles all the way back to the N-word and I do not know how these things get such a grip, but everyone uses ‘African American’.
“What does it really mean? Most Black people in this part of the world are mongrels. And you say Africa as if it’s a country when it’s a continent, like Europe.”
The actor had previously spoken out against both terms to the Guardian in 2012, saying he didn’t like “African American” “because ‘Black’ is beautiful. One syllable versus seven”.
As for Black History Month, he said he objected to the ghettoisation implicit in devoting February to this topic.
“Black history is American history; they’re completely intertwined.”
Asked by the Times whether he concurred with Denzel Washington’s statement that he was “very proud to be Black, but Black is not all I am.” Freeman said: “Yes, exactly. I’m in total agreement. You can’t define me that way.”
When asked what should be done about prejudice he said “Stop talking about it.”
JVH
