Harry Belafonte

"I work for the United Nations. I go to places where enormous upheaval and pain and anguish exist. And a lot of it exists based upon American policy. Whom we support, whom we support as heads of state, what countries we've helped to overthrow, what leaders we've helped to diminish because they did not fit the mold we think they should fit, no matter how ill advised that thought may be."

 - Harry Belafonte interview
   on CNN Larry King Live, October 15, 2002

( I have to clarify here that this post was supposed to be just the quote at the top, but upon reading up on Harry on Wikipedia and seeing what I'll explain below, I just couldn't help but bitch about it. But I don't want an older gripe to overshadow the reason I actually made this post. So, without further ado... )

Aside from that poignant statement... there is a point about his bio on Wikipedia that bothers me as well...

Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Belafonte on March 1, 1927 in Harlem, New York, United States) is a Jamaican-American calypso musician and actor who used his fame as an entertainer in the cause of human rights.

He is perhaps best known for singing the "Banana Boat Song" with its signature lyric "Day-O". His breakthrough album Calypso (1956) was the first album to sell over 1 million copies. He was the first African-American to win an Emmy, with his first solo TV special “tonight with Belafonte”.

...

From 1935 to 1939 he lived with his mother in her homeland Jamaica.

Can you figure it out?

Both Harry and his mother were born in Jamaica from what the article says, and yet they call Harry an African-American. He's BLACK. THAT DOESN'T MEAN HE HAS A GOD DAMNED THING TO DO WITH AFRICA YOU STUPID POLITICALLY CORRECT IDIOTS.

Being black doesn't mean you're from Africa. When will people figure that out?

Only around 25% of blacks in the United States can meaningfully call themselves African-Americans. Beyond that, it's about as stupid as me calling myself a European-American because if I go back several generations, I can trace my ancestry back to the old world. Hell, if I go back far enough, even I can call myself an African-American. Essentially EVERYONE ON EARTH can call themselves African-whatever, because all of humanity originated in Africa.

*sigh*