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"People who look of African American descent have to deal with prejudices and have to frequently deal with conversations that refer to the color of our skin," said Ruth Wilson, a professor in the African American studies department.

"African American" and "black" are the terms at hand.

"Most people will accept either African American or black but the most dominant terminology is African American," Wilson said.

Scott Brown, a junior majoring in psychology, said it does not matter to him personally because neither can define him as a person.

"When Caucasians are born in America do we refer to them as Irish-Americans?" Brown asked.

"Just refer to me as an American. Take out the African, I was born here and I know my American history above all over the history of Africa."

Steven M. Miller, an African American studies professor, prefers the term African American, he said, because it is related to culture not complexion.

"It reflects the fact that African Americans have become an American ethnic group tied together with a common past," Miller said. "And it shares taste in things like food, music, religion, slang, beauty, styles, political and civil heroes."

Time has changed the way we refer to each other said Tracy Jenkins, a senior majoring in sociology.

"Technically we are Americans with descents from Africa so African American is the politically correct terminology," he said.

African American is used in the media, in health book references, said Wilson of the comparison.

"It also depends on the setting," Jenkins said. "If I am in class I will use African American but when I am with my friends I tend to use black, or just plain old Tracy, that works, too."

Christina Shephard, a freshman majoring in art said she would rather people use the term black because not all people have direct ancestral ties in Africa.

"I have white ancestry in my blood that I can trace quicker than my African lineage. It is not a huge deal which people use but I do prefer black," she said.

Ethel Walker, a professor in the television, radio, film and theater department, said she uses both interchangeably.

"I use both because I bridge a lot of generations," she said.

"I use black when I am referring to the Diaspora and African American when I am talking about particularly blacks in America," Walker said.

"I go by both," said Arvel Henderson a senior majoring in African American studies.

"Some people will have issues with being called black if they are first generation, but I think it depends on the person."

Henderson said, as far as he is concerned, he is a black male. He said black is more like a culture that caters to America.

Victoria Boyd, a freshman double majoring in microbiology and marine biology, said she prefers African American because black is only describing the color of her skin.

"If you want to get technical, brown is the real color," Boyd said.

"I get offended when I see black on applications for tests and things like that because that is not my ethnicity - it is African. Just like there are Hispanic and non-Hispanic boxes there should be the same consideration with Africans," she said.

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