Legendary Motown singer, songwriter and producer Smokey Robinson made a virtual appearance on The View in February and discussed his racial identity, which left Twitter conflicted.
Robinson spoke about his poem “Black American.” It was turned into an animation by Joe Young, a teacher who used the singer’s work to educate his students about the Black American experience, theJasmineBrand reports.
“I resent being called African American because Black people have contributed so much to the development of the United States of America,” said the crooner. “I think that when you do that, you’re disclaiming all the things, the contributions that Black people have made to America,” the 82-year-old added.
“You see, I consider myself to be a Black American, and I enjoy being called Black, and Black has been so negativized as a color down throughout history by those who wanted to negativize it. And so, it spilled over into the Black community and to the Black people. And even Black people back in the day calling each other Black was a sign for a fight,” he added.
“I resent being called African American because Black people have contributed so much to the development of the United States of America. The wonderful Black Americans who served in the armed forces and gave their lives in all the wars. They did not do that for Timbuktu or Capetown or Kenya. They did that for Louisiana and Mississippi and Texas and Virginia. OK? So that’s how I feel about it.”
Twitter users aired their conflicted responses about the Motown legend’s stance online, with some agreeing and others saying he was misinformed.
I don’t see a problem with what he said. Actually, I only see one issue: all his years of traveling, he’s never been to Africa?
— Epictetus (@darky07025216) March 7, 2022
I know people who are proud of their Italian heritage, who have never been to Italy. No matter what part of the world they end up in, they will always be Italian because of their bloodline.
— Brick Mason (@BrickMason112) March 9, 2022
Smokey Robinson… a man born in the 1940’s is on the internet tellin people to drop the African and just call him Black American. Cause he never been to Africa. What’s the stages of Dementia?
— Life Dutchee (@LifeDutchee) March 8, 2022
I knew Smokey Robinson was an idiot after he threw us under the bus for Jennifer Lopez but this latest stunt takes the cake.
As I said mere days ago, the facts that ‘Black is a race’ and ‘African American is an ethnicity’ really whoops y’all’s asses.
— Lauren (@_Elle_Spencer_) March 4, 2022
We are Black! pic.twitter.com/eAvLu22NDc
— M69ike (@m69ike) March 9, 2022
Smokey has his opinion- we all do. We are all correct. It boils down to semantics. We are found all over the globe: India,Asia,Europe,AmericasPacific Island/Hawaii, Australia. From the very inception of life on Earth.
— Wisdom_Seed (@conga_2) March 5, 2022
All our stories began in Africa. The Land of Ethiopia- AKEBULAN
— Wisdom_Seed (@conga_2) March 5, 2022
Nah. There is no us without the Motherland. Period.
Our ancestors would’ve never survived slavery if not for the strength of the melanin in our Black bodies… which derives from Africa.
The drums in our music, the rhythm in our souls, the food that we eat… African.
— I Drop Alpha 📦💭 (@akaJustCrypto) March 5, 2022
In my younger days I did take on the AA moniker. I didn’t realize the connotations behind that. Rap artists like X Clan had me thinking this was right. Fast forward 2022, I see that is not the case I’m proudly an FBA✊🏽
— DEBO (@blaqqbutterfli) March 5, 2022
So what’s the deterrent to say African. Are we trying to cut ties with our African lineage
— Joe LEMAINE (@JoeLemaine) March 5, 2022
The animation of Robinson’s poem shows the origin of the label “African American” and his reasons for wanting to be called a Black American. The animated film is executive produced by Smokey Robinson, Mark Scheinberg and Young, an award-winning artist, cartoonist and filmmaker.
