african american is about ancestry, real african americans are proud enough to be from africa, why should they be upset about their cousins using the term 'african american'? they arent claiming to be african,, its a different term,,

http://news.yahoo.com/blacks-insist-im-not-african-american-181257715.html

What are you? Where are you from? And how do you fit into this country?

"I prefer to be called black," said Shawn Smith, an accountant from Houston. "How I really feel is, I'm American."

"I don't like African-American. It denotes something else to me than who I am," said Smith, whose parents are from Mississippi and North Carolina. "I can't recall any of them telling me anything about Africa. They told me a whole lot about where they grew up in Macomb County and Shelby, N.C."

Gibré George, an entrepreneur from Miami, started a Facebook page called "Don't Call Me African-American" on a whim. It now has about 300 "likes."

"We respect our African heritage, but that term is not really us," George said. "We're several generations down the line. If anyone were to ship us back to Africa, we'd be like fish out of water."

"It just doesn't sit well with a younger generation of black people," continued George, who is 38. "Africa was a long time ago. Are we always going to be tethered to Africa? Spiritually I'm American. When the war starts, I'm fighting for America."

Joan Morgan, a writer born in Jamaica who moved to New York City as a girl, remembers the first time she publicly corrected someone about the term: at a book signing, when she was introduced as African-American and her family members in the front rows were appalled and hurt.

"That act of calling me African-American completely erased their history and the sacrifice and contributions it took to make me an author," said Morgan, a longtime U.S. citizen who calls herself Black-Caribbean American. (Some insist Black should be capitalized.)

http://www.adversity.net/FRAMES/Editorials/54_Paler_Shade_of_Black.htm

So where did the 10,000+ shades of paler brown, beige, pink, white and what Crayola crayons used to call "flesh" come from? Archaeological data places the origin of genetically modern humans in sub-Saharan Africa approximately 140,000 years ago. Humans then began migrating out of Africa in successive waves, starting approximately 100,000 years or 5000 generations ago. Now that scientists have mapped the human genome, they are homing in on when each wave began their outward bound journey and where they migrated to. So far they have confirmed that everyone on the entire planet, even the 1.3 billion Chinese, have a common ancestor back in Africa.

in this conversation, do you believe that white girl from from africa was one of the 'african americans' being referred to?

Im sure she wasnt,,,,race and ethnicity are interchangable in terms of context,, individuals can share with us what their actual 'race' is, because only they can know their biological background,, IM sure we see plenty of people we assume are 'white' throughout life who may in fact have ancestry of african origin,,,and we may see some that have no african origin that we assume are 'black'


in conversations about crime however, 'african american' usually is referring to black people in america,,,,,

http://news.yahoo.com/blacks-insist-im-not-african-american-181257715.html

What are you? Where are you from? And how do you fit into this country?

"I prefer to be called black," said Shawn Smith, an accountant from Houston. "How I really feel is, I'm American."

"I don't like African-American. It denotes something else to me than who I am," said Smith, whose parents are from Mississippi and North Carolina. "I can't recall any of them telling me anything about Africa. They told me a whole lot about where they grew up in Macomb County and Shelby, N.C."

Gibré George, an entrepreneur from Miami, started a Facebook page called "Don't Call Me African-American" on a whim. It now has about 300 "likes."

"We respect our African heritage, but that term is not really us," George said. "We're several generations down the line. If anyone were to ship us back to Africa, we'd be like fish out of water."

"It just doesn't sit well with a younger generation of black people," continued George, who is 38. "Africa was a long time ago. Are we always going to be tethered to Africa? Spiritually I'm American. When the war starts, I'm fighting for America."

Joan Morgan, a writer born in Jamaica who moved to New York City as a girl, remembers the first time she publicly corrected someone about the term: at a book signing, when she was introduced as African-American and her family members in the front rows were appalled and hurt.

"That act of calling me African-American completely erased their history and the sacrifice and contributions it took to make me an author," said Morgan, a longtime U.S. citizen who calls herself Black-Caribbean American. (Some insist Black should be capitalized.)

When I read the title of this thread, my first thought was, "The militant arm of the Democratic Party still has rallies? Who knew?"

KKK : still alive and dangerous. A vision of hate merges with every image of the KKK. Why do they hate? They see themselves as a group that advocates the need for white people to asset or regain the power they feel has been lost in America.

and if you cant tell cheerleaders from all over the country from everyday woman youll need more then glasses. Dont you wish all Texas woman looked like that?

once again, my PERSONAL PREFERENCE is to not be surrounded by guns,, knives have uses which dont involve MASS Death, although they can also be used in a one on one encounter, and give the victim more of a chance to actually fight and put the assailant at more risk because of the requirement for such a close encounter,,,,,


I wouldnt want to be somewhere where people were , for whatever reason, more likely to be walkikng around with knives either,,,for that matter

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/01/14/lets-set-the-record-straight-5-common-misconceptions-about-guns-mass-shootings/

•March 25, 2008, Sitka, Alaska: An 18 year killed 4 people with a 5-inch knife.
•June 8, 2001, Osaka, Japan: A school janitor killed 8 children with a kitchen knife.
•July 1, 2008, Shanghai, China: A man stabbed 6 police officers to death and wounded 4 others with a knife.

“According to the FBI’s website, during the time period between 2007 until 2011, there were 8,967 people that were murdered with knives or cutting instruments; during that same time period, there were 3,918 people that were murdered with either rifles or shotguns,” Hunter told TheBlaze.

And, of course, murderers aren’t restricted to just sharp objects and guns. Some have used explosives:
•April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City, Okla.: Timothy McVay murdered 168 people and injured 680 when he blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building using, among other components, fertilizer.
•May 18, 1927, Bath, Mich.: A man murdered 44 people, 38 of which were elementary school children. Another 58 were wounded when he blew up the Bath Consolidated School. To date, this is still the worst school massacre in US history.
•November 1, 1955: John “Jack” Gilbert Graham murdered 44 people by planting a dynamite bomb in his mother’s suitcase that was subsequently loaded aboard United Airlines Flight 629. The bomb detonated shortly after takeoff.

Others transportation:
•September 11, 2001: Nineteen terrorists murdered nearly 3,000 people on American soil by intentionally flying passenger planes into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City and the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. A fourth plane was also hijacked and was intended to be crashed into the U.S. Capitol, but passengers overcame the hijackers and the plane crashed in Shanksville, Pa.
•June 8, 2008, Tokyo, Japan: A man drove his truck into a crowd of people, killing three. He then exited the vehicle and stabbed 12 people. In all, seven people were killed as a result.
•April 30, 2009, Apeldoorn, Netherlands: A man intentionally drove his car into a group of people amassed for a parade. He killed six and seriously injured another 12 before dying from the crash himself.

Others blunt objects:
•August 6, 2004, Deltona, Fla.: Four men decided to bludgeon 6 people using baseball bats because they wanted to steal an Xbox belonging to one of the victims. All of the attackers were old enough to buy firearms.
•July 20, 2009, Sydney, Australia: A family of 5 was bludgeoned to death as they slept. Most likely baseball bats were used in the attack.

“According to the FBI’s website, during the time period between 2007 until 2011, there were 2,918 people that were murdered with blunt objects (baseball bats, hammers, etc.),” Hunter reminds us. “During that same time period, there were 1,874 people that were murdered with rifles.”

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20120920/suicide-top-cause-of-injury-death

The top five leading causes of injury-related deaths were:
1.Suicide
2.Motor vehicle crashes
3.Poisoning
4.Falls
5.Homicide

yes, african american is also a race, its the race of black folks who happen to be geographically inside of the US

its still implying that the race is the factor, and not the combination of conditions and factors affecting those groups cited about

its a false logic, and still totally irrelevant to whether I choose to be in a state where gun ownership is high,,

being texas has about a 11 percent black population, Id say race is irrelevant to my reasons for not wanting to live there or to the CUTLTURE which seems to embrace and need so many guns,,,,

Texas woman look like cattle rustlers, thick ankles, to much beer and porkchops for me. Cant tell the woman from the cowboys, all boots, guts and hats. You know the saying, "everything is bigger in Texas. Cali is way better, better looking woman. Although they have overly tanned skin, many look orange, Texas woman drink like sailors, dress like cowboys and have leather lik skin. Loved Cali though.

appears to me a GOOD Chance of higher gun death where there are more guns IN AMERICAN CULTURE 

of course culture is another ingredient that plays into it, and the Texan culture MIXED with the number of guns would keep me from wanting to locate there,,,

I found just the opposite. I found California people to be much more accepting of different lifestyles than Texans. In Texas I was never allowed to forget that I was a Yankee. In California they don't care where you're from.

I also loved all the variations in climate in California. In Texas my back yard had deep cracks in it from the constant drought, and I've never been so miserably hot in my life (and I like heat). Even here in Utah, the heat is awful in the summer but you can go to the mountains for the day.

All this has nothing to do with starting a business, which is what the OP seemed to be interested in. I expect Texas might be better for that, from what I've heard. But the OP seemed to have already made up his mind, anyway.

my actual statement was that I dont want to be surrounded by so many guns

I dont care if they are 'gangbangers' or 'law abiding' citizens with the right to stalk and shoot me if I look 'suspicious'

thats just my preference,,,,,

pverty rate: california is 13%, texas is 16.8%
http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/united-states/quick-facts/all-states/percent-of-people-of-all-ages-in-poverty#map

per capita income: california is number 12, texas is number 33
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_income#States_ranked_by_per_capita_income

pverty rate: california is 13%, texas is 16.8%
http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/united-states/quick-facts/all-states/percent-of-people-of-all-ages-in-poverty#map

gun ownership: california 1 in 5, texas 1 in 3
http://usliberals.about.com/od/Election2012Factors/a/Gun-Owners-As-Percentage-Of-Each-States-Population.htm[/url}

educational ranking better in cali than texas : http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/acrossstates/Rankings.aspx?ind=7247

its all about what environment you want to live in / bring children up in

the heat and the guns alone are actually enough to disinterest me,,,,