This Day in Black History: Dec. 21, 1988
Rev. Jesse Jackson urges the use of the term ?African-American? to describe Americans of African descent.
By Britt Middleton
December 21, 2011 / 7:00 AM
<p>Rev. Jesse Jackson, joined by other prominent members of the African-American community, called for Americans of African descent to abandon identifies such as ?colored? or ?Black? and to instead refer to themselves as African-American.</p>
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<p>''To be called African-Americans has cultural integrity. It puts us in our proper historical context,? the reverend and civil rights veteran famously <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/21/us/jackson-and-others-say-blacks-is-passe.html">said.</a> ?Every ethnic group in this country has a reference to some land base, some historical cultural base. African-Americans have hit that level of cultural maturity.?</p>
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<p>In 1976, <a href="http://millercenter.org/president/carter/essays/cabinet/757" target="_blank">Patricia R. Harris</a> is named the secretary of housing and urban development by President-elect Jimmy Carter. She also served as secretary of health, education and welfare secretary of health and human services. Harris died March 23, 1985.</p>
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<p><i>(Photo: The Washington Times/Landov)</i></p>
