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I think parent talks about people in South Africa referring to themselves as ‘African American’.

Yes, this was happening in classrooms in South Africa.

For good or bad, in many underdeveloped places where black people are rare, they are intuitively perceived as Americans (which stereotypically means rich, cool, free and capable of teaching you great English) and treated with additional respect because of this.

I had a South African friend in middle and high school. They fled the country when it became popular to put a tire around a white person's neck, full it with gasoline, and light it. Mandela's wife promoted doing this.

They gained American citizenship. She became my African American friend. Everyone told me I was terrible for talking that way.