Jesse Jackson helped make 'African American' mainstream

Jesse Jackson led a late-1980s push, alongside the NAACP and other Black organizations, to popularise the term "African American" as a way to reflect ancestral heritage, and several institutions and communities adopted the term into common usage.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died at 84, played a central role in encouraging wider use of the term "African American." A protégé of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Jackson worked with the NAACP and other Black leaders in the late 1980s to replace older labels and to promote a term that reflected ancestral and cultural roots. He was a two-time presidential candidate and a longtime civil rights advocate who pushed for voting rights, jobs and education. His daughter Santita Jackson confirmed he died at his Chicago home and had a rare neurological disorder. Key facts: - Jackson and other leaders promoted replacing terms like "coloured" and "blacks" with "African American" in the late 1980s. - He organized a meeting of 75 Black groups where organizers reported an "overwhelming consensus" in favor of the change. - The phrase "African American" has earlier recorded uses, including a 1782 pamphlet noted by Yale law librarian Fred R. Shapiro. - The U.S. Census Bureau later issued guidance that "Black or Negro includes African-Americans." - Some school districts in Chicago and Atlanta adopted the term and incorporated it into curricula. - Today, "Black" and "African American" are often used interchangeably, with "Black" sometimes seen as broader and more inclusive. Summary: Jackson's advocacy helped move the term "African American" into wider public use and prompted institutions and community groups to adopt the language. Undetermined at this time.