[hnbad]

The point is they were Germans and called Black Germans "Afro-Amerikaner" even if none of their ancestors had ever sat foot in a US territory let alone been citizens.

The implicit assumption was that because they were Black they couldn't be German. "Afrodeutsch" ("African-German") came significantly later.

In Germany (and I know the equivalent is true for many other countries) the term "German" is racialized and often used in a way that Americans use "white". Americans are far more willing to call an African or Asian American simply "American" than Germans are to call an African or Asian German simply "German". Also nobody will care more about your distant ancestors being Italian or Norwegian than they will care about them being Swabian or Bavarian, but if you are non-white, you will always be treated as a foreigner even if you have a Bavarian accent.