John VanSickle wrote:
> I don't support our racial categorizations, but I suspect that the 
> fellow's ancestors all trace back to Europe, in which case he is 
> classified as Caucasian and not African.  The fact that his family did 
> time in Africa is regarded as immaterial.

My ancestors come from Africa as well.  In fact, all of ours do. 
Doesn't that make everyone in the world an African?

How long does a person have to live in a new land to be considered a 
"native" of that land?  How many generations need to pass?

When you get down to it, carrying around a label like African American, 
Pacific Islander, Eurasion, or whatever you want to call yourself just 
means that you identify more strongly with your past (or your ancestor's 
past) than your present.

Personally, I'm all for naturalization.  If I were to live in Chile for 
the rest of my life, I'd call myself Chileno (well, once I'd been 
granted citizenship).  But then, my opinions rarely coincide with public 
opinion.

-- 
Chambers

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