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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Mueen Nawaz wrote:
> 	Eh? Not over here. I occasionally hear someone claiming someone else is
> an African American, when he's purely African. I correct, and no one
> thinks my correction to be strange.
> 
>>   Even more jarring is that it's also used for dark-skinned people who
>> are neither African nor American. (Many people in the Pacific islands or
>> south Asia, for example, could very well pass for Africans, even though
>> they aren't.)
> 
> 	I personally have never heard someone from South Asia be called
> African, unless it is purely by mistake. Nor have the complained to me
> about it. Officially, people from South Asia are classified as Asians in
> this country, regardless of skin color.

You live in SA, don't you?  It must be nice to live in a civilized country.

People in the US are incredibly idiotic when it comes to race.

-- 
Chambers

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nemesis wrote:
> I like short names best like white, black, gay, geek or midget. Straight 
> and to the point.

Try putting them all together :)  (A gay mulatto geek-midget!)

-- 
Chambers

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Chambers wrote:

> we're all just Americans (well, those of us in the US, I mean).

I wish some people would see it that way... Indeed, we are simply that, 
Americans. (Err, U.S.ians, but that sounds awkward :-D)

-- 
~Mike

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Mike Raiford wrote:
> Chambers wrote:
> 
>> we're all just Americans (well, those of us in the US, I mean).
> 
> I wish some people would see it that way... Indeed, we are simply that,
> Americans. (Err, U.S.ians, but that sounds awkward :-D)

Unitedstatians.

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Mike Raiford wrote:
> Chambers wrote:
> 
>> we're all just Americans (well, those of us in the US, I mean).
> 
> I wish some people would see it that way... Indeed, we are simply that, 
> Americans. (Err, U.S.ians, but that sounds awkward :-D)

Hell, I like to be inclusive... let's just say we're referring to 
everyone on either continent, and be done with it :)

-- 
Chambers

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Nicolas Alvarez <nic### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> Mike Raiford wrote:
> > Chambers wrote:
> >
> >> we're all just Americans (well, those of us in the US, I mean).
> >
> > I wish some people would see it that way... Indeed, we are simply that,
> > Americans. (Err, U.S.ians, but that sounds awkward :-D)
>
> Unitedstatians.

Yes

The term "American" has always bugged me when referring to citizenship of the
U.S. _of_ A.  I've always interpreted USA to mean "the united states that are
in America*" not "the states that unite to form America."  Therefore, the USA
by my interpretation** is a country without an easy one-word "name."  Somebody
living in Patagonia is an American.  Somebody living in Hawaii though is
American only in the informal sense, referring the the USA.

*aka "The Americas"

**"America" as a pair of continents, and only informally but very commonly used
to refer to a country.

Charles

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Charles C wrote:
> The term "American" has always bugged me when referring to citizenship of the
> U.S. _of_ A. 

Me too. But when I was vacationing in Europe for many weeks, people would 
ask me where I'm from. I'd say "The United States."  They'd say "You mean 
America? You're American?"

So I figured if other countries call me American, it's good enough for me.

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   There's no CD like OCD, there's no CD I knoooow!

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Darren New wrote:
> Charles C wrote:
>> The term "American" has always bugged me when referring to citizenship
>> of the
>> U.S. _of_ A. 
> 
> Me too. But when I was vacationing in Europe for many weeks, people
> would ask me where I'm from. I'd say "The United States."  They'd say
> "You mean America? You're American?"
> 
> So I figured if other countries call me American, it's good enough for me.

	Yeah - people from most nations refer to citizens of the US as
Americans. Some of the same people insist that America is not just the US.

-- 
Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember, it didn't help
the rabbit.


                    /\  /\               /\  /
                   /  \/  \ u e e n     /  \/  a w a z
                       >>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
                                   anl

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Mueen Nawaz <m.n### [at] ieeeorg> wrote:
> Darren New wrote:
> > Charles C wrote:
> >> The term "American" has always bugged me when referring to citizenship
> >> of the
> >> U.S. _of_ A. 
> > 
> > Me too. But when I was vacationing in Europe for many weeks, people
> > would ask me where I'm from. I'd say "The United States."  They'd say
> > "You mean America? You're American?"
> > 
> > So I figured if other countries call me American, it's good enough for me.

>         Yeah - people from most nations refer to citizens of the US as
> Americans. Some of the same people insist that America is not just the US.

  Since there's no confusion, what's the harm?

  Nobody calls eg. a Brasilian an "American", even if he lives in the
Americal continent. The adjective "American" is reserved for citizens
of the USA, and nobody else in the continent is called like that. Everybody
else is called by their country.

  You could argue that it's unfair or pretentious or whatever, but since
it doesn't cause confusion, who cares?

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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