CHAT: Race, ethnicity, and hyphenization (was Re: PC terminology)

Nik Taylor wrote:

> list James E. Hopkins wrote:
> > I am an Irish-American (that is an American citizen of Irish descent)=
. I have
> > never been to Ireland but my heritage is important to me and I have n=
o
> > objection to the term :Irish-American.
>
> That I also have trouble with, any hyphenated American, for that
> matter.  To me, a better term might be American of Irish descent or
> Irish American (no hyphen).  Why?  It seems to me that if you're an
> American citizen, especially if you were born in America, that part is
> more important.  The Irish should be an adjective, or better yet, in a
> prepositional phrase like "of Irish descent".  I'm descended from Germa=
n
> and English ancestry, but I wouldn't call myself German-American or
> English-American, or German-English-American.
I question why anybody feels the need to label themselves as somethingat =
all.  I mean, I
surely think it's important to know your roots, and what
kind of culture you have traditionally celebrated, but at base each perso=
n
is a unique individual, without parallel... so why pretend otherwise?

> > There is however a greater rationale for the adoption of the term "Af=
rican-
> > American". After several hundred years of being belittled and conside=
red of no
> > account whatsoever many "Black" Americans felt that it was time to av=
oid being
> > identified by skin color and instead (as other Americans do) use a te=
rm that
> > indicates place and/or ethnicity of origin.
>
> But Black is a race.  It's a rational counterpart to "White", IMHO.
Well, from what I've read, using the concept of "race" to have anyreal me=
aning is more or
less an invention of society, and does not
have any real biological significance.  I would prefer to use neither
term.

> And
> don't get me started on "Caucasian".  :-)  Most "Caucasians" have no
> ancestors from the Caucasus mountains.
Well, I think that has to do with the Indo-European postulated homeland.B=
ut you're right:
even there it's highly doubtful where exactly the IE peoples
originated. (I  prefer northeastern Anatolia, myself, because of some int=
eresting
matches between the lexical data and the local species found there).

> Actually, perhaps the best terms
> would be something like Negro and Honkey, since those are non-derogator=
y
> terms that have no connection (in English) with color.
Where I come from, "honkey" is not only somewhat derogatory andstereotypi=
ng, but it's just
considered to be very crass, and is thrown
into the category with mild curses like "damn", to be avoided in polite
company.

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Tom Wier <twier@...>
ICQ#: 4315704   AIM: Deuterotom
Website: <http://www.angelfire.com/tx/eclectorium/>
"Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."

"S=F4=F0 is gecy=FEed / =FE=E6t mihtig God manna
cynes / w=EAold w=EEde-ferh=F0."
 _Beowulf_, ll. 700-702
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