Re: CHAT: PC terminology

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 no
> 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 German
and English ancestry, but I wouldn't call myself German-American or
English-American, or German-English-American.

> There is however a greater rationale for the adoption of the term "African-
> American". After several hundred years of being belittled and considered of no
> account whatsoever many "Black" Americans felt that it was time to avoid being
> identified by skin color and instead (as other Americans do) use a term that
> indicates place and/or ethnicity of origin.
But Black is a race.  It's a rational counterpart to "White", IMHO.  And
don't get me started on "Caucasian".  :-)  Most "Caucasians" have no
ancestors from the Caucasus mountains.  Actually, perhaps the best terms
would be something like Negro and Honkey, since those are non-derogatory
terms that have no connection (in English) with color.  Black and White
are problematic because of the many other associations of those colors
(e.g., white=good, black=evil).

> This is in stark contrast to the situation of European-Americans
> who were able to retain these ties.
Except that most whites are just as mixed.  I, for instance, have
German, English, Scottish, and probably other nationalities in my
ancestry.  Most whites that I know don't know much about their ancestry
either, except for what their name tells them (e.g., if their name
begins with Mac-, or ends in -sky).