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For anyone who's interested, the most correct setting of the term is "African American" (no hyphen). It is argued that this group would prefer not to have a "hyphenated identity." They identify themselves with their Africanness and with their Americanness, but they do not see it as a "blended" or "bound" identity as though it had some kind of haunting relevance to their ancestors' bondship in slavery. There are many, for example, who still strongly support the idea of the Black Diaspora, yet identify strongly with their American culture because that is their world from birth. Perhaps they view this as an essential dualism. Many, I'm sure, are indifferent to the hyphen, but there are cultural theorists and critics who are concerned about something that might seem so little. (-)
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
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