I was just wondering why we do what we do. Seems we've done it for so long, "because that is the way it is," we are reluctant to change things. I seriously have a problem with dividing people up based off ethnicity. I don't see why it matters anymore. I don't want to take away cultural heritage, I just don't see why we have to categorize people based off heritage. Why can't we just either be "American" or "non-American." Saying someone is Native American but I'm not,
to me, somehow means,
to me, I'm not as American as they are, when I was born here just like they were.
-----Added 5/10/2008 at 12 : 39 : 28-----
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aladdin Sane
Every ethnic group ought to call itself what it likes.
My work presents me with the opportunity to talk with Indian leaders from different regions of the United States. I've never met one who called himself a "Native American." As a matter of fact, an Indian professor from Michigan recently told me the appellation was "just the latest example of colonialism and paternalism toward us on the part of the white man." He said "we're 'Indians,' goddammit! Stop trying to impose your sensibilities on others, because we don't share them." He went on to say that "Native American is an invention of the ivory tower," and he "had not once heard tribal elders use the term."
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Wow, that is interesting. I thought the term Indian was somehow derogatory, or at best a misnomer.