Post by Okwes on Apr 26, 2007 11:55:34 GMT -5
Native American? I don't think so.
Contributed by Steve Mullen
The term native means indigenous to a land. So a native American would be someone indigenous to America. Native Americans weren't born in America. They were here long before a boatload of Europeans showed up and said, "Hey! You're in America. Let's eat."
In fact, with reservations and tribal sovereignty, it's clear that Native Americans exist, in some measure, outside of the nation.
As I drove home, I became angered. It was clear to me that the term Native American was, in actuality, a gigantic insult.
So I made it my mission to come up with something better. Perhaps I could go back to American Indian. Well, that didn't make any sense. If a Native American isn't native to America, he certainly isn't from India either. Then it hit me... Pre-American!
I'll just say Pre-American. But that needs to be narrowed down a bit. How about Pre-American American? After all, though not native to America, Pre-American Americans are Americans to a degree. Still, I think there needs to be a measure of geographical description to clear things up a bit.
Pre-American North American. That appears to get the job done, but on second view, that could include Pre-Canadian North Americans, too. So we have to evolve to Pre-American North American American.
Of course, then it strikes me that European settlers existed in North America before America was formed, so perhaps we should specify a bit more.
Pre-American North American Non-Euro American. We should probably clarify that Euro, since we're not talking about actually Europeans anymore, but those who became Americans.
Pre-American North American Non-Amero American. Still something is missing. Oh yeah... native.
Pre-American Native North American Non-Amero American.
Then the thought occurred to me that I'm only 1/16th Pre-American Native North American Non-Amero American. I actually have do have European roots, too. I'm a non-native European American.
I'm a Non-Native European American Pre-American Native North American Non-Amero American. But, I should probably add another American in there. So from now on, I will only check the box marked...
American Non-Native European American Pre-American Native North American Non-Amero American.
Contributed by Steve Mullen
The term native means indigenous to a land. So a native American would be someone indigenous to America. Native Americans weren't born in America. They were here long before a boatload of Europeans showed up and said, "Hey! You're in America. Let's eat."
In fact, with reservations and tribal sovereignty, it's clear that Native Americans exist, in some measure, outside of the nation.
As I drove home, I became angered. It was clear to me that the term Native American was, in actuality, a gigantic insult.
So I made it my mission to come up with something better. Perhaps I could go back to American Indian. Well, that didn't make any sense. If a Native American isn't native to America, he certainly isn't from India either. Then it hit me... Pre-American!
I'll just say Pre-American. But that needs to be narrowed down a bit. How about Pre-American American? After all, though not native to America, Pre-American Americans are Americans to a degree. Still, I think there needs to be a measure of geographical description to clear things up a bit.
Pre-American North American. That appears to get the job done, but on second view, that could include Pre-Canadian North Americans, too. So we have to evolve to Pre-American North American American.
Of course, then it strikes me that European settlers existed in North America before America was formed, so perhaps we should specify a bit more.
Pre-American North American Non-Euro American. We should probably clarify that Euro, since we're not talking about actually Europeans anymore, but those who became Americans.
Pre-American North American Non-Amero American. Still something is missing. Oh yeah... native.
Pre-American Native North American Non-Amero American.
Then the thought occurred to me that I'm only 1/16th Pre-American Native North American Non-Amero American. I actually have do have European roots, too. I'm a non-native European American.
I'm a Non-Native European American Pre-American Native North American Non-Amero American. But, I should probably add another American in there. So from now on, I will only check the box marked...
American Non-Native European American Pre-American Native North American Non-Amero American.