The American way

Quote:

Originally Posted by Virgil

There is no line in his poem that even slightly reflects outside American culture.

Surely this statement is self defeating when taken in the context of this statement

Quote:

Originally Posted by Virgil

This is why I shutter when people think they understand another country having never lived in it.

as it implies that you have sufficient knowledge, understanding or awareness of non-American culture to make a judgement on how this poem may or may not be perceived or be relevant to a non-American and yet which, by definition of all your own arguments, is an understanding you can't have.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBI

Meh, it's bigoted. Just use the politically correct term - besides which, black and "Indian" are generally unplausible words to refer to cultural background.

Black can mean many things, whereas African American means one specific thing - those descendant from Africans brought over as slaves. The term has bastardized itself, making it refer to all black people living in the States, but in truth, you don't call all white Americans Caucasian Americans, or European Americans. Likewise, it would seem strange to use the term African-American, as it is perceived, to refer to a Jamaican American, or to some extent, an African who moved to the States.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PoeticPassions

I just want to point out one thing-- I do think that the term "Indian" is somewhat derogatory, or well just not precise in any shape, way or form. It comes from Columbus' idiocy in thinking he was in India and thus calling the natives "Indians." plus you are generalizing a vast group of people into one... one category.. Indian... when there were hundreds, even thousands of tribes and different languages...

In any case, shouldn't everyone just be American? Why make the distinctions? if you want to call yourself German-American, go ahead (if you want to recognize your heritage or ethnicity), but I think generally everyone should just be American. And African-American is silly... grouping ALL of AFRICA into one. Or ASIAN American... yet if you are Iranian or Indian, you are Iranian-American, Indian-American, etc. these categories are just irrational at best.

This was exactly my point. The same goes for Africans when they were brought to what is now the US. I think "African Americans" have the only legitimate claim to being classified as American. Their history begins here. There is a small chance that they can trace their genealogy back to their original African tribe.

I do get offended when someone asks me my background and after telling them they reply, "you're Black then," or "you're Native American," after I have named three different tribes.

I was raised by my mother, conceived by a Gentry and a Mckinney, who is Dutch, French, Scottish, Irish, Cherokee, Apache and Blackfoot and it's offensive to only be identified as "African-American". It's a slap to the face of my upbringing.

There is not reason to connect race and nationality.

Closed for a number of reasons, the main one being that this thread is proving to be not a discussion about "poetry"; and there's too much personal bickering going on.