Re: Amerind an offensive term (was: Early Amerind assimilation
The Outlaw (ccspgo@bath.ac.uk)
Wed, 31 Jul 1996 08:22:10 GMT
Mary Beth Williams wrote:
>
> In <31FDCDA0.5ABA@megafauna.com> Stephen Barnard <steve@megafauna.com>
> writes:
>
> >Native Americans? No. That's ambiguous and very slightly offensive
> >to me, since I'm a native (small n) American.
>
> Oh, you're offended by the truth? In the US, if you claim Native
> American status, you are making a claim to membership in a legally
> defined class of persons. So what is your tribal affiliation?
>
Oh come on, Mary. You know what he means. I never use 'Native American'
for precisely this reason. I am a native of the United States of America
and therefore a native American. I am not, and have no wish to create
antecedents to make myself, a 'N'ative American (your legally defined
classification of a group). This is what I believe Stephen was making
perfectly clear when he stressed the lower case 'n'. Of course in speech
the difference would be unclear so the term, consequently, unsuitable.
Paul
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