> Except in America, where any "politically correct" > image of "Americans" must
> include an Asian, a Hispanic, an African-American
> (another of my pet peeves--what's degrading about
> the term "black"? I certainly don't feel
> patronized when someone calls me "white."),
> a person with brown skin of ambiguous descent to
> cover any group left out, and a disabled person
> (who's usually the Caucasian).

You forgot the Indi... uh, Native Ameri... Uh.. American Indian? Is that the right term these days?

I'm all for calling people what they want to be called. I once knew a guy who was part native Hawaiian who wanted to be called "Pineapple." Some people found that offensive, and insisted on calling him Rodney. But I figure if a guy asks you to call him "Pineapple" you ought to call him Pineapple. However, I strenuously object to constantly changing what you want to be called because somehow you think suddenly the old name has taken on negative connotations. Especially when nobody can really explain what those negative connotations are and where they come from.

-- Dave