> 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.

I'm for this too in theory, but when people pick terms that are confusing it kind of bugs me. "Native American" is a great example (and so is the older "Indian"). I think "American Indian" is nice and clear, with little chance for confusion (since "Indian-American" should mean an American whose family comes from India).

"African-American" to mean black is also confusing. Is it okay to call black people in other countries black, then? How do you differentiate American-born blacks from, say, African-born blacks who move to America?

Stephen