[SkyDancer]

Since the government decided to classify people as hyphenated Americans maybe they should revert to states as in New York-American or Oklahoma-American ... /s

The US is the only country in the world that classifies its citizens.

[ronnie raygun]

Identity crisis! They went fron negro to black to egyptian to african American. HOW ABOUT AMERICAN FIRST AND FORMOST

[Stepan12]

Black is certainly better than the stupid term, "African American," but negro is better than black as it does not carry the negative connotations that the word black has; e.g., black heart, black plague, black death; etc.

This term African American is so stupid. Is a person of West Indian descent such as Colin Powell African American? I'm glad that some blacks are waking up to this.

[tet68]

Smith, whose parents are from Mississippi and North Carolina.

Why those places aren’t even in the Union.
Dang Confed-Americans./s

It’s time we considered ourselves just plain American,
and all spoke the same language.

[ßuddaßudd]

African < American
is what is really mean

[gigster]

My favorite African-American is Charlize Theron.

[GenXteacher]

They need to go back to this term:

http://tfdf.org/blog/2011/09/01/back-when-we-were-negroes/

[Jack Hydrazine]

Now if we could also get rid of hyphenated marriages!

[norwaypinesavage]

I have an “African-American” friend. He was born in South Africa, and emigrated to the US and became a citizen here. He is truly “African-American”. His skin color is white. What does this make him?

[RegulatorCountry]

There are so many labels that could be applied to me, and labels that have been applied to the people from whom I descend in the past. I honestly don’t care, so long as it’s not intended as a slur.

Stop worrying about it, accept any categorization not meant to denigrate, and just be. That’s my suggestion.

[Bringbackthedraft]

Black American, OK, how about saying white American, yellow American, brown American, and red American, Uhhhhhhh? Why not just, American, born in the USA?

[Caipirabob]

Some blacks insist: 'I'm not African-American'

The socialists will be displeased. The brain washing isn't having the desired effect.

[PubliusMM]

I’ll go with the Shawn Smith mentioned in the article... Why don’t we just leave it at “American”?

The only people still playing the race card are the ones with a vested interest in maintaining a divided nation. And, they don’t even bother trying to hide it these days.

Charlie Rangel
Sheila Jackson-Lee
Jesse Jackson
Al Sharpton
and on, and on, and on...

[Williams]

Oh I get to cite one of my universal laws.

Any minority eventually will reject any label once the label has been adopted by the majority.

[Poison Pill]

Is the American descendent of Berbers an African American? How about someone whose grandparents were from Libya or Tunisia. An Arab whose ancestors have lived in east Africa for 300 years? What about someone whose parents were Afrikaners? Is Dave Matthews an African American?

[Gaffer]

Amfrerican....from SNL I believe....

[gunnyg]

see gov richard lamm on his the only country to purposely change its ethnic makeup...another first for the pseudo-cons of hyphenated america...

[jiggyboy]

I’m trying to remember the story about a black athlete from Brazil or somewhere who won a medal in the Olympics, and the interviewer kept calling him “African American” despite being corrected immediately, every time, that he was neither African nor American.

[Ozymandias Ghost]

"I prefer to be called black," said Shawn Smith, an accountant from Houston. "How I really feel is, I'm American."

__________________________

It appears many FReepers are criticizing this man for agreeing w/them. Bravo Mr Smith!!!

[celtic gal]

Truth be told, wouldn’t 0bama be called mulatto?