What Does “American” Mean, Anyway?

 First, Harry Reid referred to 12 million “undocumented Americans“.  Watch it:

Second, the uproar! [1], [2], [3], [4], [etc.]

Then, while I was out grabbing lunch yesterday, I heard Rush Limbaugh take a call from someone (named ‘Carol’, I think) who claimed that the phrase was technically accurate.   Argument being?  Well, everyone living on the North or South American continents are “Americans”.  Rush was stunned.  In fact, he even felt he had to call the woman back (which he claimed was a first for his show).

Now, I know that Reid was probably making the characterization out of political correctness or whatever.  “Illegal aliens” just sounds so, well, threatening and mean after all.  Or, maybe he was stating in the context that these people are actually contributing to “American” life in some shape or form, but are suffering from the handicap of being ‘undocumented’.  Put that aside, and I think there is something to be said about ‘Carol’s’ argument however…

Of course, there’s the whole issue of colloquialisms and semantics.  When someone says “I’m an American”, they usually assume that you are a citizen of the USA.  But “America” (the continents) were named well before the United States existed.  Have we just monopolized the term?  I mean, someone from France is as much French as they are European, right?  Same would go for a man living in the Congo would be considered African?  Is the term “American” in use to describe a citizen of the US just an acceptable inaccuracy?  Is a Canadian really just as “American” as I am? 

Is this a silly topic for a post?  I don’t think so.  I think I could get a lot sillier.  This “American” thing gets weirder, if you really think about it.  Here we go…

A commonly accepted euphemism for a black person is “African American”, right?  But is that an accurate description of race?  I mean, it would seem a little odd from a logical point of view to call the aforementioned man from Congo an “African American”.  Even stranger would be to call a white US citizen who immigrated from South Africa the same thing, even though it would seem to be more technically accurate than the previous example. What about “Native American”?  That would refer to the group of people who can trace their lineage on the continent back to before European colonization.  That term appears to be much more logical. 

Uh oh.

Well, technically, the majority of Mexicans can make the same claim.  From a certain cultural-historical-geographical point of view, most of those 12 million illegal aliens can say that they are more “American” than I am.

So there.  That’s my silly little deep thought of the day, even if I haven’t really answered the question.

Persistent Troll Thread

If you ever wanted to check out a really annoying troll, check out this thread.  The comments will get deleted eventually, I would assume. 

enter in a phony email if ya want, the info should stay in there after each post

Update:  This may be a Godzilla wannabe:

It was a peaceful and productive forum; lively, congenial and a bounteous source of useful information. Then one day, completely without warning, Godzilla arose from the depths and blew his scalding breath on everything in his path. A phalanx of Warriors mobilized to attack the monster, only to be crushed like so many toy tanks under Godzilla’s mighty feet. Godzilla soon reduced the forum to searing and consuming flames. Just as abruptly, he rumbled back beneath the waves, leaving all to tremble in fear of his return. Net life would never be the same. Sadly, many netizens who survive a Godzilla attack will become Xenophobes.