Time For Americans To Be A Family :: essays research papers

Time for Americans To Be A FamilyBy D.C. BurchIt seems to be a time for Americans to try and be a family again. Maybe aquarrelsome and restless family non entirely happy with each member all of thetime, but a family nonetheless.OK, I admit it. I am distressed and perplexed by the storm of politicalcorrectness sweeping throughout the nation, raising dust-devils and tempestsleaving destruction and chaos in its wake.The English language is be transmogrified to quell and satisfy members of theAmerican society who feel they should somehow, be special apart from ourcitizenry. Thus my confusion.Ive been called a privileged white-boy by some, honky by others, and snapper byothers still. All this beca uptake I grew up in a middle class family in Toledo,Ohio? Ive never considered myself to be anything special, certainly neversuperior to anyone or anything by virtue of my ancestry, just your basic, run-of-the-mill guy who wants to do the right thing.From the time I was little boy, I have s een one particular(a) group called colored,Negro, black, and now, African-American. I cant seem to find a consensus outthere in any media, one moment the reference is to blacks, and the next toAfrican-Americans, when they are referring to the same group of people.Im not knocking what people want to call themselves, its the mixed messagesIm getting and the inaccuracy of the terminology that frustrates me.Look around and you will see there is the National Association for the rise of Colored People, the Black Muslims, and African-Americans.All of these terms are used to refer to members of one group of people. Is itany wonder Im confused?I have particular problems with the term African-American, a misnomer whichwould lead me to believe these people somehow hold dual citizenship with anothercountry, or even worse, lead everyone to believe all those who use that term todescribe themselves are of African origin and are exclusively black in color.As we all know, there are white Africans, too. Should they guide to come to theU.S., they too, would be eligible for the label African-American, which wouldfurther confuse the issue.Enter the U.S. Census Bureau.Rather than help clear up the mess, they perpetuate it by requesting racialinformation and make-up of families that does nothing more than perpetuate thelies we tell one another. At least with the Census Bureau, their are Asians,Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, Other, and Whites. I dont know slightly youfolks but, I was born here in the U.