Ed, there was an item in BackTalk recently and I was so glad to see it. This gentleman said “Don’t call me an African-American, I am an American.” I think that is hurtful to this country because many black women and men gave their lives so that you and I could be free. They don’t live in Africa. This is America. I congratulate that man.

Congratulations

It’s a funny thing. There are other people who definitely prefer the term African-American. As a description of race for a person of color it can often be less than fully accurate, because a person may be partially of African descent and partially, for example, of Asian or European descent. There is no definitive conclusion to this discussion. I’d like to hear from more BackTalkers on this one.—Ed. Note