... to which you refer was every bit as heinous as any in history; worse, in my opinion, than the Nazi holocaust of WWII (if for no other reason than because it went on for so long; which is to say nothing of the fact that the overall death toll was almost certainly higher) and even worse than that other disgrace of American history, slavery. And we should make no mistake about the extermination of the American Indian as a policy of the United States government -- it was. And it was a shameful policy.

Nevertheless, I see no reason why current Americans should bear the shame for what our forebears did (to Indians or Blacks -- or Japanese-Americans or any other group of people denigrated at some time in their history here; which, by the way, would, to a lesser degree, include Irish-Americans).

We did not do any of those things and I resent the attitude that I as an individual should bear some of the blame for what happened in the past. Or that I as an individual have to "make up" for past discrimination by giving preferential treatment now.

And I frankly don't much care what the Secretary of State thinks we should call ourselves or how the government "designates" us. People in California commonly refer to themselves as "Native Californians" (I am not one). I suspect that "Native Floridians" do the same. When I still lived there, I was a "Native New Yorker". The phrase "Native" MEANS nothing more or less than that the person was born in the place of which he was a "native", as in the Webster's definition of the word (I have deleted unrelated definitions):

>> 2 : belonging to a particular place by birth <native to Wisconsin>
>> 4 : belonging to or associated with one by birth

So, everyone born in the "Americas" is a "Native American" (which, of course, includes Canada, Mexico and all of CENTRAL and SOUTH America, too; as you probably know, a lot of THEM resent the usurpation by US of the term "Americans").

On a personal basis, I believe every person should be treated with respect and dignity (at least until someone demonstrates that he or she doesn't deserve to be so treated). And that's the best I can do.

Sorry for the long dissertation, John. This subject just strikes a nerve.

----- jim o\-S
(being politically incorrect, I know, but for which I am unrepentant)