How many people are sick of this argument?

Question

In the case of immigration I constantly see people posting comments about Native Americans. Namely, are you a native American? While I do not support the attrocities that were committed against people in this land, this term is being subverted. Read below before answering, and please be civil. People's feelings do matter!

Native American: American Indians are not native to America. These people migrated to America across an icebridge over the Bering Strait in the last iceage. So by definition they are immigrants not natives. You can make the case their land was stolen though.

Native: What is a native? A native is someone who is born in the country without regard to the origins of his/her parentage.

In my opinion anyone who was born in this country is by definition a native American. I am sick of people stating that we are not true natives, or that other groups who might have been here first have more claim to the term than all the generations to follow.

What say you?

I do also extend this logic to the children of illegal aliens born in the United States. However, since their parents are illegal it is a catch-22. They should have dual citizenship and be allowed to choose which country to be a citizen of at the age of consent.

TxSup: You are incorrect. Please provide the exact answer where I have stated this view, and I certainly have not asked the question before. Futile attempt to dismiss that which don't like out of hand. Try again!

People please read critically. I am trying to lessen the struggle of American Indians. I find what happened in our past attrocious, but that is a question of conquest not native origin.

notaclue: You really don't see your own hypocricy do you? No matter you have made my point, you just don't realize it.

previous statement should read "not trying to lessen the struggle" apologies for not proofing first.

Answer 1

I am a native american, born here many years ago, even my parents were born here and some of my ancestors going back to the 1600's, therefore we are ALL NATIVE AMERICANS. That is what it means. If they want to separate themselves they should call themselves indigenous, but since they came here from somewhere else they really are not even indigenous.

Multi-culturism is harmful to America. The american indians have assimilated for the most part why can't all of the other immigrants. Tribalism is the cause of todays ills in the world, go study and see, shias, shites, and on and on. We should all just be Americans, there is not modifier needed.

Answer 2

The U.S. Govenment, with all their red-tape, has devised a system in order to catagorize it's citizenry.

Since the ice-age theory is simply a theory, and not a proven fact, the only thing that history has recorded, and that we know to be a fact is that the American Indians were here when Christopher Columbus was credited with the "discovery" of America.

Thus the Government has given the American Indian the title of Native American.

Now, I've got some questions for you.

Why are all black Americans lumped together into one categaory called "African Americans?"

Why are white people lumped into one category called "Caucasians"

Why are Japanese, Chinese, Filipinos, Cambodians, Taiwanese, Laosians, et al lumped into one category called "Asian Americans?"

Answer 3

I agree to a point. If the parents are here illegally then the child should not be granted blanket cictizenship it should hyave the ciitzenship of the mother. That is the way it is done in many other countries. And you are right about the so called native american thing. The Indians that were here when the european settlers came had imgrated from Mongolia this explains the shape of the eyes of many and the skin color similarity with some asian people. But don't say that to A Mexican he will call you racist or just wrong.

Answer 4

I think the difference comes in how the land was obtained. see we consider the american indians native because they were living here without struggle to anybody else... They were the First people to live on this land.... Before they came across the bering strait to our knowledge there was nobody else here claiming this as their land. once they came in and lived here and flourished it became their native land because over time they adapted to the land and were so populous that all of the land had the same (american Indians)through out it.

Then the spanish came over and claimed the land through law and force... Something the indian people did not really know about in respect to land.... They were foreign .and had to go through a process of adaptation to the land .. which is why so many of them were lost in the beginnning ... this is how we know they were not native to the land...


So, the waywe use the term native may simply be ... people that as far back as known have been in the same land and are adapted to it - for example people native to hawaii are usually shorter and stockier in stature... as well as people native to african countries are dark skin- adaptation from the danger of exposure to the sun... less likely they would be sunburn on a daily basis..

Answer 5

I agree with your opinion,but people without a valid,fathomable,moral,legal argument must clutch at straws like a drowning man.It helps them by clouding the issue and attempting to redirect blame.They are not capable of accepting responsibility for their own selfish acts.Damn America,damn the Americans. Its all about what I the illegal wants and needs .Who cares about any one but myself the illegal.. Its a very selfish self serving act and there is no moral or ethical reason to defend their practice.So the try to deflect the issue in a feeble attempt to compare then selves to the honest immigrants that came to this country legally and have made it their home.

Answer 6

I agree completely. I was born here, as were my parents. How can I not be a native? I have never even been to Europe, where my ancestors came from. I am not European-American. I am simply American.

Answer 7

You're parsing words and have posted this tiresome theory before. Native American is a term that describes a group. No one is really black or white either, but we all know these groups exist.

Are you saying there were not people living in the US when the Spaniards and English arrived? Call them Indians if you will, but they lived here 40,000 to 80,000 years before the Europeans. To me, and to most reasonable people that's "native".

Are you saying the Indians' land wasn't stolen? Be serious.

Answer 8

The point made here is correct."Native" refers to the origin of birth,not the rights to claim a land based on ancestry.That alone
is not an insult to "native American tribes".

Also,no one alive today has any first hand knowledge of who arrived here and when in past anyway.

Answer 9

People born in America are Americans, just because that is your nation and native is not capatilized it begets confusion if you use the term "native American". It's semantics.

Answer 10

I appreciate the light you shine. I am a native born american who had ancestors in the 1800's from Denmark and England. We ALL have ancestors from other parts of the world and everything we know is in a state of flux. In point of fact the whole darned world is rapidly becoming a great big melting pot!!!!!