In our age of political correctness we are often reminded that "native american" is the correct term for what our nation used to consider "indian." I am not sure if anyone is familiar with Sherman Alexie, he is a native writer, most well known for "Reservation Blues." He has actually said that he prefers "indian" because it is a word that his people now own, it is a word specifically for them. This seems quite similar to the "n" word among the African-American community. So my question to you guys is: what do we do? what should we consider before labeling anyone? is a label necessary?

It changed throughout the years. When I was yonger, I was taught to call them "indians" and then a couple of years later (later elementary school years) it was wrong to call them that. We were taught to use Native Americans. But in my opinion, I think that there should not be a label at all. Not to anyone. America is supposed to be a melting pot. We are Americans flat out.

I don't call myself a European-American. So why do we continue to call blacks African-Americans and Indians Native-Americans? In my opinion every one of us born and raised in the United States are Americans. But our culture needs to label people either by race or socioeconomic status.

I completely agree with you Clayton!! I wish that we could all just be called Americans, I never understood why our society is so caught up with putting labels on people. America is supposed to be a melting pot!

Yes, America is supposed to be a melting pot, and we are all Americans, and it is important to be able to be unified and see ourselves as one. But at the same time people like to hold on to their heritage and like to be identified with their specific culture and ways of life. I don't really like to use the term labeling, because that seems to come from an outside source that is forced upon a particular person, but for people to identify with each other and see themselves in a certain specific light is ok. There are obvious differences between different groups in America. These differences can be a good thing and we should embrace them and learn from each other rather than see it as something that singles people out. I think that they can be used in a good way. But if you think about it, our world is full of labels. I am labeled as a girl, a student, a sister, a daughter, and many other things. Those labels are not good or bad, they just describe who I am. I am not going to be offended if you call me a girl, it is what I am. You could also say I am female or feminine, and I may prefer one over the other, but it still just describes who I am. It is a group of people similar to me that I can relate to. Just because I am a girl does not make me exactly the same as every other person in that group. Girls are all very different and unique, but we also share some of the same characteristics as well.
If I know someone prefers one description over the other, then it makes sense to be respectful of them and use the one they prefer. I think that people make such a big deal out of this that it becomes taboo and no one has a clue what to say or think. Everyone belongs to several different groups of people, so it is not right to just use one characteristic to identify them and see them as only that. Someone could be African-American, be male, and be in a fraternity. That is 3 different groups that they belong to and are a part of.
As far as Native American and Indian, I don't know enough about the subject to say which we should use or what bad connotations may be associated with one or the other. The best thing to do is ask each individual which they prefer.
I can say that I get very confused though because I was in India for 9 weeks over the summer, and they are also referred to as Indians. I never know which group of people we are talking about, I tend to associate the term Indian with India as opposed to native americans.

I completely agree with you Elizabeth. I find what some people considering labeling is more of a heritage thing. I do not think African-Ameicans and Native-Americans are being offended when being called that. I kind of feel that my color should be called European American instead of American however. I just feel that with everyone being called a specific name of where they came from, why shoudln't we? Being called an American looks like we are the first Americans and that is not true. We took this land from the rightful owners, the Native-Americans. As far as being called that or Indians...I believe it is an individual's choice. I catch myself saying both but I like to call them Native-Americans because it gives me a sense of relief that European-Americans know that this really was the Native-American's home. The were the first inhabitants!

Another positive possibility is "First Nations" or "First Peoples."

What about the difference between African American and Black? The names have changed so much during the years and it is hard to know what to say when you are faced with addressing these different titles. In the past they were negroes, coloreds and a ton of names that were designed to induce ridicule.

I think much of the time a label of any sort depends on the individual. This past summer I was required to spend three days at a diversity conference. This topic came up in one of my home sessions and one of our coordinators mentioned how she would rather be called black than African-American, I had always thought African-American would be the preferred term.