Is it PC to say "Native American" because you hate the term Indian?

[Nym90]

Native American is more accurate, and thus I use it, though a lot of tribes call themselves Indians, so I don't see how the term is offensive.

[Nym90]

I don't like the term "Native American."  I am a native American, as are most of the people I know.  Use of the term "Native American" for American Indians implies that the rest of us don't belong here.  As with most politically correct term, there is a deliterious message behind the term that I reject, and I therefore don't like the term.

I agree, but it's still more accurate than saying Indian. If we are going to refer to someone's ancestry, we might as well at least be accurate as to what country or continent it comes from.

I would prefer that everyone who is a US citizen simply be called an American and that we ignore race or ancestry altogeher.

[Nym90]

I don't like the term "Native American."  I am a native American, as are most of the people I know.  Use of the term "Native American" for American Indians implies that the rest of us don't belong here.  As with most politically correct term, there is a deliterious message behind the term that I reject, and I therefore don't like the term.

I agree, but it's still more accurate than saying Indian. If we are going to refer to someone's ancestry, we might as well at least be accurate as to what country or continent it comes from.

I would prefer that everyone who is a US citizen simply be called an American and that we ignore race or ancestry altogeher.

I like your idea.

I believe that the whole agenda behind PC terms like "Native American" is to delegitimize the underpinnings of our society.  This term suggests subtly that only American Indians really have a right to be here, that the rest of us are somehow less worthy.

So while your idea is a good one, it is the last thing the PCers want, because they seek to divide people from each other, and undermine the legitimacy of our society.

I don't personally read that into it, but then I usually try to interpret things fairly literally unless there's solid evidence to suggest otherwise. So your mileage may vary.

I also disagree about their motivations, as I view them as simply misguided rather than evil. Of course, it could be argued that the motivation is irrelevant to the issue at hand since the result is the same.

[Nym90]

I don't like the term "Native American."  I am a native American, as are most of the people I know.  Use of the term "Native American" for American Indians implies that the rest of us don't belong here.  As with most politically correct term, there is a deliterious message behind the term that I reject, and I therefore don't like the term.

Why does it imply that the rest of us don't belong here?  All it implies is that they were here first, before Europeans came, which is... well, true.  Calling them "Indians", on the other hand, implies either that an entire country in Southeast Asia doesn't exist or that the residents of that country have taken parts of North America.

It's not a perfect term, but they're most certainly not Indians.  They were called "Indians" because the Europeans who initially found the Americas thought they had found India.  If you can find a short term for "guys who we think probably came here across the Bering Strait some ten thousand years ago and then settled down for millenia before Europeans came and found them", then by all means, suggest it.  Calling them "Indians" is simply wrong, however.  No offense, but I have to wonder at those who reject political correctness because, as they declare, they would prefer plain correctness, and yet prefer the term "Indian" to "Native American".

True, although calling attention to one's ancestry could be argued as implying that it is relevant; otherwise why mention it as opposed to many other things that attention could be called to instead?

But I agree that might be overanalyzing it a bit. Sometimes one must simply apply Occam's Razor and assume that things are what they are.