When generalizing members of a specific ethnicity, we tend to create a higher degree of social and cultural stratification within our society. One absolutely cannot assume that because the term “Black” is suitable for one American, that it will be suitable for the next, even if the two are associated with the same ethnic group. Each individual has his or her own ideas regarding how one should appropriately reference their ethnic group. One can easily make generalizations about a particular ethnic group based on observations and/or personal experience. However, these generalizations will by no means be accurate in all situations. Assigning a general term to describe an ethnicity will simply not suffice for every individual associated with that specific group. Most individuals have an opinion of how his or her ethnicity should be addressed and of how to go about addressing other ethnicities. For example, according to lets say, John, “black” might be a more informal expression generally used in a relaxed social setting by African Americans and non-African Ameicans alike, while “African American” is usually a more formal or scholarly term. However, both terms are perfectly polite and acceptable regardless of who uses them. On the other hand, a hypothetical Lisa, could regard the term “black” as offensive due to the color’s negative connotations and the fact that African Americans are in fact shades of brown. She is of the opinion that “African American” is the only polite term that should be used by non-African Americans. However, one could take this information and throw it out the window along with all of the other politically correct labels that have come and gone throughout the years. People of every ethnicity here in the United Stated are humans, Americans, and have names of their very own that would be the optimal term to be used when describing them. Insults lye in context and tenor, not actual words.

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