One of the best books out there if you are interested in education policy is Diane Ravitch's The Language Police. It is a wonderful, well-researched bestseller by Ravitch, who has a Ph.D. in history from Columbia university and is a professor at New York University, about the purging of true American history and great literature in the public schools, replaced by "multicultural" trash and propaganda. At the end of the book, she gives a thirty-page list of words and situations that are banned from textbooks.
Here is one of them:
"America/Americans (use with care, because it suggests 'geographical chavinism' unless it applies to all people in North America, South America, and Central America; instead refer to people of the United States."
This is the rule for all Scott-Foresman/Addison-Wesley textbooks, Houghtin Mifflin textbooks, Harcourt textbooks, National Evaluation Systems, and New York state public schools.
Here is another:
"American policy, American economy (replace with U.S. policy, U.S. economy)."
Simply amazing. The proper title of our country, "America," has been banned, and we are no longer "Americans." Our country now is "United States" and we are "United States citizens."
This is patently false. The title of our country has NEVER been "United States." It has always been "America." For example, Georgia or Virginia are states in America; they are not states in "the United States."
Also, it is not "chauvinistic" to call ourselves "Americans." There is no continent called "America." There is a region called the "Americas." There is a "North America," which is a continent. There is a "South America," which is a continent.
There is a country, and that country is called "America." There are 50 states, and these states make up the country of "America." The citizens of that country are "Americans," not "people of the United States."
Even if it were somehow chauvinistic to call your country its proper title, it is time to simply and coolly tell Latin Americans to show some tolerance, something they tend to lack. By banning the name of our country to appease them will only incur disrespect and contempt from them for our weakness in trying to appease them.
Sadly, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has kowtowed to liberals and has banned the proper name of our country from the customs forms. I was shocked when coming back from Panama a few months ago to find that the terms "America" and "Americans" had been completely erased. We are now "United States citizens" (of what country?) and we reside in the United States (of what country?).
Plea to all patriotic Americans: Refer to our country by its proper name, "America" and call yourself an "American." Don't give in to political correctness. If you have to abbreviate, use the abbreviation "U.S.A." and not "U.S."
