Hyphen, not history, heart of our problem

Recently, Sen. Barack Obama denounced statements made by his pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, saying the statements were "incendiary and that I completely reject them."

Obama went on saying in essence that, "America has a poor history when it comes to matters of race, and that schools should do a better job of teaching African-American history as well as women's struggle for equality, the unions, and the role of Hispanics in the U.S."

I agree we can do better job in these matters. But I would like to point out that unless a black American was born in Africa and subsequently became an American citizen, we should not refer to him as an "African-American."

A black American born in the United States of America is an American. Period.

It is terms like "African-American" and statements by the likes of Wright that keep us divided and keep us from coming together as one people.

Why not just do a better job of teaching American history and do away with "Black History Month?"

Obama needs to recognize that these types of things are a good part of the problem in keeping us apart.

In his Dec. 22, 1914, letter to Mrs. Ralph Sanger, Theodore Roosevelt said "I do not believe in hyphenated Americans."

Well, neither do I.

If we are to be one people together, we can't be Mexican-American, African-American, Chinese-American, Anglo-American or any other kind of hyphenated American.

We can and should be just American!

Verne Jarrette

Elgin