F Minus by Tony Carrillo for May 19, 2012

I’m not certain if you read my comment or not, but you seem to be laboring under a misapprehension or two.Yes, we are all citizens of the Americas – some of us are North American, some are Central American, some are South American, and sometimes the term, “Latin American” is applied to the Spanish-speaking countries here. However, there is STILL no country called “Canada of America”, nor a “Honduras of America”. Only the USA.And we “took” the name for ourselves? How did we do that, exactly? Did we forbid anyone else to use it? How? Did the people of Peru “take” the name Peruvians for themselves? I don’t think so.The European countries, in the early days of our independence, were calling us “Americans” as a much simpler term then the “United Statesians”, or the “United Statesians of America”. We also saw no point in referring to ourselves as “United Statesians”, and I’m certain you have never called yourself that either.The people of Peru called themselves “Peruvians” because it made so much sense, as it also makes sense calling U.S. citizens “Americans”.This is not in any way inferring that the people of the other countries of the Americas are not from the Americas, but each of the other countries has its own name for its citizens, as does the USA and the rest of the world (and as we are known by the rest of the world).