Hyphenated American Names

Re “What’s in a Name? For Americans, Everything,” Commentary, Feb. 13:

I am an American. I am not African American, Asian American, Native American or Euro American. I was born in this country and have no intention of renouncing my citizenship.

The color of one’s epidermis is an accident of fate. Those who insist on identifying others based on skin color or genetic heritage are responsible for the divisiveness in our culture. The only thing that matters to me is what kind of person you are under your skin. Don’t label me based on your narrow-minded view of the world.

HEIDI JARMAN

Simi Valley

Gerald Horne would have us add another hyphenated American category to our descriptions of ourselves. A number of years ago I came to the conclusion that to call ourselves in the United States “Americans” is an arrogance which does not sit well, I can assure you from personal experience, with the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking populations of the Americas, since they too are Americans.

To cut through this problem, I refer to a fellow national as “United Statesian,” which by the way, is a literal translation of the French Etats Unisien(ne) and of the Spanish estadounidense.

EDMUND A. HAMBURGER

Los Angeles