>Personally I believe that terms such African-Americans define a persons >race quite adequately, by place of origin: an American of African >descent. It is the Black& White category that lumps people in two Yeah! Someone I agree with. Unfortunately, I think that in this country African-American is too often used as a synonym for black. I've always wondered what an Australian Aborigine visiting LA would say if addressed as an Africa-American. > Race is not defined in terms of degree of darkness. One belongs to >a race regardless of the fairness of their skin tone. > See above. How could you classify somebody from a racial point of >view in terms of their actions? Why bother to classify on the basis of skin color in the first place? J Roberson