Hello to you,as a Canadian and being on this continent called North America, and I have asked this question to others living in the United States, why do YOU FOLKS call yourselves AMERICANS, not staters as you should be called, your armed forces are known as US marines, US navy not just AMERICA armed forces or your POSTAL SYSTEM is US post office not AMERICAN POSTAL,and how many folks when sending mail put down USA, which should not be used only the town or city one is sending mail to the country(UNITED STATES) and zip number.Where would the mail go if one presumed your country was only called "AMERICA", one put down the town or city, where would this mail go.And why did the forefathers of the UNITED STATES CALL YOUR COUNTRY JUST THAT UNITED STATES rather than "AMERICA".I was just wondering.GENDERBEND

I have a suggestion, since we call people from new york new yorkers and people from Vermont Vermonters why don't we call people from the U.S.......... USERS?

Very cute...how long did you wait to lauch this anti america statement?

Because the correct term is "Americans." If I told someone I was a "Stater" people would have no clue what I was talking about! We live in "America, the beautiful" and most of us love it here!

There are a lot of people who could be labeled with the acronym "USER", but thank God they are in the minority. Most Americans do whatever they can to keep this nation as great as our forefathers established it to be.... EVCARE.

Good point. It's just another one of those global ignorances that won't be conquered. It goes hand-in-hand with people calling the year 2000 the start of the new millennium (2001 is actually the first year of the new millennium). Or depictions of Jesus as having straight hair and blue eyes (He had skin of copper and hair like lamb's wool).

I created an account just to post this. Pathetic? Perhaps it is but I had to remind everyone of the name of the country in which I live. It is The United States of America, or U.S.A. So we are very right to refer to ourselves as Americans. I get tired of defending this about once a week to both real life and Internet friends from around the globe. As for anyone in North America, or South America for that matter, outside of The U.S.A., or U.S., being called American I would remind him or her they are not citizens of North America. It is a continent, not an entity providing citizenship. I am not being jingoistic, American is the correct term. As a bit of levity and a final thought: Please get people from The Netherlands to stop being called The Dutch, in English. -Tom

I am a woman that has been jumping gender barriers my entire life, but your comment sounds like you are a bored uneducated housewife! Just because there is a woman running for prez that means ALL women should vote for her bc she is a WOMAN? omg! If a communist woman was running for prez would you vote for her bc she is a woman?
Jimi.
Chicago.

You should move to France.

CAUSE WE CAN!!

why does it take hours for me to view the episode online. I'm in Utah and I am always having this problem. The show airs at 10:00 a.m. in Chicago so that would be 8:00 a.m. MST..so why at 1:35 p.m. am I still waiting? Is this a local problem or network problem? does anyone know?

Thank you so very much for the excerpts from the PBS series that Dr Henry Louis Gates Jr. did with Chris Rock and others, like . I was so deeply moved by that series last year that I watched my recording of it several times, and even researched and bought Oprah a book about Liberia (where some of her ancestors are from, as she learned in this process), long out of print, but of course found that I can't send it to her, since no packages are accepted at Harpo (sensible from a security standpoint, but I'd still like to find a way to get it to her). Here is an excerpt about the upcoming show, from the PBS site: "In February 2008 on PBS, Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. will guide an all-new group — poet Maya Angelou, comedian Dave Chappelle, actor Morgan Freeman, theologian Peter Gomes, publisher Linda Johnson Rice, athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, radio host Tom Joyner and rock ’n’ roll legend Tina Turner — on a journey to discover their ancestry in AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2." Can't wait to see this!!! It wasn't until rather recently that I became more interested in my own ancestry ~ must be something that happens mid-life, hehehe... anyway, I was sitting in my living room a couple of years ago working on my laptop with the tv on in the background, and during a 'history moment' we have from time to time here in Canada, I heard a family name and jerked my head up to learn that (as I eventually found out) I have ancestry that was a Canadian war hero a couple of hundred years ago! I was born in the USA, and never knew I had any connection to Canada, until I married a Canadian and moved here a number of years ago. It makes sense to me now because my grandfather and uncle were major city police detectives, though they didn't know anything about this 'civil service' ancestry, either. The old saying, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree", rings true, as Oprah found out with her love of teachers and teaching. There really is something to the cellular memory theories!

Hi Genderbend - As a fellow Canadian, I really don't understand the point of your comments. They come across as being somewhat ignorant, and insulting. The US is an abbreviation of USA. The full name is the United States of America, not United States as you state in your message. I think you need to go back to elementary school and refresh your memory with what you learned in social studies and geography classes.

Yeah, I know what you mean about the USA ~ having traveled a bit, and having lived in two 'foreign' countries, I found that in the UK and Europe, and here in Canada, it's commonly referred to as 'the States', and I tend to do that as well, even having been born there. Often when one uses or hears the term 'America' abroad, it is taken to mean all of North America, and 'the Americas' includes Central and South America, as well. It is always sad to me when I hear or read remarks that are ignorant or rude, and I know it just takes some travel experience, and/or education to help dissolve these harsh feelings. So, to say to a foreigner that you are 'an American', can mean more than being from the USA and often needs further clarification.

I think that it is great for all Americans to see how people of all ethnic groups have ancestors who fought for this country to be what it is today. Way to go Oprah, lets keep this kind of programming coming! My ancestors were here to participate in the Reveloutionany War and that makes me very proud, just as I'm sure Chris Rock was proud to hear that his ancestor fought in the Color Troops in the Civil War. When one learns these things it just sends a chill up one's spine and straighens it out to where the chest can bust it's buttons