I’m an American. I’m also Chinese. But don’t think for a second that I’m a second-class citizen. And for that matter, nobody should feel that way about him or herself.

The other day, while in conversation with my mother, I learned that one of her Asian friends “married an American man.” In other words, some oriental lady bagged herself a white husband. I love my dear mother, but I hate that insidious fog of prejudice that’s drifted its way into her subconscious and infected her vernacular. Aren’t we Americans too? To refer to white people–or Caucasians, to humor you PC Nazis–as “Americans,” we undermine the very meaning of the word. Implicit in that terminology is the idea that the typical and ideal American is a “fair-skinned,” individual whose ancestry and moral philosophy are rooted in all the correct, Western ideals.

My mother is not the only person “of color” (so to speak) to use that kind of language. I’ve known peers of various ethnicities who have referred to white people in just the same way. I know Chinese girls that are careful about whom they date because their parents prefer them not to go out with “American boys.” A Mexican friend once told me that she has a lot of Latin friends, but she doesn’t know too many “Americans.” The list of examples continues, but to carry on would be an exercise in tedium.

So many “American minorities” have been subtly brainwashed into believing that they are somehow inferior to and separate from the rest of the national community. We, the minorities, are only Americans insofar as we have the proper documentation to prove it. But aside from that minor detail, our citizenship is a mere technicality, for white people are the only true Americans. Prevailing attitudes of prejudice have become so rampant, that people are actually buying it.

Of course, it could be argued that many minority groups such as Asians, Indians, Middle Easterns, and Hispanics have a tendency to gravitate towards others in their own cultural group, thus making it more difficult for themselves to assimilate their minds and hearts into the national fabric. If such were the case, then people that belong to such groups would be much more at fault than I’ve let on. It’s a plausible counterpoint, and I even recognize that it may very well serve to refute my entire argument.

Regardless, my suspicions still linger. Prejudice doesn’t always parade itself in blatant and clumsy sheets accessorized by tall, pointy hats. No. It’s far more insidious than it often lets on. Sometimes prejudice roots itself in the most unlikely of places–such as the minds of minority members–where it gestates and fosters subconscious attitudes of inferiority.

No matter what the explanation may be, I still say that this damaging terminology needs to end. I’m as much an American as anybody else, and that is not subject for debate.