It's too bad when things get taken personally--the idea of "You're a x generation American, and therefore not Scottish / Irish / insert_nationality_here" really heated things up. Whether or not you believe that [and I say this with all charity], I think thoughts like that should not be expressed here where a common interest brings us all together. Do I consider myself Scottish? Not purely Scottish, but I have a Celtic heritage I am very proud of, and will not hesitate to answer in the affirmative if some one asks if I am Scottish: I am a Scots-Irish American.

At the risk of another thread going south, I ask the following question: Are our black countrymen not African-Americans, British-Africans, etc? As the Papal delegate to the U.S. said in his homily at the National Shrine last night, "All races, all nations, will be blessed . . ." We are men, wherever we hail from, wherever our ancestors come from. Let us remember charity this Holiday season.