I fall within three of the categories referred to above:

Although my line of descent on both sides of the family is
from one and another (and another and another, counting back generation by generation) part of Germany . . .

I am native American, inasmuch as I was born and raised
in Minnesota.
and
I am African American, in the sense that EVERY American is
descended from African forebears, going back to about the
time of "Lucy" and before.
and
I'm a person of color--that is, sort of a mottled pinkish
color.

But none of those categorizations means a diddly-damn about
who I REALLY am.

Dave Oesterreich