Skeans: The Gulf of America?

Letter to the editor

The Gulf of America?

America. Our country, the United States, is the only country in the world who claims an entire continent as part of their country. No one says – Germany of Europe or Brazil of America. Just us. When, in actuality, there are one billion people living in the American continents. One billion Americans. But they don’t have the temerity to claim an entire continent as theirs. Just us.

North America claims 27 countries, yet many of them we would consider to be Central America or even Caribbean Islands, but the countries of Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Honduras, Panama, and even Cuba and the Bahamas are part of the North American continent. South America contains 12 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru. Yet none of them claim to be THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. Just us.  

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The reality? Mexico claims 2046 miles of Gulf shoreline, the U.S. claims 1632 miles. As for the percentage of accessible water usage (“usage” i.e. exploitation), the edge goes slightly to the U.S., with 40% of the Gulf water access; Mexico claims 38%. The remaining 12% may surprise you: Cuba lays claim to the water.  

So, Gulf of America? Which one? In my opinion, a better choice would be Gulf of the Americas. The U.S. does not own that body of water; we use it, we access it from our shores just as thousands of other Americans do. Generally changing the name of an entity, even a street, takes a vote by the people who use it. Not a mandate.  

Gulf of the Americas. It has a nice ring to it. Unless, of course, you think American means just the people who live in the United States. 

Leslie Skeans, Hawthorne

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