The Americans really needed something like the "Americaness" (the American law it's over any race), kinda like the Hispanidad with the Hispanic people does. It doesn't matter where you come from, but where you all as a whole are heading to.
Segregation and White Power/Black Power/Native Power should be dealt as something totally obsolete, kinda backwards. "Mi tribe it's the best one, and the rest of the worlds sucks".
As a Spaniard I always hated the concept of reservations and idiots like Jim Crow. The point of America should have been to leave out your tribe behind to be something else.
I agree with you, but I think the problem, with regard to the US (I do not know about the rest of the Americas) is that they are victims of their history. While they can understand at an intellectual level that race is cultural construct, they cannot at other levels stop regarding race (rather than culture, language, etc.) as a essential and immutable part of people's identity.
Also worth thinking that the attitudes you (and I) have have been rejected by many people in the US. For many, a "melting pot" culture is no longer considered desirable.
And, finally, yes, I hate the term 'cultural appropiation'. Civilization means basically 'culture appropiation'... and enhancements.
If not, tell these people to stop using the Roman alphabet while posting under an iPhone at Starbucks, and try to write everything with runes.
I'm from Iberia. We were invaded from zillions of tribes. Spanish itself it's twisted Latin, with some loanwords from French, Basque, Celt, German (and Germanic), Italians and who knows more. We assimilated tons of words from former Iberian dialects, such as Galician-Portuguese, Catalan... and thanks to that we can talk with millions of Spanish speakers, and get understood pretty well from the Portuguese, French and Italian at least in written form.
Ditto with English with Romance terms. Ironically, the higher education you get in English, the more low class Hispanic and Lusophone people in South America will understand you.
And the reverse it's true, too. Use Germanic words in English as the average Joe and only the high class non-native English speakers will get something from your speech.
Also, on races/cultures, at first the Gypsies in Spain hated Camarón (now THE god-like Flamenco singer composer for the Gypsies) because he mixed some progressive music from the 70's with Flamenco and even kind of prototype for Techno.
And tons of Blues from the US, too.
They were more Ethnicist than some staunch American WASP belonging to KKK.
Kinda like Blacks in the US calling another one "Oreo".
They said what Camarón did was "Heresy" to Flamenco music, that his album was not flamenco at all. Heresy with capital letters for them.
10-20 years passed, and, guess why? The gypsies said that Camarón now was "the greatest (Gypsy) one/ever), as it were the Jesus for Gypsies.
The Mediterranean civilization and the further Enlightenment was due to sharing knowledge and goods back and forth, not by keeping the countries and tribes isolated.
Rock music it's a mix between Black and White cultures, creating something else, but better. In Spain we had groups like Triana in the 70's who mixed American Folk and Rock like Jethro Tull (the first two albums are almost a Jethro Tull wannabe, really good) with some Flamenco music. And Flamenco itself it's a mix of Arabic, Gypsy and -who knows- more roots...
Segregation and White Power/Black Power/Native Power should be dealt as something totally obsolete, kinda backwards. "Mi tribe it's the best one, and the rest of the worlds sucks".
As a Spaniard I always hated the concept of reservations and idiots like Jim Crow. The point of America should have been to leave out your tribe behind to be something else.