[ajross]

It's not a slur, but neither is it a term in actual use. It's designed to draw attention to the fact that the author thinks the actual term ("american") is wrong, somehow.

But of course language is never wrong, it's just what people speak.

Americans have always called themselves americans: before there was a USA these were the american colonies. If you wanted to distinguish yourself from the continental subjects you called yourself an "american".

It's only in the last half century of hegemony that people started freaking out and thinking that somehow the term was an attempt to usurp ownership of the continent or whatever.