Is the California Roll really sushi?

No they are not. Sorry I am not japanese or oriental but I know spring rolls, they are really egg rolls just called spring rolls cause they are usually served at the first day of the Chinese New Year... Definition:
http://www.epicurious.com/tools/fooddictionary/entry?id=2398

There are all vegetable, chicken, beef, pork or you could put raw fish or seafood in it. But it is not solely raw meat.
Here are some examples:
Shrimp(cooked)http://www.kidsregen.org/recipes/TEST.0506/done.jpg
Citrus Chicken:
http://www.schwansfoodservice.com/images/products/69550.jpg
Barbequed eel:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://sushiindex.com/wp-content/uploads/rolls/spring_roll.jpg&imgrefurl=http://sushiindex.com/topics/egg/&usg=__B9UxNX6J8arl7KQj67BaSTqeOf4=&h=400&w=498&sz=41&hl=en&start=16&um=1&tbnid=ectolfd9UKy3jM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dspring%2Broll%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26newwindow%3D1%26safe%3Doff%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:*:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7DKUS
Vegetable:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.floydthefoodguy.com/images/blog/spring_rolls.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.floydthefoodguy.com/archives/2006/07/index.html&usg=__aG1LKjulgB8L3paUE8f6EHaFHnY=&h=488&w=664&sz=479&hl=en&start=19&um=1&tbnid=N2f5j_h4aHBf4M:&tbnh=101&tbnw=138&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dspring%2Broll%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26newwindow%3D1%26safe%3Doff%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:*:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7DKUS
Vietnamese(fried)
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://shop.legalseafoods.com/images/images/Vietnamese-Spring-Roll-WL.jpg&imgrefurl=http://shop.legalseafoods.com/index.cfm/pk/product/ac/list/cid/10229&usg=__lVn_s_PI2W3QxXMxusgwuDhSGxI=&h=300&w=370&sz=30&hl=en&start=25&um=1&tbnid=2fzxbpnc0j9icM:&tbnh=99&tbnw=122&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dspring%2Broll%26start%3D21%26ndsp%3D21%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26newwindow%3D1%26safe%3Doff%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:*:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7DKUS%26sa%3DN

Plain and Simple the term Sushi means vinegared rice.

Sushi doesn't refers to the roll it mean VINEGAR RICE !!!1

I am a Japanese vegetarian who loves sushi!

Sushi = vinegared rice
Makizushi = rolled sushi

The California Roll's invention is credited to Ichiro Mashita, a Japanese sushi chef in Los Angeles in the 1970's. The California Roll is indeed has vinigared rice and is rolled - hense it is clearly a Makizushi. The only "sushi" form that absolutly requires raw fish is Sashimi. There are many forms of sushi that does not include fish at all, like Kappamaki and Futomaki.

california roll isn't sushi, sorry.
it's made w/ fake crab meat, avocado and cucumbers...

sushi for me is w/ raw fish.

California Roll are Sushi. Sushi refers to the Rice.

its sushi roll. just like you said, it's maki sushi.

My favorite sushi has egg in it, but no fish. So no, it doesn't have to have fish in it to be called sushi.

And the "sushi" part, actually, refers to the whole dish, not only the fish. So a California Roll is a valid form of sushi.

Now, as for some of these places that serve "sushi" made with brown rice (I'm talkin' ta YOU, Whole Foods Market!), that would be grounds for a name change, I'd say.

California is sushi, though not typical and traditional sushi from Japan. California was "invented" in North America to better suit the palates of the western diners.

Sushi doesn't always have to have raw fish or meat on it. Example: unagi sushi is sushi with a piece of grilled eel. Another example, tamago is sushi with a piece of egg on it.

Sushi refers to the way rice is served in bite sized pieces with fish/meat/vegetables and eaten in one-bite.

Tell them this: sushi refers to the rice, not raw fish.

I am not Japanese, I am a cooking enthusiast and historian so here is your history lesson:

Sushi was invented in the days before refrigeration. Fish was so plentiful that they needed a way or preserving it because supply outweighed demand.

What they did was dig a hole in the ground, line the bottom with kelp, so that the fish wouldn't be touching dirt and use rice to reinforce that layer of protection. The fish would be placed on the rice, which would then be covered with more rice and then another layer of kelp before being buried to be kept preserved.

What happened was, sometimes they would forget about a certain 'dig spot' they had made and by the time they got to it the fish had gone a bit bad and started to ferment. The fermentation gave off a fishy flavor to the rice that was touching it and they found they actually liked the way that rice tasted.

Kind of like an over ripened cheese, they started to reproduce this accidental discovery on purpose.

The sushi that you eat now is sort of an artificial symbolization of that process. The rice is vinigared to mimic that fermentated flavor and the fish and kelp paper are there to symbolize the layers of how it was buried in the ground.

In short, if you want something to tell your friends, tell them 'sushi is about the rice, not the fish.' If you want to truly understand the origins of sushi, know that, like all good things it was created by accident and also that what you know as sushi today is... fake.

not sushi it is just veges and rice.