I really get annoyed at all the so called {blank}-Americans out there. The strength of this country is that we take people from all nations, and make them part of a greater whole. We all benefit from what each one brings to the table. You can call it the Melting Pot or the Salad Bowl or whatever, but I think the hyphenated designation lessens us all. We are all AMERICANS of whatever descent. I am just as proud of the acomplishments of Americans who have brown, pale or yellow skin. I also feel perfectly right to enjoy the culture they came from as part of what makes our shared culture great. That’s whay you bring to the table, for all of us to enjoy. By being {----}-Americans, you’ve got it backwards. We are Americans of {----} descent. That’s our strength. By putting the origin before the present, it can become a weakness, used to divide and alienate. Any comments?
Well, as a Prussian-American, it’s just a matter of time before I get all y’all lined up in formation and moving about with mathematical precision.
Seriously, I agree with the OP. The hyphens are just getting more and more ridiculous. The “I hate African-American” thread makes many good points. Especially concerning the insistance of using the A-A term to refer to any black person, regardless if he is neither African nor American.
But I guess it will be a losing battle as long as the bean counters are basing things on race. Think about it; why does the Federal government ask us about race unless their purpose is to allocate funds or implement programs according to racial lines?
And if big daddy government is doing it; how can just regl’r folks reverse the tide? Federal programs don’t tend to go away, no matter who we send to Washington.
Politics aside, IMO the U.S. would be a stronger nation if we did all pull together as Americans rather than trying to stake out our own little battlegrounds and fight each other based on who has the “correct” hyphen at the time.
Yeah…wouldn’t it be great if all things were equal and we could all be “American”? Problem is, it’s not. It’s not even close. We don’t even think of many minoritys as “Americans”. A lot of asian friends of mine say that they are constantly asked where there from, even if their family has been here since the 1800s. Most people of Mexican decent also arn’t lumped into the term “American”. And hey…remember the WWII internazation of people of Japanese decent, even if they were US born citizens. See? It’s the whiney white majority that does this. Anyway, lots of white Americans seem to believe that becomeing an American means becomeing white. That is a racist point of view. If people want to hold onto their culture or designate themselves as a group, just let them. It doesnt hurt you so stop whineing.
The problem with the “lets all just be Americans” argument is that it’s usually just “white” people that make it. When everybody else agrees, then we’ll all really just be Americans and we won’t even have to talk about it.
There’s still plenty of racism out there. Most of it’s subconscious. When there is no more racism, minority groups won’t feel the need to proclaim themselves with some label.
I am going to have to agree with the 2 posters ahead of me.
I wish we could get past our cultural differences, but I don’t see it happening around me.
I think America is becomeing more racist rather than the opposite.
Being of partly Native descent, I like to think of “Indians” as True-Americans and all others as Immigrant-Americans.
When white folks dispute this I offer to ship them back to Europe.
Just putting my 2sense in.
Tyranny,* like Hell*,* is not easily conquered*.
-Thomas Paine (fugitive slave catcher)
It does hurt me. It hurts you too if you live here. The factionalization of the people that make up this country,IMHO, is one of the greatest threats we have ever faced. What you get is a whole bunch of little groups fighting each other for any advantage at the expense of all the others. Worst case scenerio, you get Yugoslavia. However unevenly laws, social customs and justice has been enforced in the past, using that as a justification for perpetrating the same brand of inequality into the future is a bad idea. We can not change the past, but we can learn from it. Please try reading for comprehension in the future.
At the risk of being slammed, I have to agree with OP. Yes, I agree that there is still a lot of racism and prejudice in our country. But I don’t think hyphenated terms are going to do anything to change that. It seems to me a way to increase the sense of separation and to foster an ‘us versus them’ stance.
But then, I can’t really understand the need to keep in touch with the culture of a distant (or not-so-distant) land. My ancestors were widely varied in nationalities. German, Irish, Dutch and Indians all contributed to my blood line. Calling myself German-American or Irish-American seems stupid and counter productive.
BTW, does this hyphenated trend exist in other countries? Are there African-British?
Really?
I am less concerned with the “good of sacred America” than I am with the good of the individuals in it. It may be better and more cohesive for the country for the hyphens to be dropped, but it hurts individuals that need to come to an understanding about their decent. Read Gloria Anzaldua’s “La Frontera-Borderlands” for more insight. You may not see the need for them, but obviously the person who uses them does. In the end I think it is better just to call people what they want to be called.
PS Spooje,
The hyphens don’t happen in other countries because people of different orgins are never condsidered to be “one of them”. Hence ethnic Serbs or Molems or whatever are taken care of with “ethnic cleanseing” instead of hyphens. In many places your family can live someplace for thousands of years and still be considered something else. Many countries don’t even have a right to natural citizenship. If you are born of foreign parents in some places you are not garenteed citizenship in that place.
People who face discrimination because of there heritage have a need to recognize that heritage in a positive light. The racism has to go first.
Would Rodney King say this?
“I can’t imagine why the cops pulled me over and beat me. I mean I’m just like the rest of Americans right?”
Even if someone wants to forget that they’re African-American some racist is going to shove it in their face sooner or later. Therefore why not recognize your heritage in a positive light? What’s so divisive about wanting to learn more about your heritage?? EVERYBODY in my high school history class had to sit though the whole history of Europe. Guess how much time we spent on Africa? About ten minutes while the teacher explained why it wasn’t in the curriculum. This was a majority black school BTW. Can you excuse people for trying to build a community to explore their heritage?
Please explain exactly how this is splitting people apart.
It seems odd to me looking, across the pond that, some Americans identify so strongly with one particular group that they select from a whole range of ancestors they have.
Why choose one part of your family history but ignore much of the rest? I am thinking of Irish and Scottish here ,other groups may be quite differant.
In reply to Spooge yes there is a small amount of hyphenated Britishness going on but we tend to divide ourselves regionaly .
The point Even Sven raises is true and also chilling.
Groups who refuse to integrate and become closed societies can be easily targeted ,this happened to the Jews didn’t it.
I’ll be careful with that last as it might be interpreted to mean that I’m putting some responsability on the victims.That is not the intention.
It seems that people like to both to label themselves and others ,a need to belong and exclude.Somtimes there is a ‘laager’ mentality, draw back into your own kind under adversity and oppose all others.
Racially I’m part Asian but I don’t feel* Asian as such .When the games start its the UK I root for.
Sometimes I see others from differant backgrounds disparaging the land of their birth in favour of one they have never seen ,they often have an idealised notion of their ancestral homes but fail to appreciate the real reasons why their ancestors left,such as lack of freedom ,extreme poverty etc.
Considering what the US has achieved it must be quite hurtful to have people forget that and ,anyway ,if there is some aspect of US life these people dislike so much, they should try to make the the changes by engaging the system rather than stand on the sidelines criticizing.By being part of the political process they become part of the nation.
The only time I had an issue with the OP was when a co-worker of mine who emigrated from the phillipines told me she was NOT american.
It inflamed me pretty much and I just wanted to know why she went through the naturalization process to BE an american is she did not consider herself american.
She really had no answer for me except that she missed home…which is understandable to a point, but after that point is met, and you declare yourself not american, it really goads me to no end.
Although the OP has a good point, I’m going to have to agree with some of the counterarguments as well. Is it divisive? I don’t think it’s as divisive as it would seem - there is a difference between having pride in your heritage and developing your own counter-culture. Do some people cross that line? Sure, but I’d say most don’t. Would calling everyone simply “American” stop racism? Of course not. Would it help? It might, but I don’t think it’s the first step that needs to be taken - if anything, I’d consider it one of the last. There are lots of bigger issues to tackle regarding racism than what we call ourselves.
I will happily call anyone any moniker they so desire - doesn’t hurt me much.
(For the record, I’m a gay white male 3rd generation American with mostly Scottish ancestry, but my father was adopted so we’re not exactly sure what his side of the family is - I’m sticking with German, as that’s what his adoptive family was.)
Why is it that when a black person is beaten, it’s automatically assumed that it was racially motivated? Do you think the LAPD has never beaten white people?
As for the OP: I disagree, mainly because I think that the alternative for [whatever]-American is usually not American but [whatever]. I think that the terms Asian-American, Italian-American, etc., have been in response to those people being called Asians, Italians, etc. I don’t think that the hyphenated designation is denying America citizenship but affirming it.
Most extreme example of A-Aism I’ve seen: y’all remember the show “A Different World”? Spinoff of The Cosby Show, takes place where Denise went to college?
On that program, they once showed a bunch of students in a classroom where the teacher mentioned that there were three basic subtypes (or whatever the term is) of the human species. The teacher gave them as Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and African-American.
I’m not sure that hyphenating isn’t more divisive than commonly thought. Some say that it’s a way of celebrating one’s heritage, but I’ve seen people refer to themselves as a something-American when they had very little, if any, clue as to their heritage actually is.
“I’m an Irish-American.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s your position on Northern Ireland?”
“Huh?”
By the way…are there really any African-Americans or Asian-Americans? Those are continents, not countries. That’s like saying “I’m a South American-American.” (Well, OK, Australian-American…but nobody else.) Even European-American isn’t that descriptive.
Your Constitution ,which steadily evolved, guaruntees certain basic rights, nothing new there, but, when an individuals cultural heritage brings them into conflict with basic human rights what do you do?
There are examples of this such as female ‘circumcision’ ,maybe the Hindu caste system.These people may have been born in the US and claim citizenship.
Where do the rights of humans stand as opposed to culture?
I believe that to take be or take on American citizenship no matter what your background you must be prepared to accept its most basic tenets.
Does this occur in reverse-well try having a drinking party Saudi Arabia and see what happens.They seem to feel that ones presence in the country entitles them to enforce a religious based legal system on you-no matter what your culture and heritage are.
I depends on how far down the road of being a Hyphenated American you go.
The dumbest is Mexican-American. Although Hispanic is more commonly used. Think about it. Where is Mexico? Is it in…Asia? Nope. It is in America. How do people living in the U.S. from another American country think about that. I would be pretty insulted.
