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October 28, 2003

Hyphenated-Americans

I am against Hyphenated-Americans. Those are US Citizens who find it necessary to define themselves by their own or their ancestors homelands.

The whole point of the USA is that we leave our homelands behind - it has been this way for a very long time. My ancestors came here because they didn't like it in Ireland or Germany, or wherever. Why should I suddenly want to identify with that long lost heritage. Many Americans of color want to call themselves African-Americans, now admittedly, many of these folks had ancestors who did not come here by choice, but since slavery was abolished over 140 years go, can't they let go?

Others may have recently moved to the United States - many seem to think that it is very important to identify where they came from - but if that is the case, why did they move here?

If you are Irish, and you think of yourself as Irish-American, why did you leave Ireland?

If your parents are from India, but you were born here in the US, why do you consider yourselves to be Indian-American?

This may be too esoteric a point, I don't know. But defining ourselves as different from the rest of our countrymen and women seems to be used as a way of creating divisions.

Suddenly, there are African-American clubs, Irish-American clubs, Italian-American clubs, Pakistani-American clubs - and what good are they, really?
Seems to me it is a chance for them to all get together and bitch about those hyphenated-Americans that they don't like.

The Arab-Americans bitch about the Israeli-Americans. The Irish-Americans bitch about the English-Americans. The Serbian-Americans bitch about the Croation-Americans. And so on. And so forth.

And this is even before religion is brought into play.

The thing is, those countries who have held on with extreme tenacity to their ethnic backgrounds are those countries with the longest histories of upheavel and war and 'ethnic cleansing'.

Look at the Balklands. Look at Ireland. Look at the Middle East. Look at Rwanda.

Separating ourselves from each other is harmful. Once we are here, we are Americans, and we need to carefully consider this before sticking a hyphen in front of our names.

Our society gives the individual rights that very few countries can match. We have the luxury to believe or not believe in whatever religion we want to. We have the luxury to marry anyone we want - regardless of caste, ethnicity, religion or race.

We become more and more, every day, a melting pot - and this is a good thing.

Words are important. What we call ourselves is important. If you call yourself French-American, you are diminishing the US. Once you are an American, you are an American, no longer Irish, French, German, Morrocan, Egyption, Mexican, Israili or Palestinian. You are part of us, part of our family. Don't cause division by insisting that you be called a hyphenated-American.

Ok - now, discuss among yourselves!

Posted by Beth at October 28, 2003 09:24 PM