This whole crap of hyphenated Americans acquired new life with the revival of identity politics in the 60's. I was born in the Bronx and emigrated at age 30 to rural Pennsylvania. Should I call myself a Bronx-American? I do feel like a foreigner here where some people tell me they're afraid to travel even to NYC, while traveling to Burma, Russia, Iran is just outside of anything they can imagine. I still don't approve of hearing "Para español oprima dos" when I call a business or a government office. To make it more absurd, assign a different language to every number. "Far eydish drikn dray." [My transliteration of Yiddish] "Pour le français, appuyez sur quatre." If you came to America and became a citizen, you're American, period.

This whole crap of hyphenated Americans acquired new life with the revival of identity politics in the 60's. I was born in the Bronx and emigrated at age 30 to rural Pennsylvania. Should I call myself a Bronx-American? I do feel like a foreigner here where some people tell me they're afraid to travel even to NYC, while traveling to Burma, Russia, Iran is just outside of anything they can imagine. I still don't approve of hearing "Para español oprima dos" when I call a business or a government office. To make it more absurd, assign a different language to every number. "Far eydish drikn dray." [My transliteration of Yiddish] "Pour le français, appuyez sur quatre." If you came to America and became a citizen, you're American, period.

In many ways it is too bad the entire continent (“the Americas”) was named for the “discovery” by Amerigo Vespucci. Then it might be something else and we would not be plagued by the “(fill-in-the-blank)-American” nonsense. People used to have a different idea about immigration and what citizenship means:

“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American … There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag … We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language … and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.” —Theodore Roosevelt 1907.
[emphasis added —CW]

If the president and politicians were to actually adhere to these and similar tenants, the separatists and division-promoters would be negated, and we could get on with solving behavioral and environmental problems.

There is only ONE race; the HUMAN race!

In many ways it is too bad the entire continent (“the Americas”) was named for the “discovery” by Amerigo Vespucci. Then it might be something else and we would not be plagued by the “(fill-in-the-blank)-American” nonsense. People used to have a different idea about immigration and what citizenship means:

“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American … There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag … We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language … and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.” —Theodore Roosevelt 1907.
[emphasis added —CW]

If the president and politicians were to actually adhere to these and similar tenants, the separatists and division-promoters would be negated, and we could get on with solving behavioral and environmental problems.

There is only ONE race; the HUMAN race!