“There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism.“...
"The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English- Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian- Americans, or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality than with the other citizens of the American Republic.”
Address to the Knights of Columbus
New York City- October 12th, 1915
It's hard to believe that President Roosevelt said this in his Columbus Day Speech in 1915, just over a century ago, when this attitude toward foreigners was the norm. Immigrants were feared, America was terrified of being washed out by "foreigners". How quickly people forget the history of America has always been quite a good laugh for me. America is a land of foreigners, Americans are a mix and a swirl of the genetic and cultural backgrounds of all nations. We were all immigrants at one point or another, just some much earlier than others. America is a land of immigrants who decided to change their circumstances, and make a better future for their kids, thriving because of hard work, and a drive to survive. We understand hardships, and we also understand the value of hard work, Americans are powerful because of our diversity. We are all hyphentated- Americans of some kind or another, that's what makes us American. Hyphenated- Americanism is something that people used to look down upon, and something that used to alienate immigrants from the rest of society. (Granted, in 1915, foreigners were especially suspect because of World War I, which put a bad taste for foreigners in the nation's mouth. They still were not as much of a threat as the country make them out to be.) The nation feared that immigrants would come to "our" country, and reject our culture, and stay loyal to their home nations. To say the least, most of the country was not welcoming to immigrants, or even up to being open-minded. Roosevelt believed that hyphenated-Americans would be the demise of the nation, and saw no room in the country for these people who would fail to adapt to the culture, and become genuine Americans. The prediction was anything but the truth, in my opinion.
People who immigrate from different countries should not be expected to immediately forget their native roots, and throw away their allegiances to their homelands. Immigrants can be true to their home countries, and also to America. A person does not have to give up their old ways to adapt to American society, and should be proud of their origins. Hyphenated- Americans are not people who purposely reject American culture, they are people stuck between two cultures, and two countries. Simply by living in America, immigrants will eventually assimilate, some still believing in the ways of their homeland, some not. Hyphenated-Americans are not people to be afraid of, they are people to learn from. Hyphenated- Americans offer a taste of foreign culture, and a unique perspective on foreign issues from a point of view that is otherwise easily forgettable.
In just 100 years, it is almost impossible to imagine that America would become the accepting, progressive place that it is. The traditional thinking that predicted that immigrants would ruin the country, has been mostly eradicated. Foreign culture is not merely accepted anymore, it is proudly embraced. People are able to be proud of their culture, and their religion. Diversity is the tensile strength of the nation, and people are more accepting now than ever. Racism is not the status quo, and we have been strengthened by the contributions and culture of foreigners. People of different cultures collaborate in corporations, government, schools, and every other corner of the nation to improve the country each day. Our nation has come a very long way since the days when "hyphenated- american" was an epithet, yet there is still cultural divides to erase. America is becoming more progressive, and so will our immigrants.
The American Identity is not the same to all people, to me the American Identity is a mindset, an attitude for the future. Instead of dividing ourselves based on the word before our hyphen, we should instead share our story with the world of how we added the suffix "American" to our country of ancestral origin, and what it means to us. America is a technicolor canvas of culture, and I am proud to be an American in this day and age.
..What does being American mean to you?
