Essay, Research Paper: Hyphenated American's

Hyphenated American’s

The country of the United States of America has been founded on the basis of immigration and ethnicities. So what necessarily makes one an American? Many people think that our nation should be looked at as one nation of a group of people, bottom line. This can and will not be able to happen in our country. Because of our differences as people, the United States will always be looked upon as a nation of ethnically diverse people.
Our ethnic diversity in America is what makes us such a great country. Our backgrounds come from all over the world, and although this makes it hard at times it unites us at the same time. Some people would disagree, and in some ways they are right. Our nation being as diverse as it is, is probably the main reason that racism is ever-present today. We cannot all relate to one another because of our diversities and some people cannot get over this fact.
More often than not people of ethnicity find it difficult to just call themselves American’s because of their past culture’s. People wish to hold on to their heritage and because of this we are a nation of African-American’s, Asian American’s, and any other hyphenated American’s that are out there. People of the same ethnic background more often than not find it easier to relate to people of their same backgrounds. Language barriers are another reason that this occurs and makes our nation one of not just English speaking people. This reminds me distinctly of a High School around my area of upbringing. The reader board in front of the High School displayed messages in English, Spanish and Russian. While this does at times segregate people, it allows us as American’s to have totally different views about people.
We as American’s are bent upon trying to form a link with other cultures and that is one aspect of our society that I find great. Going through school these days, students are prompted to seek another language to learn. This skill will help many succeed in areas where they couldn’t before. This link to cultures is present today in areas other than just languages. History classes teach not only American history, but also the immigration of American’s in general.
Being that out country is founded on immigration it is easy to say that since we are not originally from this land, we as people would want to hold on to our previous cultures. I truly think that our nation as a whole is blessed to have so much diversity and culture. We as American’s are looked upon as a melting pot of people. We should feel lucky to find a nation of hyphenated American’s, because I think it improves the character of our society. I don’t think that we will ever be able to shed our former cultures to become a nation of just plain Americans. This idea goes past what we have, and I believe will always stand for. Therefore I believe that we as American’s should embrace the hyphen for once and for all time.


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