Probably an unpopular opinion, but want to speak up.
I hyphenate. I am an American, born of Americans, but on one side I am a 4th generation immigrant. My great-grandparents arrived through Ellis and their journey has informed my family dynamic over the past few generations, so their origin matters to me.
I'm "white" but I hate using that term. Same reason I hate saying "black". If me saying someone is brown/yellow/red is offensive (which it is, we've agreed on that as a society), why are those two colors exempted? I don't see people by the color of their skin, but by their character, so I don't call people by color.
I am a European-American. I am an American, who descends from European ancestry. Does that dilute my patriotism, or make me less of an American? No. Do I hyphenate to "draw a line" between people ethnically similar to me and others? Also no.
I do it because I believe that while your heritage does not dictate the direction of your life, it does inform it. The stories change based on where you're from, but the morals those stories teach are largely the same. My story is not an Asian story, or an African story. Mine is European, and while I am clear I am an AMERICAN first and foremost and will die with liberty in my heart, my story and the people that made it happen are my own and different from my neighbor.
Lastly, I simultaneously reject "identity politics", that Marxist filth that would have us say our "community" is the "black community" or "Latino community" or whatever. My community is my neighbors, my colleagues, and those who depend on me for comfort or happiness or both, and myself of them in kind. My literal community, not some boundless racial group.
I hyphenate because my ancestors' story matters, and will continue to so long as there are people who would see that story erased, or insulted. And, I am an American because this is my country and American is all I will ever be.
Probably an unpopular opinion, but want to speak up.
I hyphenate. I am an American, born of Americans, but on one side I am a 4th generation immigrant. My great-grandparents arrived through Ellis and their journey has informed my family dynamic over the past few generations, so their origin matters to me.
I'm "white" but I hate using that term. Same reason I hate saying "black". If me saying someone is brown/yellow/red is offensive (which it is, we've agreed on that as a society), why are those two colors exempted? I don't see people by the color of their skin, but by their character, so I don't call people by color.
I am a European-American. I am an American, who descends from European ancestry. Does that dilute my patriotism, or make me less of an American? No. Do I hyphenate to "draw a line" between people ethnically similar to me and others? Also no.
I do it because I believe that while your heritage does not dictate the direction of your life, it does inform it. The stories change based on where you're from, but the morals those stories teach are largely the same. My story is not an Asian story, or an African story. Mine is European, and while I am clear I am an AMERICAN first and foremost and will die with liberty in my heart, my story and the people that made it happen are my own and different from my neighbor.
Lastly, I simultaneously reject "identity politics", that Marxist filth that would have us say our "community" is the "black community" or "Latino community" or whatever. My community is my neighbors, my colleagues, and those who depend on me for comfort or happiness or both, and myself of them in kind. My literal community, not some boundless racial group.
I hyphenate because my ancestors' story matters, and will continue to so long as there are people who would see that story erased, or insulted. And, I am an American because this is my country and American is all I will ever be.