The Hyphenating of America

From birth, I have been American--not European-American, not Christian-American, not female-American, not Protestant-American--just plain American. So when and why did the hyphen start tearing us apart? And what happens to those of us who don't have a hyphen--do we just make up one to belong?

• Mexican-American, Latino-American, Hispanic-American, Jewish-American, Muslim-American, Asian-American, Arab-American, Cuban-Americans, Irish-American, Italian-American, Native American...........

At one point in our history, the term "hyphenated American" was an epithet used to diminish the standing of Americans--an insult meant to diminish the standing of the target. Now it is used to differentiate--and divide--us.

Do we hear of Muslim-French, Asian-English, Italian-German, Jewish-Canadian? Of course not!! In no other country are people referenced by their ethnic heritage or religious affiliation. It just plain sounds STUPID.

My opinion is that politicians, to promote identity politics, have used the hyphen to engender support and feed the victim mentality--to increase power. The idiocy of "multiculturalism" divides us and focuses on differences. There is nothing wrong with preserving cultural heritage but hyphenating identity is divisive and harmful to our future.

John Wayne published a poem "The Hyphen" --I cannot add to what he said. En

Publish Post

ough of this. We're just American--period!!