Why can't we all just be Americans?

Question

I am bothered by the PC and socially correct movement that has everyone looking to their past to define who they are. What I am referring to is the need to divide ourselves by race and make America even more segmented than it needs to be. Looking back at the early parts of the 1900s it was well known that by coming to America you were expected to forsake your allegiance to your former nation and become wholly American. I realize that most of the people who insist on being called "nation/country/continent"-American are usually born here and as such don't have the experience of coming here to find something better. Can't we all recognize our ancestry without having to divide ourselves? Why is it necessary for us to help the enemies of the US to tear us apart? There is a often used military ideal of "Divide and Conquer", aren't we all just helping other to conquer us by dividing ourselves?

Answer 1

I think the definition for PC =pure crap.
Who came up with this any way?
I totally agree about the divide and conquer comment you give.
We are all dividing amongst ourselves and our enemies(It's sad but true, we are gathering them like moss on a rolling stone)they are just sitting back like the devil himself, picking their teeth and laughing, waiting for the day to go in for the kill.
Me?, I am an American, I was born in the United States,(WhiteSands New, Mexico) I have Mexican, Italian,Indian,Irish ancestory, I am proud of my lineage.
I do not sit around moaning and try to blame others of the wrong that may have be-fallen my ancestors, they will get theirs in due time I'm sure....I can't stand to hear how people jump on band wagons with I am Mexican American, born in Idaho, No your not.You are American with mexican ancestry.
I am African American, I was born in California, no you are not. you also are American with African ancestory, get a grip and get it right. You were not born in these countries..

p.s. What about UNITED WE STAND DIVIDED WE FALL?
God Bless America,,,,,And The Whole World for that matter....
Peace...

Answer 2

The reason that people identify themselves in sub-groupings ("Irish American" etc) is because it benefits them in a number of ways:

1. Politically, it gives them leverage

2. Culturally: it gives them an identity.
The identitiy "American" is
too wide; it's too inclusive. If a description includes everyone then it also serves no use as a definition of any particular quality.

3. People want to feel special.
Saying you're quarter-Cherokee, quarter Lithuanian, Quarter-Jewish and a Quarter-Swiss is a way of maying yourself a little different from everyone else. The truth is, you probably aren't really much different at all. You probably eat the same food, drive the same car, go to the same school and think in the same way as all those about you.

It seems to be important in a huge society which is, in my experience, actually very homogeneous, democratic and bland for people to want to stand out in some way.

Answer 3

The reason is because liberals want to divide the country and push the following agenda that conservatives like me completely disagree with.

-- Christians are obstacles to an "enlightened" society
-- Drugs should be legalized
-- Homosexual marriage is equal to marriage between a man and a woman
-- Against states legally mandating that parents be informed when their underage daughters have abortions
-- Abortion is good for society and is not killing a human being
-- Euthanasia is also good for society and not killing a human being
-- America is harmful to the world
-- We should appease our enemies
-- People should be allowed into the US without legal process and there should be open borders
-- Large socialized & state run programs with high taxation are good for society such as socialized medicine, transportation, media, products and services.
-- Believe in "income redistribution"--that is, the government taxing affluent Americans at a higher proportional rate in order to fund entitlements to the less well off.

Answer 4

Personally, whenever someone asks me what ethnicity I am I usually don't say I'm Filipino-American. I usually just say I'm Filipino for two reasons. 1) They can usually figure out I'm American by the way I talk or act, and 2) they probably just want to know what my ethnic background is. Try and look at it this way, when Americans like us say what kind of ethnic background we have before we add the "-American" part we're not trying to divide ourselves from the rest of America, we just want people to recognize where our ancestors came from before we came to America. This is probably less common for Caucasians though, because I rarely hear someone say that they're English-American or German-American. I guess it's all a matter of preference. It's not like any of us (well...i'm sure there's some groups in America) that are creating single ethnic groups to divide America out of racial prejudice.

Answer 5

The defenition of American has changed over the years.

Answer 6

You make some good points.

It's true, if one is born in the US, then they are American. However, it would be a trajedy to loose our heritage. That is part of how this country was forged, we don't want to loose that.

However, I agree that we should celebrate our differences - not seperate our differences.

Answer 7

Most Americans, even the non-white ones, are happy to be called Americans.

It's, frankly, the white ones that want to call them "Mexican" (even if they were born in the US), "Chinese", etc.

Answer 8

In my country very few people are americans. :)

Answer 9

prejudice people- plus- i am myself not a label

Answer 10

Over my dead body.