The cool thing about freedom, is that we're all free to define our own choices. I agree with you that if one is a citizen of this country, one is an American; but unlike you, I won't begrudge anyone their pride of heritage, their way of placing their ethnic and familial history alongside their citizenship and current residence.
Maybe I don't see it as putting the other/foreign part FIRST; I just see that the ULTIMATE (which is defined as both "final" and "best") word is American.
I don't have any problem with people expressing pride in their heritage, but what happens is that it creates a divisive situation where the important thing becomes the heritage and not the unifying capability of the citizenry in common.
"Oh, he's Chinese." Never mind the fact that his family has lived in the USA since the 1800s. He's Chinese. Clearly not "one of us".
What I am saying is that the people who would prefer being identified by a nationality that is FOREIGN to the country of their citizenship need to move to that country and stop whining that they are being treated differently. They asked for that treatment and in the process get everyone else labled, too.
Next time someone asks where you are from, tell them you are American. It is about bloody time we had some nationalistic pride again.
I guess I look at it as an identification of ethnicity, which is not necessarily an identification of nationality; the -American part is the identification of nationality. There is, indeed, a difference between ethnicity and nationality, and I really don't see a problem with putting them side by side.
I love this country, but I don't know that I'm particularly proud of what we're doing on the global stage. It's hard to just demand that we have "some nationalistic pride" when our government is so determined to engage in questionable activities.
Having read Robert Hienlien at an impressionable age, around 13, I recall, many of my opinions and ways of thinking are shaped by him. I love my country, many times I'm very unsure about my government and wonder what our founding fathers (you know them, the rabble rousing terrorists) would think of where we are now. I get particularly irritated by people who bad mouth the military (thankfully not as much of an issue anymore). I think it ought to be mandatory that people spend a few months in some 3rd world country just so they know how damned good they have it here. We're one of the few countries, where you can still change your status through hard work and determination.
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Maybe I don't see it as putting the other/foreign part FIRST; I just see that the ULTIMATE (which is defined as both "final" and "best") word is American.
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"Oh, he's Chinese." Never mind the fact that his family has lived in the USA since the 1800s. He's Chinese. Clearly not "one of us".
What I am saying is that the people who would prefer being identified by a nationality that is FOREIGN to the country of their citizenship need to move to that country and stop whining that they are being treated differently. They asked for that treatment and in the process get everyone else labled, too.
Next time someone asks where you are from, tell them you are American. It is about bloody time we had some nationalistic pride again.
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I love this country, but I don't know that I'm particularly proud of what we're doing on the global stage. It's hard to just demand that we have "some nationalistic pride" when our government is so determined to engage in questionable activities.
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