by Stacie Moyle

Created on: March 19, 2010

Americans are comprised of a group of diverse cultural and racial backgrounds as a result of the massive immigration of peoples over the centuries.  An American citizen carries by birth or naturalization papers to declare their status as Americans. Hyphenated descriptions of people only serve to divide them rather than unite them.  We are all American. We are all different in our own ways belonging to sometimes multiple sub-groups or sub-cultures of people. Everyone has a unique history of immigrant families, and sometimes non-immigrant Native heritage. Americans come in a wide range of religious beliefs and non-beliefs. Yet,  above it all, we stand as united citizens of one great country, the United States of America.

The greatest difficulty with names intended to "clarify" a person's origin is that not only does it imply that such an origin matters beyond the scope of the individual's pride in their heritage, there is a selective process at work in using such a naming strategy for groups of people.   How often does one hear of a European-American? Not often if they are of a more northern variety with a pale skin tone.  Add a little color to one's skin and immediately there appears to be a need for a classification to be given.  Yet, that person is as much an American as anyone else. Many people find it extremely frustrating being seen first as belonging to another group and then as an American.  A man of Asian heritage might be first thought of as a Japanese-American, when he was not only born in this country, but even served in its armed forces. While visual clues often make a person's heritage perfectly clear, such information is not necessary in order to get to know the person and interact with them.  If  two women were encountered on a street, one being Dutch and American while  the other were German and American there would likely be little pause for clarification as to how they might be grouped separately from any other American.  Unfortunately, if one woman had brown skin, some would see it as cause to separate the person from any other American woman.  In this way, utilizing hyphenated racial and cultural monikers segregates people.

It should be respected though, that an individual may wish  to be described with a hyphenated moniker to denote their specific background.  In such cases, those wishes should be respected.  But, unless otherwise stated, it is absolutely acceptable to simply call the person an American.  It gives respect to the citizenship that binds us all regardless of our race, creed, or the color of our skin.  Some people may wish to pass along based on pride in their heritage the information that they also belong to a group, however, this has no additional bearing on their status as Americans.

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