"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who come here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American... There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."
-Theodore Roosevelt, 1907
My mother recently sent me this quotation from the twenty-sixth president of the United States that effectively sums up the international animosities currently felt toward this country. When a political leader demands assimilation (in this case meaning to alter one's behaviors and conform to the popular societal trends) from an immigrant he denies that immigrant his basic freedoms: freedom of speech (in any language of choice), freedom of expression, freedom from persecution. Basically, Roosevelt said to immigrants - while the chief executive of the nation - that one can either become a carbon copy of what an "American" should be... or GET THE HELL OUT!
This philosophy, if it can be referred to as such, is overbearing and petulant. It is this misguided principle that causes Americans to feel self-righteous and vindicated in every action, good or bad. It is the reason that, rather than enjoying the pleasures of travel and the intricacies of another culture, we pine for the extravagant creature comforts to which we have become so attached and which are so unnecessary to sustain life. It is why the government gives tax breaks to corporations and sweeps its widespread poverty and homelessness under a rug. It is why we feel justified in returning hatred and violence with a greater show of hatred and violence in return.
When I say that I work on being less "American" each day, I simply mean that I work on reducing and eliminating these boorish, desultory traits within myself. I will always, at a elemental level, be American. There are many blessings that go hand in hand with an American birth and existence. I grew up in one of the world's most beautiful landscapes, Grand Teton National Park. I have seen a diverse array of people and places within our borders. But too many Americans dismiss the fundamental need to share this bounty equitably. Sharing neither with the greater global population nor the less fortunate on our own soil, Americans pompously purport that their extravagances are a God-given, inalienable right in an effort to justify keeping others from enjoying the spoils.
Everyone who is an American can trace their genealogy back to immigrants; even "native Americans" are not truly native to this soil. Because of this core truth, the framers of the American government intentionally refused to designate an official language. The founding fathers realized that rights are more important than linguistic conformity. With New York's heavy Dutch legacy, a rise in the Spanish-speaking population, and a catalogue of thousands of indigenous languages crafted and honed by this continent's first immigrants, these patriots recognized that forcing a person to conform to one language was no better a form of tyranny than that from which they were seceding. After all, how can we, as a people, claim freedom of speech and simultaneously demand that only one language be spoken on our soil?
Every citizen of the United States has roots extending to the soil of another nation. Assimilation is a frightening proposition which hinders diversity and diverse thought. The United States is certainly not a melting pot as we are taught in schools; just ask the Americans descended from Japanese immigrants who were forcibly removed from their rightful American homes and lives and herded onto concentration camps during World War II. These citizens had become American, learning the dominant language, working in diverse industries, living essentially American lives. But, despite Roosevelt's claim that "it is an outrage to discriminate...because of origin", over SEVENTY-THOUSAND American citizens of Japanese descent, along with around fifty-thousand other Japanese immigrants seeking a better life, were rounded up like so much livestock and exiled to remote, hastily-assembled camps in a savage act of blanket discrimination.
This country, rather, is more like a green salad. Every component - tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, avocado, olives, mushrooms, peppers - is crucial to the overall flavor of the mix. Assimilation demands that we all become something akin to Iceberg lettuce. Now, Iceberg in and of itself is a perfectly good thing to be. But, if the entirety of the nation is composed only of millions of Iceberg Americans, what a boring place this country would be...
I am embarrassed, as an American, that my predecessors could elect such a narrow-thinking man to execute the laws of the land. But, then again, all of our presidents have been Iceberg individuals, staid white landowning elite males. And a boring character too often finds that the easiest (perhaps only) way to make himself appear more exciting is by demanding that everyone else become more boring than himself. I am proud to have been born into a nation founded on noble ideals; I am ashamed to have been born into a nation that has cast aside these ideals in favor of the almighty dollar and the "security" of cloned mentalities.
Aldous Huxley wrote about patriotism that "it fulfills our worst wishes. In the person of our nation we are able, vicariously, to bully and cheat. Bully and cheat, what's more, with a feeling that we are profoundly virtuous." When people blindly follow the will of leaders like Theodore Roosevelt or George W. Bush, they are advocating the narrowing and cheapening of those traits which make our nation great. We are not a nation assimilated into one gelatinous mindset. We will never be a Catholic or Hindu or other sectarian nation. Not all Christians are lambs, not all Muslims are terrorists... the individuality within each of America's three-hundred-million citizens is what makes this country truly laudable and impressive. If we were to heed the words of Roosevelt, we would lose the intrinsic beauty that makes America the best it knows how to be...