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And yet the liberal political correctness! whining and sniveling never ends. Which just proves that the whiners and snivelers don't care one whit about hyphens, it's just a political axe to grind for them. Because when conservatives hyphenate minorities? We get nothing but the sounds of crickets chirping from the hand-wringing bleaters...
I would consider the "hyphenated-American" to be an improvement and progress compared to NOT considering oneself American at all!
ALOT of immigrants and foreigners do not even think of themselves as Americans whatsoever. When they say "Americans", they usually mean white people (and blacks on rare occasions) and do not include themselves in that designation. And sometimes they'll talk about "Americans" with a rather condescending and sneering contempt...
I figured I would ask since so many of the posters on here use the term African-American, Asian-American etc.. In my opinion if you are not originally from Africa or Asia, or Latin America then shut up! How ridiculous would be if all non minorities started calling themselves Russian-Americans or Irish-American or in my case a Irish-English American. Point being either your an American and just an American or you have a serious identity problem. These terms continue to seperate us by our skin color, race or national origin. I think most people would agree that there is far to much of that going on without adding the hyphenated-American crap to it. Just one "Americans" opinion though.
Maybe you have it backwards. Maybe we should all add a hyphen to our labels. We could have French-Americans, Russian-Americans, etc, etc and for those who don't know where they came from we could use labels like Skinny-Americans, Fat-Americans, Old-Americans, Red Headed-Americans.... etc, etc.
And yet the liberal political correctness! whining and sniveling never ends.
Oh, puleeeeze it not the liberals who author these whiny, sniveling bi-weekly threads about hyphenated words, diversity, "reverse discrimination" or under reported "hate crimes" against white people!
Frankly, you folks need to invest in a few mirrors when you decide to throw a few accusations around.
Maybe you have it backwards. Maybe we should all add a hyphen to our labels. We could have French-Americans, Russian-Americans, etc, etc and for those who don't know where they came from we could use labels like Skinny-Americans, Fat-Americans, Old-Americans, Red Headed-Americans.... etc, etc.
What do you think?
Fat-Americans would cover about 90% of the population.
Interesting how you first describe how you have problems because your middle/last/maiden name does not conform to American tradition (which solidifies my point), and then you turn around and promote more change in that tradition instead of conforming to life in America. This is your adopted country. Not the other way around. Get used to our traditions.
I personally could care less about what you or anyone else does with their last name. It's a free nation. But that doesnt' mean it will come without headaches. Add 47 middle names to your name and reverse them to confuse everyone. It's no matter to me. But don't complain when your life is disrupted because you have disdain for the American tradition.
It sounds like you could learn a few lessons from Asian immigrants, many of which who understand what it means to Americanize their name in order to grease the path to success in this country.
Maybe I didn't make myself clear. I DID try to use the family name and was given flack by people like you every time that I tried to drop my mom's maiden name to avoid confusion. I was told that, since I had both names on all my documentation, that I had to use either both names or just the very last name on the documentation which is my mother's maiden name. Since I am my father's son, I was not going to stop using his last name so I had to opt for using both names.
When I was first brought to this country I "americanized" my first name since my white teachers and fellow white students couldn't pronounce it. Then one day, when I went to get my lunch tickets, I told the white lunch lady my "americanized" first name and my last name and she yelled at me for not giving her my actual name when she found me on the list. She did so in a way that seemed like she was upset that I had the audacity to think that I had the right to change my name. I never changed my name again.
You're right, this IS my adopted country and I've learned the language, familiarized myself with different customs from different regions (depending on where I've lived or visited), studied its history (and understand it which is why I understand that assimilation is a two way street), upheld its laws and am soon to become a citizen. I don't even like telling people where I'm from right away and have offended people by witholding that information when it's really none of their business. I won't use a hyphen, believe me, when I can finally call myself an American. The sad thing is that people like you will still look at me and think, "Well, he's an AMERICAN CITIZEN but he's not really an AMERICAN." I'll take solice in the fact that I EARNED my citizenship.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AeroGuyDC
Right. My goal in life is to make sure every make, model, and color feels accepted.
No thanks. My advice to those American's is get off your ass and contribute to society in a meaningful way. That's how it works here in America. I refuse to be the Coddler of Feelings.
Yet we're supposed to coddle yours? What makes you think that someone is not contributing to society just because they are proud of their heritage? Like I said before, I won't use a hyphen when I become a citizen but I'm not going to condemn someone because they do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AeroGuyDC
Nice try. There is no inference that various ethnic and racial groups have not contributed to America. That's your own self-serving bias getting in the way of objectivity. That's not my problem, that's yours. All i'm saying is that I, nor anyone else, has an obligation to make anyone feel "accepted." The only obligation that we have as Americans is to keep this country moving forward through meaningful and productive contributions to society. Infer from that all you want. It just makes you look ignorant to twist it into something its not.
In order to move forward, tradition has to change. That doesn't mean that it has to be eradicated, just changed. You seem to have a problem with change.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TXTwizter
Well if you don't like the way we do things here in AMERICA, then take your happy a$$ back to where you came from.
Sorry, that's not the way we do things here in America. That's the beauty of the American system. If I don't like it, I can try to change it. People like you can try to stop me and even succeed but at least the system allows me to try. Your way of thinking sounds like communism to me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AeroGuyDC
There you go with you inferences. I didn't say that i'm not willing to accept anyone. I said I don't feel the need to make sure they feel accepted. There's a difference. I'm not surprised it went over your head, as most things do. The big question is whether you are intentionally obtuse or just downright sluggish in your thought process. Care to enlighten us on why you twist and spin so much?
You're trying to seem clever through semantics and it just makes you look ignorant. You're either an accepting person or you're not. We already know that you are not so there's no point in trying to make it seem like you are. That's why what we need is TOLERANCE and not acceptance. You don't have to accept me or anyone else but our great nation's laws state that, as long as I'm not interfering with your rights, you have to TOLERATE me. Just like I have to tolerate your ignorant self.
Why don't you go have a nice slice of American apple pie and smile. Be sure to thank the Dutch when you do.
I guess it depends on how much you value the tradition of marriage. Let me guess - you support homosexual marriage as well, right?
No need to answer, it's a rhetorical question. What disturbs me is that on one hand, leftists will do anything in their power to destroy certain traditions, while on the other hand insisting that we all be politically correct when referring to certain segments of society, as mentioned in the OP.
Maybe the left just wants people to be able to follow whatever traditions they want. You can have your traditional marriage and have a nice, proper wifey who stays barefoot at home in the kitchen, raises ten kids, and lets the big strong man handle all of the important stuff... And others can have gay partnerships if they so choose. To each his/her own. Can you accept that?
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