i dont think our culture is mature enough in its opinions/thoughts/and ability to discuss race and culture, to be willing to call every one just plain Americans. Also many people dont want to loose their connection to their family history, their culture's strengths and triumphs and the hyphen is a way not to loose sight of an important part of ourselves, a part that gets ignored by the word 'American' The lable American has not expanded to include the diverse population that America is made up of. The 'all american' image does not include many of us. Being 'American' seems to mean assimilating into mainstream white culture which is not what it truly means to be an american and would require many of us to deny parts of who we are. I think as America matures (hopefully we will) we will be able to see ourselves as one united group, as for now i dont believe we have the courage and humility to do that. I too get frustrated by the hyphens and i do what i can to help America be inclusive to ALL its members. I am not sure what you mean when you say 'a lack of interest in being 'American' is causing many of today's issues. Explain? Leanne 100% Bi-racial!!!!
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Name : Leanne, Gender : F, Race : I'm a mutt!!, Religion : Christian, Age : 22, City : pleasant hill, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : artist, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, I just read your comment and I'm surprized you have not heard from anyone yet. But I think it's a matter of being proud of your heritage, when it comes to individuals. However, as a group, using hyphenation just divides us. A person born in Sweden is Swedish, in Africa - African, in America - American.
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Name : Dar, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Catholic, City : Detroit, State : MI Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, I agree that the country has gone too 'slash happy' (meaning the slash in between the hyphenated ethnicities with 'American'). I believe we should just all be Americans, but then people feel as if they aren't identifying with their ethnicity (as if appearance alone isn't indicative of their nationality). But, then, again, if we went simply on appearance, all Asians would be Chinese' instead of 'Japanese' or 'Korean' because our small-thinking 'racial-concentrated' minds won't bother to differentiate people's need to belong to a group of people. All Hispanics would be Mexican and not Spanish or Cuban or Dominican. All blacks would be Black instead of African or Aborigine, etc. I guess the hyphens have a purpose, but I'm tired of them. We're humans who happen to live in America, so I think we should all be AMERICANS.
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Name : Raquel, Gender : F, Age : 31, City : Houston, State : TX Country : United States, Other Americans will not let me be a non-hyphenated American. When I meet white or black Americans, they usually ask me: 'Where are you from?' I answer, 'Los Angeles.' Then they ask, 'No, I mean, where are you originally from?' Having been born in Los Angeles, I reply again, 'Los Angeles.' Then they ask, 'I mean, where are your parents originally from?' They don't let me call myself 'American,' even though my family has been in the U.S. for almost a 150 years.
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Name : Ray T., City : Los Angeles, State : CA Country : United States, You probably could discover the answer to your question yourself, by researching topics such as ethnicity in society or the history of ethnic groups in America such as Asian, black or Mexican-Americans. There are many text books on the subject especially in the field of Social Work. I know because I am a Social Worker, and it was a major part of the curriculum when I was in graduate school. Furthermore, it's interesting that I came across your question, because this girl that I am sleeping with has the very same position as you, 'Love it or leave it'. Man that's one old school white boy way of thinking (just look back to the 60's during the Vietnam war), and in fact is the very reason people have the need to identify their ethnic origin first. It's complicated and cannot be explained very easily to someone with such extreme opinions. What I can tell you, is that the answer lays in having an understanding and a general concept of: ethnic minority and majority populations; racism, discrimination, oppression, including those groups that experienced these things and at what points in American history. On a very practical level it's also about pride and identity. I would say that someone who had no interest in identifying themselves beyond just American or white either #1 probably has no clue as to their own personal make-up, or #2believes that the only real Americans are white people. Well that's all I have for now . Get back to me. ~~peace~~
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Name : Rene Mesa, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Chicano, Religion : Catholic, Age : 35, City : San Jose, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Social Worker, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, No, you're probably not the only one that thinks this way, but this belief may have something to do with 'today's issues' (?). The growth of our hyphenated society may derived from the fact that in many parts of this country people still have, lets say, a homogenous view of what an American is. Where you see division, I see a commonality, as shown by how we felt immediately after 9/11. It's still there. The hyphenation reminds us that in spite of our differences we are all Americans based on ideals (see Declaration of Independence). Still a work in progress.
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Name : kal, Gender : M, Race : Asian, Age : 40, City : hoboken, State : NJ Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Many people get a sense of pride and belonging from their heritage, and would like that recognized in life. There is a definate culture in being Irish, Hispanic, Black, or Native American, but there is not a definate culture in being American. America is a great big melting pot, but there are different ingredients put into the pot to make it what it is. We need to learn to be proud of our heritage while respecting the heritage of others.
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Name : Mark-S, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 19, City : Billings, State : MT Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I agree with you; however, since I can fight 'em, I've joined them. On all forms when asked my race I enter European-American... At least I get to annoy the person trying to input the information!
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Name : Ruth R, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : European-American, Religion : It's my own sense of human wholeness, Age : 64, City : Long Beach, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Self-employed Bookkeeper, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, I think you're absolutely right. Everyone is always worrying about their nationality and trying to get more rights b/c they are a minority. People are way too focused on dividing themselves up. It promotes racism + discrimination. I think we all should focus on forgetting these ridiculous difference, quit being stupid + just unite as one nation. America. If you immigrate, there is nothing wrong with being proud of your homeland, that is a good thing + provides our culture with diversity, but you still need to accept this American culture and be part of it, not create these huge division in our society based on nothing but a country.
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Name : Katherine M., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 14, City : Greenwich, State : CT Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Upper middle class, I completely agree with you. I tried to figure out once how I would have to hyphen my nationality/ethnicity, and ooooohhhhh my! Italian-Irish-Rusian-Native American. That's fun huh? I prefer to be called American and proud to be called so.
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Name : Sara, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 27, City : Scranton, State : PA Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
KLParticipant
As you mentioned in your query, the hyphen is not the exclusive domain of blacks in this country. The Irish and Italians in particular have celebrated their origins for decades. Many in this country (including me) happen to be in agreement with you in believing that we need to focus more on our similarities and less on our differences. With that said, the real reason you see so much of this is BECAUSE it seperates and distracts us. That serves a purpose, and it's not a good one. When more people realize that and reject both the hyphen and racial classification as a whole (screw the checkbox!), we'll ALL be better off.
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Name : KL, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Age : 42, City : Hickory, State : NC Country : United States, Occupation : IT, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, The ideal of true democracy allows us to welcome individuals from other countries without stripping them of their natural heritage. By using hyphenated ethnicity identification you allow the individual to retain their first and foremost identity.The single most important feature that separates America from other nations is not our freedom, but our ability to fight for and express our freedom, regardless of what our national origin may be.
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Name : Leslie Doolittle, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : American Indian, Religion : Native American, Age : 32, City : Durant, State : OK Country : United States, Occupation : political scientist, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, Personally, I call myself Asian. My own family refers me to as an 'Asian-American' simply because I was born in the States. I also believe most of the Caucasians in America are completely and utterly ignorant of everyone else but themselves. The larger percentage of your kind knows nothing about suffering as a minority. You all get paid more, have better jobs, etc. The list goes on and on. I know you are shaking your head now in disagreement, but that's fine too. It's expected. You can learn and understand everything you read until you lived it yourself. I am proud to be an American but will not deny and am prouder to be Asian.
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Name : Amy31570, Race : Asian, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, I think if you grammatically deconstruct hyphenated racial phrases, 'African-American' or 'Asian-American', the first term i an adjective to describe the noun 'American'. The adjective is simply a term used to establish what type of American you are. To me the phrase 'American-African' would denote someone who first identified with being African, not the other way around.
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Name : C-Reed19315, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 23, City : Pittsburgh, State : PA Country : United States, Occupation : graduate student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, So many forums indicate that many white Americans feel as you do. The black Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts has made interesting observations on this issue. You may want to e-mail him at lpitts@herald.com or seek his articles on this issue in the archives at www.Miami.com. I'll try to shed light on this issue within the 150-word limit. Race/ethnic labels are often needed for surveys and other purposes. For example, try physically describing someone of another race or ethnicity without referring to the same. It can't be done. Also, race labels are an effect of racism, not the cause. People choosing labels for themselves such as 'African-American,' 'Chinese-American,' 'Mexican-American' or whatever--which, by the way, is their God-given right--does not cause racial hostility or separation anymore than smoke causes fire. Consider the racial labels(slurs)long in use before the hyphenated ones, the ones 'nice' bigots never use--at least not publicly. Again, bigots' choice labels for blacks, whites, Jews, nonblack Hispanics, Asians, etc., are a product--not a cause--of racial or ethnic hostility.
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Name : Darren, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Methodist, Age : 39, City : San Antonio, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : Unemployed Mortgage Servicer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
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