Heritage maybe? Not sure since I was born and raised in this country, but if I were to go elsewhere, I'd always want to be referred to as an American in some way. My grandma always liked to call herself Irish-American even though it was her parents who came here and not her. She was born here. I have no answer to that question really. Maybe it is human nature to feel something about where you came from.
I'm not sure about your age, but I think you are near my childrens' age, so your grandmother would be my parents age. I think....
The difference between the immigrants of today, and those of
my grandparents age...was that prior to the WWII ....people who immigrated to the United States,
wanted to be Americans.
Yes, many of them retained lots of their homelands, holiday customs, foods, feast days, etc....but they learned to speak English, they worked to become legal citizens. They assimilated into the American culture ....the American culture and mores were not expected to adapt to the immigrants' culture. While they might still refer to themselves as Irish-American, or Swedish, Italian, Polish, Greek -American...they learned to speak English and were PROUD of it! They enlisted in the US Military...and were PROUD of it! They managed to keep their
heritage, yet they became Americans. And they were PROUD of it!!!
Today, we Americans our losing
our Americana culture because we are being forced by our own government and those "Political Correctness must reign supreme" advocates...to adapt to the multi-cultural population that is becoming more prevalent in our society every day.
What the powers that be are forgetting in forcing this change .....is that for 500 YEARS, people have been coming to this country...to America....to get
away from their homelands!!
And what our we doing? We are going along with it, and in the process are losing the
United States of America.
This is NOT the United States of the World.
This is America!!!
When are our politicians, and those who are enforcing the political correctness of making every culture in the world more important than being American, going to wake up and realize what they are doing?
It's cheaper to allow all the illegal immigrants to go through as extensive as possible background checks, make them learn English, make them get a real job that pays taxes and Social Security, then give them citizenship and stop paying them under the table and perpetuating the illegality of the situation.
Those that want to continue to do illegal activities will move on to another place...they don't want to be legal...so go after the much lower number and either return them to their country of origin or shoot 'em! (not literally
)
They want to live here....then fine....become Americans!!! Do not ask Americans to become Mexican, Indian, Pakastani, whatever.
A perfect example of a particular nationality that has immigrated here and assimilated into Americans are the Vietnamese. Go into any nail salon that is owned by a Vietnam born individual. They speak English...some better than others, they have taken "American" names that are easier to pronounce, they work hard, they pay taxes, many are working on their education, and they are working on becoming American citizens if they aren't already. These people
want to become "American" ....while retaining their heritage, and not asking Americans to become more Vietnamese.
