In response to Thor:You are on the money. It's a melting pot, right? So melt already.

In response to Thor:I agree with you on the last names. It seems rather silly, with a great deal of potential for getting out of hand by the second or third generation. (e.g. You'll end up with kids named Fionna Mckinsky-Anderson Davis-Jefferson Hernandez-Gotti.) For heritage, however, I don't see any problem with hypnenation, as long as you think of yourself first and foremost as an American.

In response to southboca:I think/hope the difference is that American Poles, Germans, and Irish think of themselves as Americans first. They are integrated into society. Many Mexicans do not and have not.

I think it's wrong to expect someone to give up their national heritage and identity. It's good for people to be proud of who they are versus secretive or ashamed.

In response to corinthians: Once again great third world socialist thinking. It worked out great in Bosnia and it's even working better in Iraq. Oooops, I almost forgot about the Armenians in the 1920's. Fantastic for them.
The United States was built by people that came together to form a common culture and not by people like you that think forcing your culture on the rest of us would improve things.
Your thinking is going to start a Civil War in the South West of the US that I'm sure that you'll be mighty proud of.

What is wrong with being proud of our country? Why does it seem that any time there is some giant disaster, we all bond together in support of America, but any other time we have to clarify ... I'm an Asian-American, I'm an Irish-American. Why does it seem that everyone is afraid we'll suddenly turn communist if we show just the slightest bit of country unity?

In response to Tigriz: The problem is, is that its not PC to be a proud American. You have Blacks that want reparations for things that happened to their family 200 years ago, and you have certain Hispanic groups that think we stole the South West in 1848. If you dare call any of them on it, you are immediatly labeled a racist or a xenophobe. One of the biggest mistakes this country ever made was paying $20,000 to the people that were interned during WWII. It set the presedent that we are now playing out today.

I'm not trying to say ANYONE should be ashamed of their heritage. I'm simply saying there is plenty of room left over for respecting and appreciating your CURRENT culture as well.

In response to dasuit:I agree...if you try to talk about this, people will think you are a racist.

There are a lot of black people in France, do they call themselves African French or do they think of themselves as French? Hmm.

In response to dasuit:Your message is so "You will be assimilated," that it makes me laugh. Thanks. Now, get real. We are Americans not Borg. Plenty of European settlers kept their native language, customs and hyphenations for a few generations. Why do you expect anything different from more recent immigrants? As long as they eventually assimilate, it's just not that big a deal, especially not something as trivial as a hyphen.

In response to Tigriz:The unity is in the second part of the word, "American," which I am proud to be. The diversity, something that is also highly valued here, lies in the first word.

In response to dasuit:No. Our biggest mistake was interning 120,000 Japanese-Americans and 11,000 German-Americans for no reason than the fact that their ancestors came from the countries we were fighting against.

Imagine how you would feel if you were forced to sell everything you owned in one week (your house, your car, your furniture, etc.) and your neighbors offered you low-ball prices because they knew that you had to sell. A lot of these people were actually born here.

I'd say you'd be entitled to at least $20,000.

In response to Tigriz:There's nothing wrong with being proud of being American. But why do you think that adding on a hyphen and another country means that you aren't?

In response to sweetnothing:Not to bicker, but most of them do make the distinction that they are black rather than just French. White French people make the distinction too. That's why they came up with the insult 'Macaca' or 'Macaque' made rather infamous by George Allen.

In response to dasuit:Do you really think we'd be better off if our culture hadn't evolved since 1492 when the first settlers landed here? New immigrants came and added to our culture. As long as they are respectful of what's here when they arrive, there's no problem.