When do we just become AMERICANS????

[rightwinger]

You can be many things and still be an American

You can be black, Hispanic, rich, poor, religious, non-religious, a farmer, a city dweller, old, young

You are still an American but your outlooks and desires may be influenced by which groups you belong to

That right there is where I believe 90% of the problems in this country stem from.... the fact that this nation has never really built its own over-arching society and culture. The fact that we allow other people to come here and retain their previous loyalties and preferences rather than becoming "American".

Native Americans are proud of their culture which our country attempted to take away from them

They are very protective of attempts to mock or degrade their culture by outsiders. Doesn't make them any less American

THEY LOST. They were not willing to put their internal differences aside and band together against their common enemy. Since when do we allow the defeated to make the rules on how they will be treated? We've already given them too much leeway in terms of their "nations" and other things.

Are we truly so stupid as to allow the defeated to make the rules? Are we truly so stupid as to allow people to leave somewhere they didn't want to be and come here, only to turn this country (or at least their little corner of it) into the same thing they just left? Have we truly fallen so far that we no longer have pride in America, but rather direct our loyalty to wherever our ancestors came here from?

Looks like the Washington Redskins lost to me

 

[Peach]

American is not a race. At least not as defined in the dictionary. You are talking nationality. I can be a African American or a black American and there is not much you can do about it other than whine. If that disturbs you I would suggest you learn to deal with it.

I believe that American is a race, though as you say, not as the dictionary would define it. I believe it is a philosophical and values-driven race, much more like a nationality, but invading every single pore of the body and every bit of the soul.

You can call yourself whatever you want, but if this nation is going to ever re-emerge as a power, as the last opportunity for humanty to shine in the cesspool that humanity has become, it will not be because of people like you but rather because of people like me. People who don't see color or religion but who see Right and Wrong, Good and Evil; and who do not accept the Wrong and the Evil.

I do believe we need to deal with it alright. We need to deal with it by purging our nation of those whose loyalties are elsewhere.

As a white person your "race" is the one that made up the distinction and labeled people according to color so you have no one to blame but your ancestors. Your founding fathers also built this nation for wealthy land owning white men. Again that is a you problem.

I agree that a mistake was made in labeling people by the color of their skin. However I do believe this is a nation for the land owners, the providers, those who will do for themselves rather than expecting things to be done for them. I do not despise the wealthy as you seem to. Instead I embraces them.

As soon as you can disprove white women benefit more from affirmative action than anyone and pay me handsomely I will stay where I please. When you want to come up with the money owed to my ancestors i would gladly move back to the country my ancestors came from.

I fully agree that women in general benefit far more from Affirmative Action than they should. I don't know that it's more or less than the racial minority communities do. You will not be paid by me for anything. The only thing owed to you regarding your ancestors is the only thing any of us are owed.... a hold in the ground for our corpse when we die. There is only one Right and guarantee in life.... the Right and Guarantee of Death.

Re-emerge? Get a grip; the USA is the only true superpower left.

 

[LoneLaugher]

Well all be just "Americans" when racism is abolished. Give it another couple of generations.

 

[Nutz]

As soon as the racist teapers are eliminated, we can become just Americans. Regretfully, their hate and desire for a race war prevents Americans from coming together.

 

[dilloduck]

As soon as the racist teapers are eliminated, we can become just Americans. Regretfully, their hate and desire for a race war prevents Americans from coming together.

LOL oh I get it----It's therapy.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Who came up with the concept of calling any of the indigenous people here " Native Americans"?

They were here when an America didn't even exist. Did they lose their identity when the Europeans came along ? I should think they would be insulted to be called by the same name of the people who defeated them in battle and subsequently broke treaty after treaty.

I agree. Native Americans is a terrible term for them. Unfortunately we were not smart enough to give them two options.... LEAVE or ASSIMILATE, as most conquered people are.

There is a more common name for those who are defeated in battle and then sillyenough to try to negotiate with their conqurors..... NAIVE MORONS.

That's someting which true AMERICANS ought to remember because we are being invaded in this nation just like we invaded it before; and I do not believe that these invaders will leave us with our own "reservations" when they have finished the conquest.

Are you that seriously stupid or just trolling for some attention?

Neither: he is batshit insane.

 

[TruthSeeker56]

What some say are "divisions" in our society, has much more to do with IDENTITY.

The terms "Italian-Americans" and "Polish-Americans" and "Japanese-Americans" and "Mexican-Americans" and all other "hyphenated Americans" have been used as source of IDENTITY, and as a source of PRIDE to let other people know what your HERITAGE is.

The POLITICIANS and NEWS MEDIA and PC POLICE have bastardized and hijacked the original concept of "hyphenated Americans" and have converted it into a tool for racial division, societal imbalance, and a cultivated entitlement mentality.

We ARE all AMERICANS with rich and proud individual HERITAGES, which make each of us unique in a GOOD way.

And ANYBODY who believes that the COLOR of somebody's skin makes any difference in the content of that person's CHARACTER are either IGNORANT, HATE MONGERS, and/or POLITICIANS.

 

[rdean]

Republicans believe this is "their" country. They tell us they want it back. They obviously believe there are no other Americans than Republicans.

 

[TruthSeeker56]

Republicans believe this is "their" country. They tell us they want it back. They obviously believe there are no other Americans than Republicans.

Gotta love the sweeping generalizations that the liberals come up with.

Very humorous, in a sad sort of way. Much like how kids snicker at the "other" kids who ride the "blue bus".

"rdean" has always been a purveyor of putrid political punditry.

 

[rightwinger]

Republicans believe this is "their" country. They tell us they want it back. They obviously believe there are no other Americans than Republicans.

They have a view of what a "real American" is

That view is white, Anglo Saxon and Christian. As long as you are willing to embrace those values, you are American
However, if you want to maintain your own values, you cannot be an American

It is what they tried to force on Native Americans. Give up your values, give up your tradiditions. It is the only way to be American

 

[Howey]

This topic has come to the forefront of my mind once again with the ridiculous ruling by the Patent and Trademark office yesterday related tot he Waskington Redskins, but it's much broader than just a "Native American" issue so far as I'm concerned....

At what point in time do we stop being Hyphenated Americans (african-american, native-american, irish-american, german-american, mexican-american, etc....) and start just being AMERICANS???

There are parts of my family that came to this continent as little as 15 years after the Mayflower landed. The most recent immigrants in my family came here from Germany/Poland over a century ago. We are AMERICANS.

The fact that I can trace my ancestory back to more than a half dozen European nations, and potentially even to native bloodlines in this country means nothing. I would never refer to myself as Irish-American, German-American. or anything like that. Yet I know a very large number of individuals who do just that and identify even more with a former cultural and national identity than they do with the country they were born and raised in. Hell, I work with two guys who despite never having stepped foot outside this country, nevermind in Brazil where their parents grew up, consider THAT their "home nation" when it comes to rooting interest in this year's World Cup. WTF???? Several members of the family I'm marrying into in two weeks time consider (and identify) themselves as Puerto Ricans instead of AMEARICANS, even though they weren't even born when Puerto Rico was it's own country.

I hear many people talk about all the divisions in our society today, and how it benefits this group and detracts from some other. Isn't it about time we just all became AMERICANS and moved forward TOGETHER rather than looking back at where our families came from and allowing that to push us apart? What is it going to take, another World War to bring AMERICANS back together? Is that even possible at this point in time?

[/rant]

You have the concepts of nationality and culture confused.

 

[Asclepias]

This topic has come to the forefront of my mind once again with the ridiculous ruling by the Patent and Trademark office yesterday related tot he Waskington Redskins, but it's much broader than just a "Native American" issue so far as I'm concerned....

At what point in time do we stop being Hyphenated Americans (african-american, native-american, irish-american, german-american, mexican-american, etc....) and start just being AMERICANS???

There are parts of my family that came to this continent as little as 15 years after the Mayflower landed. The most recent immigrants in my family came here from Germany/Poland over a century ago. We are AMERICANS.

The fact that I can trace my ancestory back to more than a half dozen European nations, and potentially even to native bloodlines in this country means nothing. I would never refer to myself as Irish-American, German-American. or anything like that. Yet I know a very large number of individuals who do just that and identify even more with a former cultural and national identity than they do with the country they were born and raised in. Hell, I work with two guys who despite never having stepped foot outside this country, nevermind in Brazil where their parents grew up, consider THAT their "home nation" when it comes to rooting interest in this year's World Cup. WTF???? Several members of the family I'm marrying into in two weeks time consider (and identify) themselves as Puerto Ricans instead of AMEARICANS, even though they weren't even born when Puerto Rico was it's own country.

I hear many people talk about all the divisions in our society today, and how it benefits this group and detracts from some other. Isn't it about time we just all became AMERICANS and moved forward TOGETHER rather than looking back at where our families came from and allowing that to push us apart? What is it going to take, another World War to bring AMERICANS back together? Is that even possible at this point in time?

[/rant]

You have the concepts of nationality and culture confused.

Well he believes being American is a race too so......

 

[Mac1958]

Give up your values, give up your tradiditions. It is the only way to be American

Yeah, I hear that from both parties.

.

 

[Anathema]

This nation is not the last chance for humans to shine by far. You sound borderline psychotic. Rather this nation has been at the forefront of some of the worst atrocities in history as well as some of the most beneficial advances in history. You complain basically about what you describe as tribalism but you dont see you are doing the same thing by only looking at this country. That is hypocrisy at its finest and indicative of everything that is wrong with this nation from conception.

Atrocities like what? Show me one true atrocity? There haven't been any when you realize that non-Americans are sub-human and have no rights.

What I complain about is a nation which refuses to actually enforce Loyalty and a singular Society inside its borders and individuals who take advantage of that for their own benefit.

I am glad you do not despise the wealthy. I don't either. Most of my friends and mentors are wealthy so it would not do to despise them.

Yet you push for ideas which would not be in their interest?

If you are not willing to pay me for my ancestors labor then you will only continue to be frustrated and rant about what people call themselves. There is not much else you can do about it.

They were paid their wages in food, shelter, and their hole in the ground. Anything beyond that would be gifting you for their unwillingness to rise up and revolt. Sorry, not happening.

 

[rightwinger]

This nation is not the last chance for humans to shine by far. You sound borderline psychotic. Rather this nation has been at the forefront of some of the worst atrocities in history as well as some of the most beneficial advances in history. You complain basically about what you describe as tribalism but you dont see you are doing the same thing by only looking at this country. That is hypocrisy at its finest and indicative of everything that is wrong with this nation from conception.

Atrocities like what? Show me one true atrocity? There haven't been any when you realize that non-Americans are sub-human and have no rights.

What I complain about is a nation which refuses to actually enforce Loyalty and a singular Society inside its borders and individuals who take advantage of that for their own benefit.

I am glad you do not despise the wealthy. I don't either. Most of my friends and mentors are wealthy so it would not do to despise them.

Yet you push for ideas which would not be in their interest?

If you are not willing to pay me for my ancestors labor then you will only continue to be frustrated and rant about what people call themselves. There is not much else you can do about it.

They were paid their wages in food, shelter, and their hole in the ground. Anything beyond that would be gifting you for their unwillingness to rise up and revolt. Sorry, not happening.

You funny....I like trolls

Will it make you happy if I pretend to be outraged?

 

[Asclepias]

This nation is not the last chance for humans to shine by far. You sound borderline psychotic. Rather this nation has been at the forefront of some of the worst atrocities in history as well as some of the most beneficial advances in history. You complain basically about what you describe as tribalism but you dont see you are doing the same thing by only looking at this country. That is hypocrisy at its finest and indicative of everything that is wrong with this nation from conception.

Atrocities like what? Show me one true atrocity? There haven't been any when you realize that non-Americans are sub-human and have no rights.

What I complain about is a nation which refuses to actually enforce Loyalty and a singular Society inside its borders and individuals who take advantage of that for their own benefit.

I am glad you do not despise the wealthy. I don't either. Most of my friends and mentors are wealthy so it would not do to despise them.

Yet you push for ideas which would not be in their interest?

If you are not willing to pay me for my ancestors labor then you will only continue to be frustrated and rant about what people call themselves. There is not much else you can do about it.

They were paid their wages in food, shelter, and their hole in the ground. Anything beyond that would be gifting you for their unwillingness to rise up and revolt. Sorry, not happening.

Are you really serious about your response on atrocities or are you just trolling?

Yes I push for ideas that are not in their best interests because they dont need everything in their best interest to be successful. That seems to be a problem your type has in general.

I see you have completely lost your mind. Have a nice one looneybird.

 

[Jarlaxle]

This nation is not the last chance for humans to shine by far. You sound borderline psychotic. Rather this nation has been at the forefront of some of the worst atrocities in history as well as some of the most beneficial advances in history. You complain basically about what you describe as tribalism but you dont see you are doing the same thing by only looking at this country. That is hypocrisy at its finest and indicative of everything that is wrong with this nation from conception.

Atrocities like what? Show me one true atrocity? There haven't been any when you realize that non-Americans are sub-human and have no rights.

What I complain about is a nation which refuses to actually enforce Loyalty and a singular Society inside its borders and individuals who take advantage of that for their own benefit.

Yet you push for ideas which would not be in their interest?

If you are not willing to pay me for my ancestors labor then you will only continue to be frustrated and rant about what people call themselves. There is not much else you can do about it.

They were paid their wages in food, shelter, and their hole in the ground. Anything beyond that would be gifting you for their unwillingness to rise up and revolt. Sorry, not happening.

You funny....I like trolls

Will it make you happy if I pretend to be outraged?

Dude...he's not trolling. He is dead serious!

 

[Indofred]

The term, ¨Americans¨ is handy as most will be black or mexican looking in a few years.
It'll be nice and inclusive, handy for the minority white, non Muslim community.

 

[FJO]

It may have gone out of the political vocabulary at that time but it really didn't seem to have left the society. I grew up in the 1980's and plenty of people I knew described themselves as African-American or Italian-American or Lebanese-American.

The hyphen didn't assume the divisive connotation in the '80s and earlier that it does now. In one word, people bragged both of their heritage and of their being American.

Among blacks especially, the hyphen was not nearly as pervasive. Blacks were blacks (remember Black Power or Black is Beautiful?).

Now the hyphen categorizes us.

I grew up in the 80s and 90s. You dont know what you are talking about. Blacks have always been Black or African first. The day reparations are paid is probably the day you see Blacks feel as if they included in being American. As it stands we are Black or Africans living in America.

The only reparation that you and your ilk would be satisfied with is the complete elimination of the white race.

 

[Asclepias]

The hyphen didn't assume the divisive connotation in the '80s and earlier that it does now. In one word, people bragged both of their heritage and of their being American.

Among blacks especially, the hyphen was not nearly as pervasive. Blacks were blacks (remember Black Power or Black is Beautiful?).

Now the hyphen categorizes us.

I grew up in the 80s and 90s. You dont know what you are talking about. Blacks have always been Black or African first. The day reparations are paid is probably the day you see Blacks feel as if they included in being American. As it stands we are Black or Africans living in America.

The only reparation that you and your ilk would be satisfied with is the complete elimination of the white race.

Dont assume and make yourself look like an ass. I have several white family members and a biracial daughter and niece.