When African-American Is Un-American
By: B.J.
Posted: June 23, 2006
It seems like we are sleepwalking again—sleepwalking in hysteria over hyphenated-Americanism—when it is NOT warranted. Unfortunately, there is a race of people that are natural American citizens that feel the need to hyphenate, thus weaken their original country of origin. This misrepresentation not only promotes racial division, it expresses American shame. There’s no denying the fact that America is a virtually young nation in comparison to the world’s oldest, but this nation has been around long enough to develop a culture of its own that is worthy of owning up to. That’s why there’s no earthly reason for any natural-born American citizen to call themselves anything more than an American.
America does have its low points—most noted was the country’s participation in slavery for over its first hundred years in its existence. In addition to that low point of our nations history, there are still several wrongdoings attributed to American culture today—discrimination, racism, political correctness, and the out-of-control growth of the federal government. However, even with all our well-documented shortcomings in this land, I find it very difficult to find another country that is any better than this one. For that reason alone I do not understand those with such contempt with this country—when they are natural American citizens! It makes no sense to me.
There are people from countries all over the world that can only wish for the benefits that the United States provided for its citizens—many that we take for granted here. Is it any wonder that we have an illegal immigration problem here? If this country was so terrible, then we should be experiencing a mass exodus of citizens from this country to other countries abroad. However, we do not have a mass exodus problem here, and the ones who claim to hate this country the most are the LAST ones that will accept a FREE one-way ticket (as long as they promise not to return to the U.S.) to any other point on this planet. I also wonder why haven’t the immigrants—both legal and illegal—gotten this “memo” about how terrible this country is? Are immigrants so misinformed about this country that they are taking all the necessary risks to immigrate here based on fantasies?
Please don’t get me wrong—I have NO problems with those who choose to immigrate here (legally of course), and it is totally within reason for immigrants to call themselves hyphenated Americans respectively, however it is totally inexcusable for American-born blacks to call themselves African-Americans. I don’t believe that anyone doubts that black Americans are descendents from some country in Africa, but just like white Americans seem to do naturally, we should just call ourselves Americans based on our direct lineage from America. Black people who have allowed the term African-American to represent them aren’t only promoting of racial division, they are conceding to citizen inferiority. Does anyone wonder why white Americans generally drop the Italian, Spanish, German, French, Russian, and a variety of other ancestral lineages, and just call themselves Americans on one hand, and the very people who are supposed to be the “leaders” in the fight for equal treatment for blacks championing the very effort to separate themselves from whites by not adopting the same practice? That’s hypocrisy at its best! Furthermore, if it were truly about discussing the ancestral lineage of our race, then it would be much more appropriate for us to figure out our country of our ancestors, instead of an ENTIRE CONTINENT. The (civil rights) establishment treats the CONTINENT of Africa as if it is a tiny subdivision, when in fact Africa is the SECOND larges CONTINENT in the world. It would behoove us to narrow things down a little more if we want to figure out what our “heritage” is. Frankly I’m not interested in doing all of that—I’m comfortable enough knowing that I, my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents are/were American-born citizens. Since there are real generational gaps within my family, I believe that it is safe enough for me to consider that far enough “back” to review.
Yes, I know many black Americans that use the African-American term are just following protocol and mean no harm, but the people I am speaking of are those who are the true racists, who generally have no problem expressing their hatred for white Americans, and America in general. What’s even more amazing is that the very racist blacks that have this divisive, hyphenated American obsession are the same people who blame a “racist” American society (meaning whites) for their OWN racist views. Using their warped logic, if (white) Americans are so racist “just because”, then how are black racists going to encourage them to change their ways?
The United States of America offers freedoms that are so addictive, the ones that even claim to hate it the most just can’t find it in their hearts to leave. I’ve always wondered why those that hate this country so much can’t bring themselves to leave for good. That is because they know that there isn’t a better country in the world than the United States of America. It is a shame that they just can’t bring themselves to appreciate it. Furthermore, there’s no other country out there that protects them from personal poor decisions than the United States. That’s why these “America haters” just can’t leave. They know full well that there are several countries, even in their coveted Africa, that not only still practice slavery, the quality of life is virtually nonexistent there.
We enjoy so many freedoms here that we can even leave this country if we are so disgusted with it. However, virtually no one seems eager to take the next step and leave America for good—they would rather go to a STATE college, and get a USELESS African-American Studies degree. If you are a parent reading this, and are investing in your child’s education, I sure hope that your child isn’t wasting college time (and your hard-earned money) in such a major. There’s nothing ANYONE can do with an African-American Studies degree, but promote racial division and American hatred. After all of that waste of an education, then these “scholars” will then blame “racism” for corporations refusing to hire them based on the “scholar’s” non-existent credentials.
If we are truly interested in racial harmony, then we should all be comfortable with just being called Americans. Yes, we do all come in different shapes, sizes, and colors (races), but we are all citizens of this country. Hyphenation only weakens the name after the hyphen. If we don’t want to be considered any less than a white American, then we should stop conceding to a weaker description of ourselves. It’s okay not to be white, but that’s our only difference—the color of our skin. Let’s not let it affect the validity of our citizenship in this country. As Americans, we have NOTHING to be ashamed of. Therefore we need to scrap this African-American term.