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Quote of the Day: Americans
I’ve been reading Paul Johnson’s A History of the American People. I’m enjoying it so far. I’m about a quarter of the way through, but this line from the preface has been resonating with me:
I do not acknowledge the existence of hyphenated Americans, or Native Americans or any other qualified kind. They are all Americans to me: black, white, red, brown, yellow, thrown together by fate in that swirling maelstrom of history which has produced the most remarkable people the world has ever seen. I love them and salute them, and this is their story.
It’s a shame that today there are many people that only care about the qualifier and would much rather drop the American label altogether.
Published in General
“Paul Johnson’s A History of the American People.”
Oh… I want to read that book!
It is a great read!
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My rule for hyphenating is that adult immigrants may use their home country (eg, Canadian); their kids may use a hyphen (Canadian-American) to allude that they grew up in a household that gave them special exposure to another culture; and no more hyphens after that.
So I can’t be Welsh-American but my Dad could. Gotcha. ;)
I dunno, it seems to me the best part of being an American is anyone can become one (if you adopt our founding principles of ordered liberty, sovereignty of the people, and separated powers). I love hearing a thick “foreign” accent from someone who says, “I’m American,” un-hyphenated.
Completely agree with you Western!