This was written by a reporter for a local newspaper in Pennsylvania
In the beginning we called ourselves “Americans.
Then someone, maybe a “Canadian” (they’re so “by-the-rules”, you know), decided that linguistic exactitude required “Americans” to be called “North-Americans”, what with South America and Latin America. “Mexicans” are just too sophisticated and have too much history to care about naming the interlopers to their north, and besides, they already had a perfectly good name for us: “Gringo”. Or maybe it was some early wannabees who were jealous of all that European style and taste and… je ne sais qua. It must have been tough for those early American Suburban Snobs to be lumped together with … everyone!
At the end of the 19th and the first part of the 20th Century, when the country became the world’s melting pot, government forms gave you few choices for describing the essential you: “Caucasian”, “Negro”, “Oriental”. Now, two out of three of those terms have been replaced and a third is on it’s way. “Negro“ was replaced with “black” and, more recently, by “African-American” in our never-ending attempt to change attitudes by changing words. “Oriental” was replaced with “Asian” for the same reason. And I just met a “Euro-American”. I guess it’s fitting: the “euro” is wiping up the floor with the US dollar and, although the Irish may have just sent the “European Union” back into life-support, the notion of a unified Europe is still very de rigeur.
It is ironic that, in the 20’s, actor Lincoln Perry changed his name and became the first millionaire “negro” star by creating a slow-witted and servile character named “Stepin Fetchit who fed the stereotype of white bigots around the land. That also may be where the phrase “laughed all the way to the bank” came from.
In the middle of the 20th Century we bonded together to survive a Depression and win a World War. We were proud to be “Americans”.
Over the last 50 years, though, serious effort has gone into differentiation, into hyphenating ourselves. We are “Italian-Americans”, “Polish-Americans” , “German-Americans”, “Chinese-Americans”, “Vietnamese-Americans”, “Mexican-Americans”, “Swedish-Americans”, “Arabian-Americans”, “Irish-American”, etc…
This hyphenating may come from a desire to be accepted: “Hey, I may be (insert ethnic group here), but I’m an American too!” Or it may be chest-beating: “You (insert ethnic group here)’s think you’re cool! Well, I’m (insert ethinc group here)- smarter, tougher, stronger, and have way whiter teeth!”
There are no “British-Americans”, because it’s always been understood that all REAL Americans are of British heritage, anyway. “Spanish-Americans” lost their chance for a hyphenation when Hearst used the name for the war his reporters invented. Instead we have “Hispanic-Americans” (no “HERspanic-Americans, I notice - but that’s another story). Unfortunately, I’ve never heard of “French-Americans”; maybe they really are superior to the rest of us.
Politicians use these hyphenations to great advantage in separating voter groups, although it can be rough on their stomachs during campaign season. This fall, expect to see, not just Republican-Americans and Democratic-Americans, but hyphenated Americans of all kinds, everywhere: “Pennsylvanian (or insert state here)-Americans”, “Wayne (or insert town here)-Americans”, “First Avenue (or insert street here)-Americans””, “Man (or insert sex here)-Americans”.
And don’t forget advertising: “Diabetic (or insert disease here)-Americans”,
“Chevrolet (or insert car company here)-Americans”, “Employed (or insert job status here)- Americans”, “Sexy (or insert preferred adjective here)-Americans”, etc…. The possibilities boggle the mind.
Of course being many varieties of hyphenated-Americans at once can be confusing. Should I be a “cool, good-looking, republican, columnist, father, - American” or should I combine just some of these? It can get complicated alright.
I could simply skip it all and use my kids’ choice for me: “Bozo-American”, but I don’t want to indulge them too much.
So, I think I’ll just call myself an American.
In the beginning we called ourselves “Americans.
Then someone, maybe a “Canadian” (they’re so “by-the-rules”, you know), decided that linguistic exactitude required “Americans” to be called “North-Americans”, what with South America and Latin America. “Mexicans” are just too sophisticated and have too much history to care about naming the interlopers to their north, and besides, they already had a perfectly good name for us: “Gringo”. Or maybe it was some early wannabees who were jealous of all that European style and taste and… je ne sais qua. It must have been tough for those early American Suburban Snobs to be lumped together with … everyone!
At the end of the 19th and the first part of the 20th Century, when the country became the world’s melting pot, government forms gave you few choices for describing the essential you: “Caucasian”, “Negro”, “Oriental”. Now, two out of three of those terms have been replaced and a third is on it’s way. “Negro“ was replaced with “black” and, more recently, by “African-American” in our never-ending attempt to change attitudes by changing words. “Oriental” was replaced with “Asian” for the same reason. And I just met a “Euro-American”. I guess it’s fitting: the “euro” is wiping up the floor with the US dollar and, although the Irish may have just sent the “European Union” back into life-support, the notion of a unified Europe is still very de rigeur.
It is ironic that, in the 20’s, actor Lincoln Perry changed his name and became the first millionaire “negro” star by creating a slow-witted and servile character named “Stepin Fetchit who fed the stereotype of white bigots around the land. That also may be where the phrase “laughed all the way to the bank” came from.
In the middle of the 20th Century we bonded together to survive a Depression and win a World War. We were proud to be “Americans”.
Over the last 50 years, though, serious effort has gone into differentiation, into hyphenating ourselves. We are “Italian-Americans”, “Polish-Americans” , “German-Americans”, “Chinese-Americans”, “Vietnamese-Americans”, “Mexican-Americans”, “Swedish-Americans”, “Arabian-Americans”, “Irish-American”, etc…
This hyphenating may come from a desire to be accepted: “Hey, I may be (insert ethnic group here), but I’m an American too!” Or it may be chest-beating: “You (insert ethnic group here)’s think you’re cool! Well, I’m (insert ethinc group here)- smarter, tougher, stronger, and have way whiter teeth!”
There are no “British-Americans”, because it’s always been understood that all REAL Americans are of British heritage, anyway. “Spanish-Americans” lost their chance for a hyphenation when Hearst used the name for the war his reporters invented. Instead we have “Hispanic-Americans” (no “HERspanic-Americans, I notice - but that’s another story). Unfortunately, I’ve never heard of “French-Americans”; maybe they really are superior to the rest of us.
Politicians use these hyphenations to great advantage in separating voter groups, although it can be rough on their stomachs during campaign season. This fall, expect to see, not just Republican-Americans and Democratic-Americans, but hyphenated Americans of all kinds, everywhere: “Pennsylvanian (or insert state here)-Americans”, “Wayne (or insert town here)-Americans”, “First Avenue (or insert street here)-Americans””, “Man (or insert sex here)-Americans”.
And don’t forget advertising: “Diabetic (or insert disease here)-Americans”,
“Chevrolet (or insert car company here)-Americans”, “Employed (or insert job status here)- Americans”, “Sexy (or insert preferred adjective here)-Americans”, etc…. The possibilities boggle the mind.
Of course being many varieties of hyphenated-Americans at once can be confusing. Should I be a “cool, good-looking, republican, columnist, father, - American” or should I combine just some of these? It can get complicated alright.
I could simply skip it all and use my kids’ choice for me: “Bozo-American”, but I don’t want to indulge them too much.
So, I think I’ll just call myself an American.
