Hyphenated-Americanism

Mercedes Macías Marín ? What?

Monday, May 6 at 1:23pm (20 hours ago) · LikeReply

Steve Michaels You read correctly! NO hyphenated Americanism! Either you’re American or African. You cannot be both!

Monday, May 6 at 1:44pm (20 hours ago) · Edited · LikeReply

Mercedes Macías Marín You’re ignorant. I am Mexican-American.

Monday, May 6 at 3:24pm (18 hours ago) · LikeReply

Kathleen Seitz ok ok ok ok ok

Monday, May 6 at 8:39pm (13 hours ago) · LikeReply

Steve Michaels Mercedes, either you are Mexican or you are American. What Mr. Roosevelt is saying is you CANNOT be both and be a TRUE American. EVERYONE who came to this country is an immigrant. Do you hear this term used as Mexican-British or Mexican-French? NO! And please don’t call me names. I was not calling YOU African. It was an example.

8:48am (about an hour ago) · LikeReply

Mercedes Macías Marín Steve Michaels – Clearly, you have never been “caught between two worlds” or, in this case, pitted between two cultures. Growing up, I suffered a huge divide between my personal identity as “either” a “TRUE American” or a Mexican-cultured individual. I was what I consider a bi-cultured, historically recent, “immigrant” to this (historically infantile attempt at a) country and suffered from a self-identity and “Patriotic” crisis.

The “Americans” didn’t see me as “American” enough because of my physical appearance as “a person of color” (among other descriptors) and didn’t claim me. The “Mexicans” didn’t think I was “Mexican” enough because I didn’t know how to speak Spanish or dance folklorico and other such “cultural” things. I grew up in an entirely distinct culture which I have come to describe as “Mexican-American,” which is a cross (or a hybrid) or the two general identities.

I have become accustomed to declaring myself as “Latina,” “Chicana,” and “Native” due to the fact that the vast majority of my ancestors were here on this land before the United States of Religious Squatters laid their foundation over my people’s heritage and BEFORE Mexico was Mexico and the Spanish language and other “salsa” was brought over from the Spaniards.

There was a time when I disowned my roots and denied my cultural identity as a Mexican-based entity. There was a time I was filled with such bitterness and resentment for my background that I wanted to have nothing to do with it and made this argument that “I am American only, nothing else!” as loudly as I possibly could have. However, that time is past.

To say that using the term “ignorant” to describe someone is “name-calling” is to be also ignorant to the definition of the word “ignorant.” Calling someone “African,” whether they are or not, is no more a form of intentionally hurtful “name-calling” than calling someone “man,” “woman,” or “heterosexual.” Descriptive words are descriptive.  It is only when such words stem from a place of hate (fear and malice toward that which is feared) and are imbued with that negativity that such labeling becomes a problem.