I Pledge Allegience To ... Whom?

I PLEDGE ALLEGIENCE TO … WHOM?

The following article will spark controversy. Readers of this article need to understand that no racial, ethnic, or cultural prejudice is intended, but the subject matter likely will strike deep in our hearts and biases.
I consider myself an American. That’s all. Just an American. But it is easy for me to say that because I am a Caucasian born and raised in America. I specify “Caucasian” because that is where the controversy lies. I’m not hyphenated.
America has always prided itself on being a “melting pot” of cultures. We have a wonderful document, called the Constitution, which allows us to meld our many cultures under one flag. And that is what got me to thinking about our allegiances, or shall I say, our hyphens.
You can look anywhere in America these days and find tension in the form of difference. In the early part of the twentieth century, people immigrated to America and proudly proclaimed themselves as “Americans.” Today, people who are born in America emphasize their heritage followed by “American.” We have African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Irish-Americans, etc, etc, etc. This is where the controversy seems to bare its soul. If we are all “Americans,” why is the hyphen so important?
In most cases, our very appearance implies our hyphens. It may be skin color or bone structure. It could be our manner of speech. It is usually a mix of all of these.
I am proud to be an American. With or without the hyphen. I don’t feel the need to try and distinguish myself with a hyphen. But, as I stated before, I am a Caucasian and perhaps, to others, my “roots” are already distinguished by my very Caucasian-ness.
What bothers me about all this is when I see a hyphenated group trying to put-down, or lessen the American spirit. All these hyphens would not bother me if they did not try to dominate the Americanism with their own cultural desires. America is where cultures are supposed to blend together and take the good from each and use it to enhance our own culture.
An example of what I mean can be found in the icons we use to express our spirit. One in particular, the flag, is a precious symbol of the American spirit. Men have fought to keep the flag raised and have literally died holding it upright. The blood that has spilled for the flag should be considered sacred…and so should the flag for which it was spilled. A rule of flag display is that, in America, there is only one flag that is legally allowed to fly above the Stars and Stripes. No state flag, no other country flag, and no personal flag is to be displayed higher than the American flag. The only exception is a flag of religion. Our founding fathers felt that only God was more important.
The example of someone trying to put America below another was something I found in Laredo, Texas in latter 2005. It should be understood that Laredo is a border town with its population in the upper nineties percentage that are of Mexican descent. These people, however, have chosen to live in Laredo which is a city of the United States and therefore subject to U.S. rules and laws. I was driving past a U.S. post office one day and saw that the American flag was displayed next to the Mexican flag. This is not a problem for me as we display the American flag next to many other flags all the time. But this time the Mexican flag was posted higher than the American flag. I was deeply offended.
I was also able to see across the border into the city of Nuevo-Laredo. Not only could I not see an American flag displayed above the Mexican flag anywhere, I could not see an American flag at all. At least the people of Mexico, as are the people in all other countries around the world, are proud enough of their flag to display it alone. I believe I would be offended if other countries did not have enough pride to display their country’s symbols in a manner that doesn’t lessen their individuality.
This is only an example of over-hyphenation. There are others but not usually displayed at a government office. Usually the other examples are in high profile situations where a representative group of people can promote their hyphens. This is usually done by saying that their group, or the group of people they represent, is somehow discriminated against in some way. It is interesting how, when trying to play the victim, these people become just as much, or more, biased than those they are complaining about. But they get attention and now we have everyone afraid of offending someone. It is okay to offend the non-hyphenated people but be very careful not to offend the hyphens.
So what are those of us without hyphens to do? The only answer is, of course, to hyphenate. So, since I am an overweight American perhaps I should now be called a Big-American. I actually like the sound of that. From now on I don’t want anyone making offensive statements about Big-Americans. And we can have any color person, or anyone who speaks another language, or, well, whatever, be a Big-American as part of our hyphenated group as long as they are overweight.
I also think that Big-Americans have an edge on all these other hyphens. An overweight person IS overweight. Many of the other hyphens proclaim their hyphen as if they were born and raised there. But I have serious doubts that they have ALL ever even been to where they are proclaiming roots. Only one group can likely make this statement and that is the American-Indian. And now Big-Americans.