I enjoyed this article very much. Go fly a man, but what I do not understand is why the writer felt the need to point out that you are"Cuban-American"as far as I'm concerned you are"American"you were born in this country, and that's that. There was no need for Mr. Miller to include that term. I understand his life story made him the man he is today. But why must we label him as Cuban-American, when he was born in the United States. We are the great melting pot. until we stop labeling each other,we will never be truly united.below is a copy of an open letter to Mr. Ben Jealous of the NAACP and it explains my idea and how I feel about putting America first.
Dear Mr. Jelous, I have become quite alarmed at the casual use of African-American. The American experience is insulted every time we hyphen America. The American experience is a great melting pot, we come from all spices of the world to be Americans. America has never demanded one to forget their heritage, we add that to the great experience of America. But in order for us to be unified as a country, we must put America first. And that means we must stop hyphenating America. I will agree that Americans of African dissent have a very unique reason for being in America. And for that there is no argument to your suffering for equal rights. Also, when I refer to hyphenating America, I'm also talking about all other ethnic groups too. I will refer to the great melting pot of America also. I believe that all the cultures in the world add their flavors to the American melting pot, and language, especially a single language, is the broth that brings the flavors together in the wonderful soup that we call America. But that's another conversation, but I will refer to it in my argument for my proposal. I've always been a student of history, and the plight of the worlds persecuted that came to America for a better life. They came here to be Americans. This is been part of my core values since I was very young. What started me on this quest, was watching a show called" In search of" with Leonard Nimoy, in this particular episode, the host was examining the interment of Americans during WW II.. He was interviewing a woman who was born in the United States. He made it a point when introducing her, to refer to her as an "American" of Japanese descent. That spoke volumes to me. The 14th amendment states, if were born on this soil, we are American citizens. This interview, laid dormant in my brain for many years until blacks started referring to themselves as African Americans, and I remembered how Leonard Nimoy referred to this woman, who was born in this country. And knowing American history, after the English, the Africans were the next people's to immigrate to the US.(Even though it was not by choice). And I realized, that the blacks ancestors have been in this country longer than 80% of the other ethnic peoples who have immigrated to the US. So by default, they are more Americans than most other people. I'm not trying to diminish the experience of Americans of African descent, for it was an abomination to those people. But nevertheless, American blacks are not Africans. They don't talk like Africans, they don't think like Africans, etc. etc. etc. just like any other ethnic group you wish to look at, for example. Americans of Italian dissent, they connect with the old country, but if you were to take an Italian and compared to an American of Italian dissent, it would be quite different. The American experience is unique. I feel when we hyphenate America, we separate ourselves from each other. If we continue down this path, we will never get rid of racism. Etc. etc.. Every time I have a job application, college application, census , they asked me to check a box for my race. They have many options, I refuse to check any box. When the censers came around, I did not check any race. And would you know, I got a phone call from the Census Bureau asking me to designate a race. I refused, explaining to them that we cannot end racism until we refuse to check the box on what your race is. As far as I'm concerned, we are all Americans, and that's all I need to know. A couple years ago there was a photograph of a DJ in a newspaper. The caption was DJ ????(i for got his name), a Puerto Rican- Cuban- American. And I asked myself, well, what is he, is he Puerto Rican?, is a Cuban?, is he an American?, he could not have been born in Puerto Rico and Cuban at the same time, and it's obvious that one parent is Puerto Rican, and one parent is Cuban. He was probably born in the United States of America. But why did they not put America first?????? I will be happy to celebrate your ancestry, and the unique contribution to America, but let's be Americans first!. That's how I felt when I saw all the caption under his photograph. Living in Miami for many years I've gotten to talk to people from around the Caribbean. When I asked a Haitian of African dissent who he is, he says with pride, I am Haitian, when I ask a Jamaican of African dissent, who he is, he says with pride. I am Jamaican. When I asked a Cuban of African dissent, who he is, he says with pride, I am Cuban. The message is clear, they have pride in their birthright. Most blacks who come from the Caribbean, identify with the country they were born in. They all have great national pride. Thay have knowledge of their African dissent and celebrated it and integrate their African heritage into their unique experience of the Caribbean, but put their country first, with great pride. The blacks in America, as far as I'm concerned do not have pride in their birthright. That is not limited to just Americans of African descent, I'm referring to anyone else who wants to put their heritage first before their birthright of America. Again, I do not wish to deny anyone their heritage, I welcome and enjoy the spice and flavor they bring to America. It is time that all peoples of this great nation celebrate their birthright. For the last 20 years, this issue has been a passion of mine. When talking to people of all ancestries, people generally agree that we need to put America first. In a perfect world, our race and ancestry would not be an issue. I hope that I get to see that day. But in the meanwhile, let's not worry about what is politically correct. Let all peoples of the world who have immigrated to United States of America refer to themselves as Americans of____________( insert ancestry) dissent. When we identify ourselves as one people, then and only then will we be able to leap beyond the label of race. We must start somewhere and resolving this issue that the government has been continued labeling of individuals. I hope that my argument and my experience that I share with you will inspire you to join my cause. Every time I watch the news and they refer to a black individual as African American, it makes my blood boil. I yell at the TV" he's not African". You must understand, Mr.Jelous, I love my country and all the people and it. I may not agree with them, but I will defend their rights to be Americans. And when Americans of African dissent or any other dissent, who is born in this country is referred to themselves as hyphenated- American doesn't seem right. I do see the black community has a pride in their uniqueness of their particular American experience. And I think that is awesome. All of the arts that have come from black Americans, is uniquely American. The blues, R&B, rap, etc. etc. and that's only music. There's a great deal of contributions of black Americans to America,that makes America unique. Without the black American experience in slavery, we wouldn't have the blues, and without the blues, we wouldn't have rock 'n roll. Do you see where I'm going with this. Morgan Freeman once was asked about Black history month, his feelings were that it should not be" Black history", because people like George Washington Carver were Americans first. And should be celebrated as an American first. That black Americans, should not be referred to as blacks or Africans, but simply as Americans and we should abolish Black history month. And I believe it to be a very noble idea. Because we're all Americans, and we should celebrate that and only that, regardless of color or race. I think that's what I'm trying to convey to you today. This subject has been on my mind for many years. I have many thoughts and ideas on the subject. I hope that I've been able to convey to you my passions and desires for unifying the United States of America. Where a country where no one asks what color you are. I know it's a long journey away, but we must start somewhere. I did not know where to start my campaign for America first. But after watching you on the Ed Schultz show I decided that the NAACP President would be a good place to argue my case. I feel that you to have a unique experience of your own America , and I feel that she would be sympathetic to my case. I love my country, and I'm a staunch independent. From time to time, I'm guilty looking at my fellow citizen with question, though I know my core values will prevail. And I will greet my fellow man with love. All my friends who are of African dissent, agree with me that referring to themselves as Africans first is affront to be an American. At first, they are skeptical, but after argue my case with logic and . They come around to my side. Please consider my argument in my proposal, for I only wish that we all come together as Americans first. I love my country, and I love the idea of America. I just hope, however, you came to this country, you embrace the idea of America, life has been hard for many peoples Africans, Irish, Scottish, German, Russian, Italian, Greek, Chinese, etc. etc. etc. who have come to this country for a better life. Let's be" Americans of______________(insert ancestry) dissent. Even though this is not what I want to see. I would like it if we would not have any designation of race or ancestry, but we have to start somewhere. We need a nationalistic pride, not the kind of nationalistic pride that brought forth things like the third Reich, or Italian fascism, or Soviet communism, but the kind of nationalistic pride that brings peace to everyone in our country. I know it sounds a little liberal and dreamy, but I think it could be done. And my 20 plus years of talking to people of all walks of life, it would seem that about 70% of the people fall in the middle and agree with our basic core values. It's the 30% of the blowhards on the right and left that dominate the media, and in turn, dominate mainstream thinking, or so they want us to think?, but my experience is that most people agree with what I'm saying. Thank you for your time. And I hope that my letter has inspired you to start a new movement of"America first". I guarantee from my experience, a majority of Americans are in favor of my ideas. There is a silent majority out there, that is yet to be tapped.how would you like if I always refer to myself as Robert Krawitz, an Scottish,English, Russian Jew, maybe French or Puerto Rican (to be determined) American,(see how absurd that sounds). We need to stop this insanity. Sincerely,Robert Krawitz PS. Please respond that you've received this letterPSS. This letter was dictated Dragon
