Letter to the Editor: Pure and simple
BY Thomas W. Murphy, Owasso
Friday, February 08, 2013
2/08/13 at 8:04 AM
I have been reading and hearing about immigration reform for some time now, and it occurs to me that the media have categorized folks in the wrong way. I hear about Mexican-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Canadian-Americans, Spanish-Americans, European-Americans, etc., and wonder why the nation of origin is listed first in the equation. I believe we should identify American-Mexicans, American-Hispanics, etc.
If the people who come to this country have no desire or intention to declare themselves American (placing origin secondary), then let's encourage them to return to their place of origin, where they are truly not American.
I happen to be native-born American, but am of Irish-English heritage. I have never thought of myself as Irish- (or English-) American. I am purely and simply American. My ancestry is secondary, though I am proud of that ancestry. Let's encourage through the media that sort of national pride, by delegating birth origin to a secondary position.
Just a thought or two about helping immigration reform.
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