Other than those with dual citizenship, hyphenating Americanism serves no purpose other than being divisive.  All that should matter to an American is being an American, not something that predates one's American identity.

Most of my family predates the founding of the country.  I have had family that has fought in every war the colonists fought prior to independence.  With independence, a few fought for the British.  Most fought for liberty.

I am no more American than those who are first-generation.  We are all equally American.

I have never hyphenated my Americanism.  Never once, despite most of my line coming from Europe, have I thought of myself as a European-American.  I am an American.

It does not matter where Americans originated or how long ago their ancestors arrived.  People of all backgrounds, both men and women, have made wonderful contributions to this nation.

Does it matter which country or continent someone originated from?  It does not.

The Tuskegee airmen were the best fighter escort pilots of WWII.  The Buffalo soldiers were great fighters.  General Rose led Patton's famed third Army.  It does not matter that the first two had ancestry from Africa, nor does it matter that the latter was Jewish.  They were all great Americans.

To hyphenate is more than just being divisive.  It is an insult to those who fought for equality under the law all Americans have today.

Why hyphenate without dual citizenship?  Is there a country or continent in the world better than the United States?  There is not.

Where is the Chinese, Thai, North or South Korean Dream?  They dream of coming to America.  Where is the English, German, or Italian Dream?  It does not exist.  They dream of America.  Where is the Ethiopian, Nigerian, or South African Dream?  Like all nations in the world, they yearn for America.

How dare any American hyphenate?  Do they not realize what billions of others would do to have that citizenship they take for granted?

How dare anyone spit on what others sacrificed by hyphenating?  That is what hyphenating does.  It spits on the sacrifice of countless millions who gave their lives for freedom.

It was my family who bled for the freedoms I cherish.  My family was on those battlefields of every war the United States has been in willing to give their lives, which some did.  It is those graves hyphenated Americans spit on.

This is not coming from someone who is purely European, but Algonquin, Apache, Cherokee, and Angolan.  That DNA makes me who I am: an American who will never hyphenate.

Asking if Americans are hyphenated on applications and the Census is long past time to end.  The anti-slavery amendments and Civil Rights Acts brought an end to people being treated differently in the United States based on something as ridiculous as skin color.

Enough with the divisiveness of hyphenation driven by the Democrats.  Enough spitting on the graves of heroes.  Let this nation be done with hyphenated Americanism.  We are all Americans.

Bob Ryan is a writer who has an MBA.  He is an American Christian Zionist who staunchly supports Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state.  He has been a weekly blogger at the Times of Israel since 2019.

Image: J.S. Pughe.