-

The hyphen. Such a small little thing. We may call it a dash or a couple of other things, but that doesn't really matter.



It's what the hyphen does that matters.



Per Wikipedia: "The hyphen ( - ) is a punctuation mark. It is used both to join words and also to separate syllables of a single word."



When this country was first founded it was to create a new and different land. Far far away from the oppressive British monarchy. Over time America came to represent the shining light of all that was good about a country. And people wanted to come here. To be an American. They left their homes and families and traveled great distances to be a part of this country. And while most of the big cities where immigrants settled did create their own little countries (think Little Italy in New York City) in their neighborhoods, outside of those neighborhoods they learned English, and spoke English, and tried to be an American.



Somewhere along the way it fell out of vogue, this only being an American. We had to use a hyphen to connect two words: Italian-American, Jewish-American, African-American, German-American, Irish-American. Such a tiny little mark was making a huge difference suddenly. Now, we were not wanting to run away from our beginnings but bring them along and acknowledge them. On the surface I have no problem with that. My ancestors made me who I am. A Native, German, Irish, English, Scottish, French(?) American. I probably left something out since my background is somewhat varied. I'm proud of all of it.



But I am really only an American. I think that is what all my ancestors wanted for their descendants. I think that was the intention. They left their countries for this new country where we could be free. And they were proud to be an American.



Somewhere along the way the hyphen learned to do division. I think when everyone started sticking that one little mark in front of "American" our country started dividing up into groups. Particularly when the other culture comes first. I think that is very telling. Would it carry the same weight if we said we were American-German or American-Mexican? I think that we have started dividing ourselves up again by our cultures. We aren't "just" Americans anymore.


I guess I was thinking about this because of some language issues. The question keeps coming up every time I read something like instructions or road signs printed in multiple languages. Or whenever a discussion comes up about English being the official language.

I'm going to visit Italy later this year. I will spend the summer and fall trying as hard as I can to learn the basics of the language. So I can communicate with them in their native tongue - as they should expect. I can't imagine visiting someplace, much less moving there, and having an expectation that they would speak English simply because I do. Just seems arrogant to me - not a good guest.

I realize that America is a melting pot. Our background is a rich tapestry of influences from all over the globe. It is something that makes us unique. It sets us apart. But if we're going to be a successful merging of all these differences, why does everyone keep trying to point them out? The best cake is one where you can't taste all the individual ingredients. All the parts come together to make the whole.

Maybe we need to go back the drawing board.