OPINION

The De-Americanization of the Nation - A Native Phenomenon

by Mario Delgado

The ongoing de-Americanization of the country has nothing to do with immigrants. This unfortunate phenomenon has all to do with internal cultural and social forces taking hold as far back as our colonial days. As a matter of fact, immigrants are as much, if not more, victims of these conditions than the native population itself.

But before I outline the forces that I am convinced originated and are still at work driving our de-Americanization even deeper, let me set the record straight on how I feel about our national responsibility towards immigrants. First, we may not be a perfect nation, but we are the best among the rest. We are slipping, no doubt, but we are still on top and have what it takes to regain a higher ground. Second, I do not have to accept anyone in my house (my nation); even if he is willing to clean it for free (I would not let him clean it to then kick him out either). It is my house, and I decide who enters it. I am not being unethical or inhuman for exercising this right. Third, we are the United States (U.S.) and not the United Nations (U.N.). We cherish one set of values, culture, heritage and language and not one from everywhere else. Such uniform and united identity is what has given the nation its strength and respect through time; their dilution will only serve to diminish it.

So what socio-cultural factors are the culprits in the dilution of our "Americanism"? There are three fundamental drivers. First, our historical immoral acts such as slavery and the discrimination of blacks, the oppression of women and the robbing of Indian lands all contributed to the civil rights revolution of the early 1960s. This factor initiated the disuniting trend and generated the now too common hyphenated-Americans, e.g. African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Hispanic-Americans. Second, the permissive and licentious, but popular, hippie culture that also started during the early 1960s questioned even the validity of our, until then, much more united and proud nation. The cultural impact of this second factor in combination with pressures from the first, lead to having many segments of our society doubting and publicly denouncing, the moral right of our nation to exist, e.g. flag and draft card burning. Third, recognition-pandering politicians, reinforced instead of opposed the above splits. That is not to say that the nation did not need to expiate to a significant degree, it had a number of things to amend. However, it could and should have done so from within a posture of unity.

So there they are - the key de-Americanizing factors that have shaped our nation into a mish mash of hyphenated and culturally disengaged minorities and special interest tribes. Today, our de-Americanization is being accelerated by the flagrant corruption among our public and private sector leaders. Immigrants, on the other hand, by the nature of their predicament, need and want to belong. They wish for supporting and stable institutions to help them regain a foothold in life and their new culture. However, if when they arrive on our shores they find a splintered nation, with its leaders exploiting instead of healing its divisions, e.g. elect me and "I will fight for you," what are they to do? Remain in limbo? No, they will naturally, like anyone of us would do, find refuge in the first recruiting domestic tribes opening its doors to them. We must quickly rescue our nation, not by blaming the immigrants among us, but by facing the stranger in us.