I tend to cringe every time I hear the term “African-American” being used, mostly because the overly political correct nature of those who use it. It is not only divisive, but often times it is downright ignorant. In attempts to make everything politically correct, it is commonplace for some ignorant Americans to refer to descendants of Africans in the UK or the rest of Europe as “African-Americans”. It is obvious that there is nothing American about someone who resides in London. This is of course my personal gripe about the word, but socially, these prefixes typically do more harm than good.

Think about what the hyphenated Americanism really does. It effectively assures that African/Indian/Chinese/Insert other ethnicity here groups are not just Americans. They are something “different” than white people, who do not usually receive a prefix before their title as an American. If they are different, it can of course be argued that they are not “as American” as their white counterparts. This could of course lead to exclusionary behavior between groups, and someone who has done just as much for America who is a different ethnicity is not viewed in the same manner because they have a different prefix.

Americans should drop their prefixes and simply be proud of their nationality. I am white, and my ancestors came from Scotland, Ireland, England, and Germany. I do not refer to myself as a white American (that is pretty obvious), and I see no reason to call myself Scottish-American, Irish-American, Anglo-American, or German-American. I do not need to be called these things to remember my heritage, I do that often by making authentic dishes from my ancestors’ homelands and celebrating the cultures of those countries. I do however refer to myself as something other than American. I call myself a Texan because I pride myself being from Texas and being a part of a culture formed by Texans of all races and ethnicities, whether they came are Scot-Irish, German, Czech, Mexican, African, Korean, or Comanche. I can understand how each group has made their own mark on my home state and the rest of the country, and I respect them for that. I do not need these hyphens as I can distinguish race from nationality. I may call someone by their race, but I see them simply as American. If everyone could do the same, we might just have a better, more accepting society.