What about being an American?

What happened to the American Culture?  Why is tribalism, multi-culturalism and the support of maintaining "seperate-ness" embraced? Why are those of us who have been raised IN this country made to somehow feel like our culture is bad, evil and to be NOT discussed or celebrated as a culture at all?

Why has the word "assimilate" become a dirty and oppressive word? The great American melting-pot used to be that... people came here to BECOME AMERICANS, as much as you may not like the word, they assimilated -- now they do not, they only want to bring their culture here and live it as though they were in their county of origin. They come and reap the benefits and freedoms of the American way of life without becoming an American?  I welcome all who want to come to America to become Americans to come... Bring your individuality yes, bring your uniqueness yes but if you are coming here to stay, please come to become a "part of".

To be an AMERICAN means nothing any more.  The risks and dangers of this continued tribalism is detailed in historic failures all over the globe (read: The Disuniting of America, by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.) The glue that held this country together was being "American" first.  Now we are African-Americans, Irish-Americans, etc.  We are and should be Americans of whatever decent – but Americans first. 

In a review of The Disuniting of America by Heather MacDonald, a lawyer who has written for Partisan Review and other publications, she says: 

"One of the most pernicious effects of multiculturalism has been to destroy the linguistic ground necessary to debate it. For such a debate would have to invoke terms like “we” and “commonality.” Yet multiculturalists, aided by the sophisticated deconstructive efforts of literary theorists like Stanley Fish and Barbara Herrnstein Smith, reject any such appeal to an American “we” as an act of imperialist violence. The only language that remains is that of an increasingly narrow “us” versus an increasingly alien “them.” This is the language of civil war."

So we are racists and oppressionists the moment we begin to speak...

This was once a great nation built on pride, hard work and perseverance and peoples from many countries and ideologies.  Now those three adjectives of our founding are replaced with selfishness, greed and brutality.  We are not unique in the brutality of our nation but we are unique in the perpetual persecution we face and the willingness to continue to apologize for it.  We have become so gracious and self-deprecating that we are subjugating ourselves and apologizing for being American. 

I am proud of what my country was founded on and am not at all proud of what my country is or has become.  I am unapologetically American and everyone one of our leaders should be as well.