In a recent discussion with my girlfriend we were talking about one of our least favorite questions, "What are you?" or, for her, "What kind of Asian are you?" People who ask these questions are curious about what race we are because both of us are racially ambiguous and most people can't tell what we are. Not that it really matters. These questions may seem thoughtful or intended to get a better understanding, and I, for one, don't actually mind them. The questions of what I am don't bother me, because sometimes you really can't tell what someone is and they are just really curious. However, more recently I have been asking myself, does it really matter? I usually just answer “Black” and move on about my day, but really I'm an American.
My girlfriend is an American citizen, born and raised with the occasional visit back to South Korea, yet to some people the fact that she was born in America, and is ethnically Korean doesn't make her an American. It makes her an Asian-American. She speaks English better than most people and yet that isn't good enough for people. They don't really count her as an American, even though she was born in the States.
I have had family who migrated here who are white and when they say their country of origin they aren't European-American or Scottish-American, they are just American. They are more quickly adopted than anyone else, which always leaves me baffled because people will drop the "European" if they are from Europe, but anywhere else in the world, and all of a sudden they are a hyphenated American? That doesn't seem right. Especially if the person you are hyphenating was born here – they are more American than the migrant (not that it is a competition).
I was born here in the states, born the son of a Scottish migrant. Even though I was born here, in California, I'm an African American. I have never once set foot in the beautiful continent of Africa, but I'm African-American. This baffles me, as I have gone most of my life saying that I was African-American, only to recently realize that I'm not really an African American. I'm an American, always have been, always will be. However, somewhere along the line, not being white meant that I wasn't an American.
I don't understand the hyphens; the only time that they are used are for non-white Americans. This leads to a belief that Americans who aren't white aren't really Americans, because we aren't white. I find this a disturbing trend, because it divides the many ethnic groups in the country who were born here or migrated here, and keeps them from feeling like they belong in the country, like they are strangers in the country that they love and call home. Many of these people, myself included, feel unwelcome in their home country.
This has not been in any way an attempt to solve problems between different racial or ethnic groups, I just find myself and others constantly asking the question, "What are you?" It would solve a lot of weird conversation tension if you went into each conversation assuming every person you talk to is an American, because chances are, you just added a hyphen. But then again, what is an American?
