Response

When you’re asked, “Where are you from?” people aren’t looking for the answer “American” because it doesn’t mean much.  They want to know your roots and your background; so unless you’re a Native American, or your lineage can be traced back several generations in this country, chances are you aren’t strictly American.  So I agree with Ashley that being a “hyphenated American” is one way to hold onto one’s roots.  Since “‘American’ is not one of the ethnic groups recognized in the United States census,” (Walzer 5) claiming our roots is also how we identify ourselves to the general public and society.  For the immigrants who come to this country, they do so with hopes for a better life and to accomplish that they need to fit in (i.e. learn another language) but at the same time, they don’t want to let go of what they’ve lived with their whole lives, like their traditions and religion.  New York, being one of the most immigrant filled places in the states, demonstrates how far we’ve come from the early immigration days.  Rather than shed their culture, many ethnic groups have formed communities of similar backgrounds but also branch out.  Neither the salad bowl nor the melting pot idea is completely true, because while we all try to fit into American society, its the fact that we can be different (and are almost expected to be if you go by the lack of the ethnic group labeled “American” in the census) that lets us hold onto our cultural backgrounds.