What does this quote mean?

Question

1. "Some historians today express sorrow at the kind of prideful segregation in America, saying that the clinging to ethnicity, in background and custom, has undermined the concept of unity" What does this mean?

2. “...the left side of the hyphen — African-American, Mexican-American, Irish American—would overwhelm the right”? What does this mean?

Answer 1

Dear MarL.

Hyphenating an ethnic group is actually part of the American ideal. We are all descended from people who came to America..some 300 years ago, some much more recently. It's a way to remember our roots while we become a part of the America of today...just think of our holidays..Christmas trees were a German immigrant's way of remembering the 'old country'. The St. Patrick's Day celebration is a way for Irish-Americans to honor their roots, and so on and so on.

The only 100% American might be the people we call "natives", those of native American heritage (Navajo, et al).

Good luck with your studies.

Arnold F.

PS: I'm of Romanian ancestry..my grandparents arrived in 1903!

Answer 2

1. Looks like it's saying that people being proud of their heritage--their ethnic, national, and cultural origins--means the population as a whole is less united. So people whose families come from, say, France who keep speaking French, cooking French food, and making sure their kids understand French history and culture don't see themselves as part of the same community as people whose families come from, say, Germany.

Though actually, technically, the quote isn't saying that. It's saying that "some historians" say that. (You might ask, "which historians?" and "does the author reveal their own point of view on the subject, and why or why not?")

2. In phrases like "Mexican-American," "African-American," and "Irish-American," the part on the left side of the hyphen (you do know that the hyphen is the -, right?) is "Mexican," "African," and "Irish." The part on the right is "American." So the quotation is saying that, for instance, if someone is "African-American," the African part might stand out more than the American part.

"Some tutors" might ask at this point what you think is motivating the author to make these points and whether anything in the quotations implies that the author might have some specific examples in mind. Do you think the author was thinking of France and Germany, for instance?