Interesting. My grandparents all came from Poland and not one of them would ever tell you they were Polish. They all said they were Americans after the day they got their citizenship. I guess that's the difference between those that really believe in their American citzenship and those that see it as just an adjunct to themselves and their identity.
You miss understood what I was saying.
When I enter the mall and bump into a person with a foreign accent, they'll say... "Oh, I'm French, but I've lived in America for twenty years and I am a citizen." My grandmother would say, "I'm Canadian, but I have become an American."
My grandparents were staunch patriots for America. My grandfather had eleven siblings, and he was the only one in his family who came to America and renounced his citizenship to Canada.
His siblings envied his opportunities and financial standing. But, they never understood that with American opportunities come American responsibility. In that manner, both of my grandparents helped to keep America what it is.
My grandparents weren't hyphenated Americans. But their BACKGROUND was Canadian. And as my grandmother would remind me, her great-uncle was the first prime minister of Canada. A distinction she was proud to remember... but not one that dictated where her loyalties lay. They laid with America.
My grandparents were also proud that their children were first-generation Americans. They knew their children would flourish and prosper.