American members: Do you consider a third world 1st generation immigrant an American?

[Osprey]

I don't think even most white Americans can claim the 'feats' of the notable American inventors and generals.
I mean how many do you think are descended from Lee, Wright Brothers, Edison, Ford etc?

[StonyArabia]

Yes they are American as applie pie I would say. Well here you are Canadian as long you are a citizen and proud of this country.

[Hong Key]

A Nation is based on Blood and Soil, Ancestors who killed and who died defending it for future generations, common genetics, linguistics, mythos and folkways etc.

[rhiannon]

They're American by jus soli. They came to this country looking for a better life much as my own ancestors did. Seems to be aligned with the American spirit. Yes, they are American. Maybe not the stereotypically WASPy American.....but American nevertheless.

[Hong Key]

They're American by jus soli. They came to this country looking for a better life much as my own ancestors did. Seems to be aligned with the American spirit. Yes, they are American. Maybe not the stereotypically WASPy American.....but American nevertheless.

Would have to say I disagree.

Are ancestors carved a civilization out of wilderness, a lot of YOUR americans just jumped over a fence. Not quite the same.

At least the Indians gave us one hell of a fight but your willing to roll over and give away everything your ancestors killed and died for. Thats ungratful and disrespectful to the blood, sweat and tears your forefathers shed to give You a homeland and traitorous to the future generations of White Americans.

[Hong Key]

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Posterity
Definition(s):
(n) all of the offspring of a given progenitor
(n) all future generations

i.e. future generations of White children

http://www.beedictionary.com/definition/posterity

[Contra Mundum]

They're American citizens, but not real Americans in mindset. Most immigrants from non-Western societies are socialist, and the principles that America was founded on is a complete alien concept to them. It came from the Anglo-Saxon mind, this notion of individual liberty. These new immigrants are absolutely not Americans. Not as a whole. Only a few of them truly embrace Americanism. The Cubans, who arrived shortly after Castro came to power, were the last group of immigrants that I would consider to be American in spirit, not just in citizenship.

A couple of quotes from Pat Buchanan.

"The seething racial resentment in the Third World against the West — decades after independence and trillions in foreign aid — should cause second thoughts about opening our borders to mass immigration from that world. Not everyone coming here brings in his heart the passionate attachment to America we attribute to the peoples of Ellis Island."

"In half a lifetime, many Americans have seen their God dethroned, their heroes defiled, their culture polluted, their values assaulted, their country invaded, and themselves demonized as extremists and bigots for holding on to beliefs Americans have held for generations."

[Stefan]

It depends if they make something for themselves or if they leech off the welfare-state by having a plethora of citizen children. If the first, then I'd say they're an American. If the latter, then quite obviously not, and they need to go back to their third-world country and fix it. Usually these people are the lowest of their nations, and are running away from corruption in their nations, only to take advantage of the corruption in our states to have a comfortable life, at the expense of true Americans.

[rhiannon]

Would have to say I disagree.

Are ancestors carved a civilization out of wilderness, a lot of YOUR americans just jumped over a fence. Not quite the same.

At least the Indians gave us one hell of a fight but your willing to roll over and give away everything your ancestors killed and died for. Thats ungratful and disrespectful to the blood, sweat and tears your forefathers shed to give You a homeland and traitorous to the future generations of White Americans.

You're entitled to your opinion

Ungrateful? I think not. It seems to be that my spirit is more American in its thinking than yours is, actually. It is not for me to decide the merits behind reasons people come here. Hell, I have no idea why my own ancestors came in the 1600s, quite frankly.....did they leave the British Isles of their own volition? Or...were they given the boot? I dunno. But if I don't know what drove my own ancestors to come....I sure as shit am not going to sit here in judgment of those who do come here because what they are leaving behind is a hell neither you nor I could imagine in our worst nightmares. Please note, I extend this opinion to include all who come here willing to work very hard to improve their fates. I do not include those who come here and sit on their asses begging for handouts.

I am an American in the truest sense of the word....because I believe the tenets upon which our constitution is founded.

You don't have to agree with me. I respect differences of opinion, but my own opinion on this matter remains unchanged.

[Allenson]

I guess they're legally Americans but no, they can't "claim" American history as their own the way those of us with centuries-old roots here can. Their ancestors didn't settle here pre-independence, they didn't fight for independence, they didn't build this country out of nothing (instead, they showed up after the hard-work was over) and they're not part of the cultural continuum they way many of us are.

It's like if a person built a house from scratch--the foundation, the framing, the walls, the exterior, the roof, the plumbing, the wiring, etc. and after the house was built, others move in. They have no claim to building the house, only that they were able to move in after it was completed. Lucky them.