When All is Said and Done

I have written here before that I became a US citizen in 1984. It was one of the proudest days of my life and I'm very happy that I did it. I don't think, however, that the sentiment is quite the same today. I think that a lot of people become US citizens but do not feel an allegiance to the United States. I find that a lot of these people tend to see themselves as hyphenated Americans and that is unfortunate. I truly believe that once you become a citizen you are an American and nothing else. You cannot be an American and a Parisian. You cannot be an American and a Briton. You cannot be an American and a Jamaican.

As Theodore Roosevelt said, "There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

The following is the oath of US citizenship:

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law; that I will perform noncombatant services in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."

Some of the lines are optional such as so help me God and that I will bear arms etc.