Hyphenated-American Idol

March 16th, 2008 at 04:47pm reckless G 277

Hyphenated Americans from American Idol’s top twelve contestants;

Carly Smithson – Irish born

Chikezie – African American, Nigerian parents

David Archuleta – Latino, mother from Honduras

David Hernandez – Latino

Jason Castro – parents are Colombian, he is the first person in his family to be born in the United States

Michael Johns – Australian born

Rameile Malubay – Filipino, born in Saudi Arabia

Syesha Mercado – African American

At a time when immigrants are under attack for “spoiling” America, a popular TV show turns out to be a fine example of our collective tolerance toward other cultures and races. Liberals are all in a tizzy over the possibility of an African-American winning the presidential nomination, but pop culture is way ahead of politics when it comes to acceptance of people based on their abilities, regardless of their ethnicity or country of origin.

This year more than ever, American Idol is a celebration of our cultural melting pot. Of the top twelve contestants, three were not born in the USA and one is a first generation American. When it comes to ethnicity, one is Asian, two are African-American, and three are Latino. It may well turn out that this year’s American Idol will be a hyphenated American.

The dream of making it to the top, becoming famous and wealthy, isn’t confined to America’s borders, and music being the universal language, it isn’t surprising that the Idol slate is so inclusive. As for Idol voters, the contestants’ ethnicity plays little to no role in their choices. Talent is all that matters; which is as it should be in all walks of American life.

Opponents of immigration and consequential hyphenation seem to conveniently forget that every one of us who is not Native American, is either an immigrant or a descendent of immigrants, all of whom at one time had hyphenated identities. Aside from African-Americans, whose hyphenation is more a designation of color than ethnic origin, most hyphens disappear within a few generations. My family stopped thinking of themselves as Norwegian-Americans and British-Americans long before I was born.

Still, the hyphen can be pulled out of storage and dusted off when the appropriate occasion arises. On St. Patrick’s Day, Michael Conniff is Irish-American. During his campaign, when Rudy Giuliani spoke to the Italian-American community, his hyphen was given its due. Bill Richardson’s Mexican-American heritage is a plus in the Latino community. Hyphenation is not necessarily a bad thing. Neither is multi-culturalism.

There are many countries in today’s world where either the government or the people, or both are intolerant of diversity and multi-culturalism. This attitude gives rise to the worst examples of human behavior; prejudice, segregation, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing. Societies that try to retain their ethnic purity inevitably commit human rights abuses.

On the other hand, because of America’s tolerance for multi-culturalism, we get to enjoy a wider range of foods than is found anywhere else in the world. We get parades with exotic costumes, interesting architecture, unique viewpoints, and valuable contributions in the fields of science and the arts.

And on my favorite network reality TV show, we get a diverse set of contestants to choose from, all of whom can sing like the dickens! If you ask me, American Idol’s talent pool is all the richer for its immigrants, as is our culture in general.

Entry Filed under: Music, Immigration, Carbondale, Colorado, Pop, Women, United Post