"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here
in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall
be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage
to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or
origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an
American, and nothing but an American...

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."

--Theodore Roosevelt, 1919

I got this in an e-mail so I can not attest to it's authenticity. I would like to think it applied then as well as now.

Comments and opinions welcome.

Been posted by a few other people:

Theodore Roosevelt on Americanism 1907

Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907

Which only shows that it is a very popular view, even today as it was in 1907.

Ahh well. I got it in an e-mail and hadn't figured it would be posted yet. Sue me. . . oh..wait a sec. Can't say that in America, you might really be able to do it.