To Be an American: Immigration, Hyphenation, and Incorporation

Central to many immigration debates in the United States, past and present, are questions about what it means to be an American. In this article, I address three forms of this question: (a) What is an immigrant? (b) What is an American? and (c) What is a hyphenated American. Answers to these questions can vary, depending upon whether one is taking the perspective of the observer/host or of the immigrant himself or herself. Data suggest that neither unidimensionality nor simple dichotomy are appropriate frames for analyzing national identity.