We the People - No hyphens please

No hyphens please

Re: “Stop the labeling,” (Your turn, Aug. 25).

I would love to thank W.G. Wilson for addressing this issue, and I cannot agree more with him in regards to so-called hyphenated identities instead of just plain American.

However, I would also like to suggest that it is not that "minorities want to be called by their former country’s names," but just some minorities, definitely not me.

I am a Japanese citizen with a green card, and am planning to apply for the American citizenship. I never, ever want anyone to suddenly decide my race or ethnicity, but it keeps happening, especially for the past couple years since the illegal immigration debate heated up.

At least once a week someone -- other minorities -- pulls up without my permission just to say, "Hey what’s your race? Chinese?" if not "Where are you from, you speak Chinese?" or "Are you from Vietnam?"

It’s nobody’s business wherever I am from, or what languages I speak.

Something is terribly wrong with this racial labeling among a certain strain of minorities that have their own identity problem and want to infect it to other immigrants.

- Yumiko Kawa