Theodore Roosevelt on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907.

Where did we go wrong?


Theodore Roosevelt on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907.


"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 1907