Well my grandparents on my dad's side came over from Sicily to America in the 20's. My grandparents on my mom's side came over from Macedonia in the early 30's.
My Sicilian grandfather worked for Western Union, my grandmother worked as a telephone operator then moved up into management. They lived in Detroit, Michigan where my grandfather's brother and cousins lived.
My Macedonian grandfather worked as a ditch digger and worked on road crews in New York for 12 years before he was able to send money to my grandmother to come over by ship after WW II ended. My aunt was just a baby when he left, she was almost 13 when he got to see her again. My mother still has the photo he sent of himself, with his foot on the fender of his first American car, a 1910 Ford (model T I believe). He held on to that car until 1956, then gave it up to buy a 1957 Chevy Bel Air hardtop coupe. My grandmother was a stay at home mother taking care of their four kids. She was always quiet and rarely spoke because she never fully learned English. My grandfather born in Sarajevo, knew Yugoslavian, Macedonian, and learned to speak English just by listening to people talk.
Am I proud to be an American? I feel privileged that I was born here. In 1968, other places in the world had a lot less than Americans. Plus the Cold War was in full swing too. I remember in Military History, in high school (circa 1985), our class got to see a beta tape with teens and young adults in America what they thought Russians were like. And it was pretty foul and hateful. Then we saw a recording of young Russians as well, they said the same about Americans, or that we were stupid hillbillies. The Chinese people interviewed called us Imperialist pigs. It was an eye opener how the media (the news) in all countries controlled the masses on what and how to think.
With the internet, worldwide, everyone from everywhere has the privilege to know one another as human beings. The net has no borders and people are free to say what they think without being worried about retaliation (for the most part). Also, we can ask about one another culture, country, and beliefs without having to fly there.
Aside from that, if people wanna hate America, then hate our politicians. They're the jerks. There is no such thing as a typical American.
Onto the next question........... What do you think will happen on Dec. 21 2012?
