I've heard throughout my life that America is a nation of immigrants. This is based on the experiences of many millions of people who came to these shores to carve out their own piece of the American dream. I am a certain kind of immigrant myself, at least if you splice the definition along reasonable yet specific lines, so it's understand why in the past this 'nation of immigrants' idea held a certain appeal to me.
These days, though, I'm not so sure that this is a correct idea. Many people are here with no ancestral connection to immigration. In some cases, their ancestors arrived in chains; for others, their ancestors were already here, before being forced out. A nation of immigrants? I think it's best to retire the expression from my vocabulary.
