re: At what point did not being an American become a thing?

Since Obama

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move to another country wholeheartedly you should embrace your culture. That is not what happens here in this day and time. Send them back.

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It has never happened here nor in any other country. It has ALWAYS been common for immigrant groups in any country to celebrate their country of births culture. Italians do it. Irish do it. Germans do it. I eat at an excellent German restaurant at least once a month and they have German flags, and Bavarian flags, on every wall. They are fully assimilated, the whole family, with the exception of the original owner, who was named Adolf incidentally, were born in the US, but they fly German flags in their place of business and no one is put off by it.

It is VERY common in Europe. When national soccer teams play one another there will be flags from both nations in the stadium and in the streets and some of those people are citizens of the host nation but are of say Turkish descent...or Italian or whatever the frick.

I know a PILE of scots irish Americans who celebrate the cultures of both nations and are about as American as Americans get. It is not uncommon and it happens anywhere immigrants find themselves. It does not mean they aren't assimilated, it just means they remember their own origin story. Why it would bother anyone is on the person who is bothered by it....

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For America being a great country as it is, it's the most culturally confused country in the world. Throw a bunch of people together with a lot of different cultures, and you get country with a lack of identity. Go ask people what it means to be an American and see what different answers you get, assuming you get an answer.

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Long ago we had a more unified cultural identity. It was baseball, football, apple pie, hot dogs, rock-n-roll, Motown, country music, fast cars, masculine men, hot women and the freedom to be able to work your way up from nothing.

Much of that still exists today, but it's overshadowed by the "America is racist/sexist/homophobist/whatever-ist" crowd and their comrades in the media (both and entertainment) and the education system. It's hard to have pride in something when you're constantly being told the thing you have pride in is worthless.