Director, Commonwealth Policy Center

For years, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren claimed she was part Cherokee. Yet many disbelieved her. Warren recently revealed that a DNA test indicated she might have had a Native American ancestor some 6-10 generations removed. If it was 10 generations ago, then she is 1/1024 Native American.  The problem is that the average American could have made the same claim as Warren. Identity politics has become divisive. Instead of being Americans, we've become hyphenated Americans. And some, like Warren have been given benefits or privileges based on their racial identity. America is a melting pot where we come from every ethnicity and every nation. We bring the good from each of our cultures, but we also leave behind an allegiance to that culture in order to become Americans, not hyphenated Americans.