Hyphenated American

While reading Du Bois theory of double consciousness I realized I’ve heard something similar before. Double consciousness sounded a lot like the term “hyphenated American“. Theodore Roosevelt famously used the term in one of his speeches where he stated, “There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism…a hyphenated American is not an American at all." In which he basically said that a person could not be both an American and hold onto his ethical background. I find both Du Bois and Roosevelt’s views on Americans offensive. My parents are Colombian so whether I like it or not I am considered  Colombian-American (a hyphenated American). However, it doesn’t mean that I am neither American or Colombian, as Theodore would say, it means that I have had the privilege to see the world through the eyes of two different and unique cultures and that I am the bridge that will connect them. 
It seems to me that Roosevelt spoke for the Americans of his time and perhaps even Americans today. Despite an ethic persons attempts of being all American there’s is a boundary they cannot cross.  Just as Du Bois puts it for the African American of his time, “ He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows…”.Du Bois points out peoples tendency to judge others. An American will judge a foreigner for trying to be American and a foreigner will also judge that same person for straying from his or her culture. It seems to me that it isn’t just the person of color who is stopping himself from integrating into American culture but people on both sides of the spectrum with this type of “us vs. them” mentality.