Debating the Proposition Nation

The public debate about whether America is a proposition nation has pitted those who describe themselves as heritage Americans against those who believe anyone who embraces the ideals of America is just as American. Vivek Ramaswamy, writing in the New York Times, said:

There are two competing visions now emerging on the American right, and they are incompatible. One vision of American identity is based on lineage, blood and soil: Inherited attributes matter most. The purest form of an American is a so-called heritage American – one whose ancestry traces back to the founding of the United States or earlier.