What does it mean to be an American? With all of the revolutions and revolts that are happening in North Africa, I have been wondering how nationalism plays out here.
When you ask an international student where they are from, they can give you one country. And that is where they are from. “Korea.” “France.” “Germany.” “England.” etc. Yet, when you ask an American citizen where they are from, they do not respond with “America.” Instead, we respond with things like “part British, part French, part Irish, part German, part Swiss.” Our country was founded on the ideals of individuality, which later led to the American Dream.
Thus, as Americans, we like to associate with other countries, and not our own. I also think that perhaps it has become a P.C. thing to say we are American since the Native Americans were the original Americans here. This is something that I think is what creates the most dissension and lack of nationalism in our country.
I, am an American. My family has been here for hundreds of years, since Jamestown on my father’s side. My percentages of my European ancestry has been diluted and decreased to hardly anything. All of my percentages are small. My American percentage is quite large, however.
I am proud to be an American. I, for the most part, love our country. There are many things that I do not necessarily agree upon–mostly political movements. Yet, in my opinion, that does not mean you turn your back on something, something as important as your own country of origin.
Interesting thoughts. And, people are dying for the right to have a democracy. Yet, in the recent Chicago mayoral election, only 41% of registered voters bothered to express their opinion. We don’t value what we have!