What I Am

Many people hold varying definitions for the term American. Through observations of those around me, I realize that everyone possesses their own unique idea of what criterion one must meet to be classified as an American. Differences in opinion occur between various groups of Americans. My focus lays with the contrasting ideas the American majority and I possess about which criteria needs to be met before a person is considered American. In my opinion, an American is anyone who is born in the United States or is a legal citizen. I do not believe there is a physical list of characteristics that classify someone as American. The United States is like a huge melting pot, various nationalities and ethnicities mix together, and that creates an American. Although I believe in this idea, many people do not.

A friend of mine opposes my definition. To her, American means someone being “white or black.” She informed me that, “when someone doesn't speak English or has an accent or even just looks foreign, I have a really hard time thinking of them as American.” I do not agree with this definition because if it is true, then not one person in the United States should be considered American. Although the Native Americans originated here, they did not originally speak English nor are they white, so according to her criteria, they would not be considered American. Everyone else residing in the United States has immigrant ancestors, who came to the United States with accents and who did not speak English. Therefore, in my opinion, my friend's logic of what it means to be an American contradicts itself. Sadly, many people think of the term American as meaning a certain type of skin color and I believe a lot of it has to do with the words we use to describe ethnically different Americans.

I find it disappointing that different American ethnic groups require specifications as to what “type” of American they are. For example, Americans with African ancestry are called “African Americans,” Americans with Asian ancestry are called “Asian Americans,” and the list goes on infinitely, yet there is no classification for a “Caucasian American, they are simply called Americans. With ethnic specifications engrained within the English language, people seem to subconsciously group different “types” of Americans. By using these specifications, the ethnic groups are still called American, but are also at the same time set aside from other Americans based on title and color. It is not common to see an American whose ancestry begins in Poland being called a Polish American or an American whose ancestry begins in German being called a German American. It is hard for others to group people into these categories because their skin is white and it is difficult to tell which person is from which group. I feel that categorizing Americans can lead to stereotyping.

Many people hold stereotypes for certain ethnic groups within the United States. I think categorizing Americans according to their skin color causes this problem because it gives society a smaller target to focus on. An example of this issue shows up in Suheir Hammad's poem, “First Writing Since.” The poem addresses the stereotyping that was present after the twin towers fell on 9/11. The speaker of the poem says, “one more person assume they know me, or that I represent a people./or that a people represent an evil.” Even though many Arab Americans are United States citizens and have lived here for their entire lives, many people consider them terrorists because of 9/11. Part of this reason is their appearance. They are easy for others to group, target, and hate. Another stanza in Hammad's poem reads, “we did not vilify all white men when mcveigh bombed Oklahoma. America did not give out his family's addresses or where he went to/church. Or blame the bible or Pat Robertson.” The speaker of the poem states the obvious; because there is a majority of Caucasian Americans in the United States, it is harder to label them as a specific “type” of American and even harder to stereotype them because of their vast numbers. The ethnic categorizing of Americans not only extends to people originally from other countries, but of Native Americans as well.

I find it ironic that in the United States we have a specification for Native Americans. Technically, the Americans with European ancestry should be called “European Americans” and the Native Americans should be called Americans. By grouping different ethnic Americans, it shows that the majority of Americans, which are Caucasian, consider only those with light skin to be “true Americans.” A prime example of such a person who supports this conclusion is my grandmother. She still labels African Americans as “Negros” or “Colored People.” She also was disappointed when she saw Michelle Kwan on the USA team for the Olympics, she commented, “We're supposed to have Americans on the American team!” While this generalization is used by some as one criterion for an American, I believe that a person's mindset also declares they are American.

I feel that a true American possesses a strong mindset. People in the United States should feel free to question the government and its actions. Some people consider questioning and disagreeing with the government as un-patriotic, but to me, it makes someone more patriotic if they have the courage to voice their opinion. The United States was founded by people who disagreed with their government, this country would not even exist if it were not for people questioning and disagreeing with their government. Even the Declaration of Independence itself states, “…whenever any form of government becomes destructive…it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government…” Although this statement is in the nation's founding document, many American's say, “Love it or Leave it,” when others doubt decisions the government makes. What these people do not realize is that we would still be under British rule if people lived by the previously mentioned quote.

Another example of an American having a strong mindset occurs in a poem by E.E. Cummings. The poem describes blonde haired and blue eyed Olaf, who was a soldier, but against war. The poem describes how Olaf was tortured and thrown in a dungeon to die by the president himself. The last two lines of the last stanza read, “unless statistics lie he was/more brave than me: more blond than you.” These two lines address my idea of the American mindset. The speaker in the poem refers to Olaf as brave because he had the courage to question and to disagree with his government, even if it meant being tortured and dying alone. The speaker refers to Olaf as “more blond than you” because in the eyes of many people in the United States, the stereotypical American is blond haired and blue eyed. With this last comment, the speaker says that Olaf is more American than most because not only does he “look” American, he acts American too.

My opinions of what it means to be an American and the majority of the United States are obviously different for various reasons. One reason is the existence of an American stereotype. I do not believe an American can be classified by just the way they look, while many others do. Another difference in opinion exists because of ethnic categorizing. While I do categorize for lack of better words, I do not agree with the idea. I also believe that ethnic categorizing leads to the stereotyping of small groups, which can create problems within the country. Lastly, my idea of the American mindset agrees with the idea the founders of the United States, but seems to be the opposite of what Americans think today. My question to the United States of America is as follows, when can we all just be Americans?

[flickr ('tv')]