Tonight’s class brought up a very interesting and seemingly controversial topic, or question rather. The question was what does it mean to be “American.” There’s so many things that people attribute to why they are American, or what they think it means to be American. I guess to me American means being born here. Living here. Being raised here. I mentioned something about looking the part too, but not many students seemed to agree with me in that regard, and while I can see why they may disagree with me, I still think there something to say about people actually looking American. However, according to Wikipedia American is defined as:
1.A person or attribute of the Americas, the lands and regions of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere.
2.A person or attribute of the United States of America.
3.A person or attribute of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
I never really thought or even contemplated the second reason, according to Wikipedia, as being American, but I suppose we did steal the term. Apparently we (we being the people in the United States) aren’t the only people who consider themselves American. People in other countries too refer to themselves as being American; this was actually a first for be, because before tonight I was not aware of this fact. It really is a great question though what it specifically means to be “American.” I guess in the end there is no particular answer that will satisfy all criteria, or everyone. All I know is I consider myself American and I am proud to say so.
