The obvious reason is that typically the
question is asked out of curiosity, mostly due to one’s appearance. Usually, it
is simple to make an assumption of a person’s race or ethnicity, based on
physical characteristics. People who do not fit the general features, like
multiracial peoples, are more likely to be asked. Using 'American' as an ethnicity would
be incorrect since it would technically describe Native Americans.
Most would identify a person as an American
if they were born, raised and utilize their rights as citizens. Most
citizen-born citizens consider themselves a compound word; “x-American” were x
is replaced with a ethnicity as a compromise. I find this term of
identification most acceptable, since incorporate an individual’s family background,
as well as acknowledges the American culture. However, I think the term ‘American’
could apply to anyone who has adapted the “American culture” into their lives,
or people who view the States as their home.
America has only 237 years of history;
compared to countries, this nation is very young. Perhaps, people do not view
America as an ethnicity because of the lack of history. However, in my argument,
I do not think that matters; what does is the culture and people. There is a distinctive
attitude Americans possess; we are individualistic, democratic, opinionated,
and stubborn. Foreigners may view this attitude negatively, but nonetheless, we
are very distinguishable from other cultures.
Until
people of the world (as well as our own) recognize America as its own culture
rather than “a blend of others”, and look past the physical aspect of it, it will
be a while for people to stop calling themselves something they aren’t. Our
nation should take the time to appreciate our rights and individuality, and
maybe then, we can finally view ourselves as “American”.
6 comments:
I agree strongly about the "x-american" part, and I find it any interesting term to use...
I personally don't think that the people of the world, or ourselves, will recognize America as its own culture because the unique thing about America is that we don't necessarily have a distinct culture. We are a blend of cultures from around the world. Of course you could argue that in America we have our own foods, sports, form of government, and so on, but the thing that makes us American is the fact that we are all different ethnically, yet share the share views on laws (or at least respect them enough to obey them) and democracy.
I agree with you about America being young and having a lack of history compared to some other countries as a reason why people label themselves.
You stated in your blog that "using 'American' as an ethnicity would be incorrect since it would technically describe Native Americans", but are the Native Americans truly "American"? Historians theorized that there originally weren't inhabitants in the Americas before people in the Eastern Hemisphere crossed the ice bridge to America. In this situation, would Native Americans still be technically American? Would there be anything such as "true" Americans by origin?
@emily: I see where you're going from, but I see it as, even though America is a blend of many cultures, eventually it will be it's own culture that different from everything else, because the drastic mixing. Obeying the laws is tying us all together, and maybe it might even start this whole "own culture" thing.
@pencil: It's true that the Native Americans actually are the first immigrants (how ironic).
But that was really far into the past, so far that I don't think it would be a counting factor (mostly since history wasn't written then). Well there is a theory that all humans originated from Africa, and all the inhabitants, like the Native Americans, transported to the places in the world where they then, started history (aka Europe, Asia, etc)
What makes Native Americans the "true Americans" by origins would be the fact that they were the ones who settled down after crossing the bridge, and created the first civilizations/cultures on the land.
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