Our discussion in class today about defining an American was interesting because I had never really stopped and considered just what I thought an American was. I realized that the words that our class used to describe Americans might have actually been words that described what a “model” American might look like, or what we would like all people living in the United States to be like. For instance, one classmate offered that an American was ‘educated.’ Yes, the United States probably has more educated people than most, but many people residing in the United States do not even have a high school diploma; America actually has one of the highest dropout rates. However, most American citizens would probably agree that the “model” American would be an educated, independent thinker.
Another thought that I had during our discussion yesterday was that many people’s definitions of an American are different based on their race, gender, or socioeconomic status. This thought was sparked by the African-American poet Langston Hughes’ poem, “Let America Be America Again,” which was written while segregation laws where still in place. In his poem, Hughes explains that even though America has been said to have been built on equality, he has never felt equal to his white American counterparts. Through this poem and the other poems that our class investigated, I came to the conclusion that it is very difficult to define ‘American.’ My view of what makes someone ‘American’ has definitely been challenged, and I feel that because our society is changing so much, the only thing that can really define an American is the fact that he or she is a citizen of the United States. Whether or not this person is a model citizen can be determined through the criteria we came up with in class, such as patriotic, determined, hard-working, and educated.
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