Although some might say being American is to act like an American and to act a certain way, I believe it means to be a part of a community that supports you and you can support. In reality, many people believe that being American means to be free and equal. The speech “Russell Means Speech to the Senate” addresses how American Indians address themselves as American Indians instead of others like Indians or Native Americans. They reside in America and support one another as a community, that’s why they see themselves as American. Being American is mainly what you see yourself and not a title other give you.
I believe “American” should represent the idea of being in a community that is continuously supporting you through tough times. I would hope that people believe being American is about support and community and not just about freedom and equality. Many people’s hopes when being an American is to get freedom and have equal rights which may be hard to achieve, so I hope that people also realize that being a part of a supporting community is being an American. The video titled “Marine Life in the Midwest” is a powerful example of being an American and having a community that is supportive and have similar morals as you. The marines identify themselves as American and they do because they are a part of a community that supports one another and served America.
American Literature can be defined as literature that Americans write that are about subjects in the real world put into text. Things like police brutality, abuse, racism, unequal rights, etc. are examples of things authors of American Literature write about. 2 examples of American Literature are To Kill a Mockingbird and The Hate U Give. I believe these two books are to be known as American Literature because of how both books talk about real world issues that Americans struggle through. To Kill a Mockingbird was about racism and how a white man decided to defend a person of color after the person of color was accused of raping a white women. The children were abused by other children at their school because of their father’s decision to defend a person of color. The Hate U Give was about police brutality and how a police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager. There are a lot of different interpretations about how American Literature is defined but they all connect back to it being American.
Dear Nicole,
I agree with the idea that America should represent a community. The problem is that in order for America to be seen as a community and for the people to come together many times that takes a tragedy occurring. 9/11 is a perfect example of that, because it brought the community together. Here is a link to an article about it https://www.cbsnews.com/news/remembering-911-when-americans-came-together/. Another problem is American Literature, because it really does represent all of the negative occurrences going on in America with all of the discrimination and hatred. The Hate U Give is a great example, because the police brutality has become out of hand and that is a great representation of it.
Sincerely,
Emily Malouf
I also think that being American would be a lot better if the majority of Americans helped to create a supportive community. However, the facts are, it is not a supportive community, especially if we have to designate “safe spaces” when a community should be one giant safe space. What do you think we can do to create a community? This website might give you some insight on how to argue. I think this website could be important because one of our biggest challenges today is that people don’t know how to discuss controversal issues. https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/how-to/growth-strategies/2016/01/4-tips-for-arguing-effectively-and-productively.html