Although some might say that to be American you have to have been born here, or have citizenship here. But I believe that anyone who lives here, and participates in American culture is American, whether they’re a citizen or not. The video titled “Newsroom” examines the idea of how America has changed, and how the country used to fight for moral reasons, but that’s changed. This shows that America used to actually care about things for the right reasons, but their motives have changed.
I believe “American” should represent the idea of equal opportunity for everyone, because so many people come here for better opportunities, however not everyone is given them. In the video titled “Russell Means Speech to the Senate” Russell Means talks about how Indians aren’t given any rights and are not treated as equally as other white Americans. “American Indians suffer under a system of dual citizenship, that is U.S citizenship and Tribal citizenship, maintained by the BIA.” This shows how American Indians aren’t given the equal rights that they deserve.
American Literature can be defined as literature that is taught in America, about America. The article titled “My Life as an American” embodies the idea of being “American” because he wasn’t a citizen, but he had to act as though he was one for his whole life, and he learned what being an American is like. “American Literature” is a reflection of what has happened in this country.
Hello Alani,
Your post was very interesting and insightful. The point you made about “America used to actually care about things for the right reasons, but their motives have changed” was really eye-opening for me to read because it made me think about the values and motives that have changed in America. I think the shift in the country’s values and motives could be due to the division between the people who live in our country. What do you think caused the change? The following link will take you to articles I found that dive deeper into how American’s have shifted their values: https://www.wsj.com/articles/americans-have-shifted-dramatically-on-what-values-matter-most-11566738001. If you have not read this already, I think you might enjoy it as it further explains your point that America has changed their motives and values. In my American Government class, we discussed whether or not America is the greatest country. Before discussing this, we watched the same Newsroom video, the one that you mentioned in your post. This video was also eye-opening because Will McAvoy discussed insights that I hadn’t thought about before when considering if America was the greatest country or not. Your post was very thought provoking, so I will definitely try to read more of your posts!
Hi Alani!
I really enjoyed reading your post. In my lit class we are actually studying American Creed and the American Dream so I thought it was super interesting to hear your opinion about it. I agree with your views on the topic that Americans should be given equal opportunities. I also just finished reading “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part- Time Indian” which talked about topics such as Indian American inequality. I think if you haven’t read it yet, it would be something that you would enjoy. It is interesting to think that Americas motives have changed, I would be interested to hear more about what you have to say about that!
Alani,
I think that this post was really great. I can tell that you’re very passionate about certain issues, and it shows in your writing. There is a huge disparity between Native Americans and the rest of the American people. Here’s a link about some current Native Americans and their troubles working with the Federal Government and the people surrounding them: https://www.npr.org/2019/02/24/697028570/overcoming-a-long-bitter-relationship-grand-canyon-and-tribes-mark-centennial