American Identity: Being An American

“Only in America can someone start with nothing and achieve the American Dream. That’s the greatness of this country (Cruz Rafael).” What it means to be an American is that people have the freedom on where they could live, work, and marry. It also means people should be proud of this country. I believe being an American means that people should treat other Americans with respect not on how people look or act, people can be successful throughout your life, and try to help out the country in any way.

During 2001, many people were heated on the people who do not look like an American when 9/11 happened. People assumed different races in America as a terrorist. In the TED Talk “A tale of two Americas, and the mimi-mart where they collided” Anand Giridharadas states, “Many with the fortune of being born American were none the less trapped in lives that made second chances like his impossible”(Giridharadas). This illustrates that an autism was shot by a white who assumed he was a terrorist in a gas station store. People also do not like to be with different people who are indifferent races. In “Hyphen-Nation” Michaela is an African American and she had a friend who was white and they used to hang out with each other, and now her friend’s family found out she was black so they stopped hanging out with her Michela. Michela was never invited to her friend’s house again. This shows that based on race people do not like to be with other races, people are segregated from their races.

Being a means everyone can be successful in a certain kind of way. In the TED Talk “The New American Dream” Courtney E Martin says, “You are not a failure if you try to be successful”(Martin). This proves that people won’t be a failure if you try in life, but without trying in life people might not be successful.

People should be helping the country because it is the place where we live in. In the TED Talk “The New American Dream” Courtney E Martin says, “Two-thirds of those who are living with multiple generations under one roof say it’s improved their relationships”(Martin). This quote explains that most of the people are living in a house and the people who are homeless are the ones who needs help.

What I believe to be an American is that people have freedom to do whatever they want. People should be treated equally and other people should not harm other people based on how they look like. I think being an American is to help the environment and help other people to help the environment can be helping to clean the trash, making donations, and try not to be harmful to the environment. Helping other people could be holding the doors for other people, helping people who are struggling, and being kind to people.

Being an American can be hard working and have a lot of responsibilities. Everyone should be excited to be an American because of our freedom. Some countries do not have the freedom that we had, so everyone should be treated equal based on how they look or act. People should also enjoy their life as an American with all the freedom we have.

Citation

1. TED. “Anand Giridharadas: A Tale of Two Americas. And the Mini-Mart Where They Collided.” YouTube, YouTube, 24 Mar. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i-pNVj5KMw. Accessed October 31, 2019
2. TED. “The New American Dream | Courtney Martin.” YouTube, YouTube, 28 Sept. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPf0LjZAS14. Accessed October 31, 2019
3. The New York Times. “Hyphen-Nation.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 12 June 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/storywall/hyphen-nation. Accessed October 31, 2019