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Defining "American" - Articles for reflection

Page history last edited by Mr. Yearling 14 years, 6 months ago

Articles Defining What It Means to be an American

 

Here are a list of resources that you can peruse to help you identify/determine what it means to be an American.  These articles were submitted by your peers from resources they found.  These are not the opinions of the teacher, nor are they necessarily the opinions of the students who submitted them.  They are to be used for research as you consider and attempt to develop an answer to the focus question.

 

 

What does it mean to be an American in 2006 - USA Today

 


Text from another article from USA Today:

What does it mean to be an American?

 

Ezio Moscatelli - Columbia, Mo.

 

As the country grapples with controversial subjects such as immigration, gay marriage and a war on terror, we asked readers to share their thoughts on what it means to be American today.

I love being an American, and I'm glad to be able to share my feelings. Gratitude looms large. Although I'm not religious, it describes one of my major responses to the question, "What does it mean to be American?"

I've experienced ways of life in other countries, so I can appreciate the difference the American experience brings. I am a first-generation Italian-American. I am also familiar with Austria because my son has started a family there. Both Italy and Austria have elected governments, viable and modern economies and many cultural characteristics arguably superior to ours. But, however free those citizens are, they're not as free as those of us who reside in the USA.

As an American, I have felt a sense of duty to country. I served in the Army during World War II. While there are many ways to repay our wonderful country for its bounty, military service was the right path for me.

"American" can be described in many ways, but most of all it's about appreciating my country, loving it deeply and doing what I can to make the USA a better place.


 

What does it mean to be an American? 

 Written by "Ashamed"


What does it mean to be an American?

Written by Sarah Song


What does it mean to be an American?

Short article from Newsvine.com


What does it mean to be Asian American?

by Jeff Yang


What it means to be an American

by Josh Ruxin of The Huffington Post


Full text from USA Today Article

 

Viktor Schreckengost turned 100 last week.

Born in Sebring, Ohio, the artist has witnessed the birth of the color photo and the death of the telegram. He has seen 18 U.S presidents and a half-dozen wars that they led.

Amid the highs and the lows of a century of change, he says, one thing has remained constant: what it means to be an American.

Now, 230 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, USA TODAY has asked Schreckengost and others to look in a mirror. In the past year, the nation has experienced devastating hurricanes, scandals in Washington, the high price of gas and the high cost of war. With that in mind, what does it mean to be an American in 2006?

VOICES OF A NATION: What it means to be an American | Readers' letters

"It's still the same as it was when I was a kid," Schreckengost says. To him, freedom, honesty and loyalty continue to represent the values of the nation he loves. "We have the opportunity to follow our own beliefs," he says.

His views seem to reflect those of many Americans. A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken June 23-25 shows that most continue to embrace the core values espoused by the Founding Fathers. More than 70% say most Americans still respect freedom of speech and religion. But when asked to compare today's values with those of five years ago, 68% say Americans are more materialistic now, and almost half — 48% — say Americans are less tolerant of the views of others.

"It's like everybody has to have everything," says Jeannie Griffith, 48, of Springdale, Ark. Griffith says the quest for new and better possessions steals time from families. When she was a child, her father taught her how to pinch pennies so hard that they "scream," she says.

"What was important was surviving and making sure your family had food on the table and making sure the bills were paid," she says. "We would be a stronger nation if we quit spending money on things we really don't need."

Laura Ryan, 35, of Flagstaff, Ariz., sees Americans spending less time nurturing their relationships and building a sense of community. "Americans are so concerned with their individual needs that they don't look at what's good for the country as a whole," Ryan says.

That's not the case for some. Danny Ewell, 43, a truck driver from Greeneville, Tenn., drove relief supplies from Washington, D.C., to Waveland, Miss., for victims of Hurricane Katrina. He says he felt "honored to be able to step up to the plate."

Todd Nickel, a 16-year-old student from Rochester, Minn., spent a week in Washington this summer with a church group. His volunteer work included trips to a soup kitchen, a homeless shelter and Lafayette Park, where he handed out water and hygienic kits to the needy across the street from the White House. For him, being an American "means just to do the most you can and try to make the most out of your life and help the country out with what you're doing."

That's also how Air Force Capt. Nathan Broshear, 31, views his role.

Broshear expects to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan in the fall, his first foray into a war zone. By supporting freedom and human rights around the world, he says, he's serving a cause that is bigger than himself. "We're not a nation that simply lets things happen," he says. "We're a nation that makes things happen."

Emily Wood, a single mother who lives in Poland, Maine, also considers Americans dynamic people With the help of a state program called Parents as Scholars, Wood, 28, is finishing her bachelor's degree at the University of Southern Maine. She is double majoring in psychology and social and behavioral sciences.

"One of the wonderful things about America is that we are continually making progress," she says. "We make progress because we continue to question the way things are now and we continue to challenge the system. What it means to be an American is to continue this process, to continue to ask how we can make this country better."

Americans are obligated to think about tomorrow, says Tony Hernandez, a lawyer in Cape Canaveral. Hernandez, 46, came to the USA from Cuba as an infant in 1961, two years after Fidel Castro came to power. As an immigrant, he treasures his freedom — and says he never forgets his duty to the next generation.

"This country has a lot to offer a lot of people," he says, "but we all have a responsibility to this country that adopts us and gives us the opportunity to prosper and have the freedom and have the opportunity to give something to our children that the country we came from could not."

Two famous national figures say that being American means being blessed with opportunities. Dick Clark, 75, the iconic face of American Bandstand and of New Year's Eve in Times Square, calls Americans "one of the luckiest people on the face of the earth."

So does Donald Trump, 60, the host of TV's The Apprentice, who says we're "fortunate" to be American citizens. Trump says the challenges we face globally will test but not defeat us. Americans are hard-working people, he says, and "the ideals we share have remained the same since 1776."

Like Trump, Schreckengost doesn't believe those core values have changed. On the contrary, "I feel like my freedom has grown," he says.


What is an American?

Article by Peter Ferrara on the National Review


Article from Daniel B. Jeffs of The Direct Democracy Center

 

 

September 14, 2001

WHAT DOES BEING AN AMERICAN MEAN?

Being an American means enjoying more security, freedom and liberty than any other nation in the world. Being an American means supporting and defending American democracy and every democracy that supports America. Being an American means pledging allegiance to the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands.

Being an American does not mean coming to America to become an American for no other reason than to have the freedom to harm other Americans for profit. Being an American means to be free from those who come to America not to become Americans but to harm Americans on behalf of foreign powers.

Being an American means being educated and participating in democracy. Being an American means learning about American history and what it means to our survival. Being an American means re-examining ourselves in times of adversity and coming to no uncertain terms with those who threaten or undermine our freedom.

Being an American means trusting in the establishment of our Constitution "...to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity..."

Being an American means that we cannot abide any attack against our people or our country by any evil in the world. Being an American means that we must exact American justice against all those responsible for acts of terrorism against America up to and including the cowardly, heinous acts of war committed on September 11, 2001 in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

What does it mean to be an American? It does not mean living in fear of terrorism. It does not mean living in a culture of social aggression, political rancor, legal anarchy, superficial selfish interests and media-driven chaos. And, clearly, it does not mean living in fear of terrorism. Being an American means living free, love of country and the constant effort to make it better. At this point in time it probably means that "we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore."

However, there's something else about being an American that's disturbing, indeed, self destructive. Before the smoke of death had settled on the day of infamy, this American watched a troubling segment of a program that aired on public television. "History of the Future: Technology and the Global Village" contained a piece by a teenager about being American.

In the production a teenage girl skated around on her roller blades talking to people about what it means to be American. Her conclusion between each interview was to skate up to the camera, smile and say, "What does it mean to be an American or to be in America? Nothing! It's just a place where you live." Then she made the peace sign and roller bladed away.

Is that casual glibness our future? Considering the way our culture has eroded, maybe so. Meanwhile, this American wonders what America will do about this deeply seeded crisis, and what that young film producer thinks about being American now...

Daniel B. Jeffs, founder

The Direct Democracy Center


Young Voices - What it means to be an American

by Mark Jacks


What it means to be an American

Blog/response/discussion on Library Thing


A Short Essay: Proud to be an American

by Todd Newton on his personal blog


What it means to be an American

Yahoo! Answers posting


What it means to be an American

Research Essay


American by Choice

An article by Peter Schramm published on the Weekly Standard


Deepak Chopra: What it means to be pro-American

Alan Colmes on his site/blog Liberaland


What the hell am I supposed to do with all these constitutional rights?  

By Bryan Riitgers of The Onion staff


What it means to be American

Posted by "foospro86" on the site Conservative Colloquium


What it means to be American

Article published on the Foundation for Economic Education's site


How Americans see Americans

by Emily Bazar published on USA Today's site


 

 

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