what makes the american identity

What makes a person… an American?

I guess I am an American because I was born here.

But what does that mean to those Americans who were not born in America? Can their identity as an American be discounted? Do they have to pick or choose?

My mother and father are Americans, but they were not born here. Do they have to pick or choose too? And if they don’t get to choose, am I still an American?

I know that the Colonists did not suddenly throw their cultures or their origins away. Did that all change as soon as they called themselves… American?

No! Because they brought their cultures and origins with them, and many of the aspects that encompassed their pasts.

Then can’t they keep their cultural identities and still be considered American?

Maybe the American identity isn’t concrete? It is everchanging and diverse, just like the people that America consists of.

There is a lot more to the American identity than people tend to consider…

But even though the American identity might seem complicated, there is a universal fact…

…American or not, we all owe it to each other to respect our differing cultural identities, as complex and varied individuals!