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Add to FavoritesThis idea of a "true American" is pure fallacy. There are simply too many variables in this society to classify an American as simply a citizen of America. "Race", religion, etc. all play a factor in this.
True Americans are treated equally, true Americans do not need laws to have the right to be viewed as Americans, true Americans are these regardless of "race", creed, color, religion, etc. WE ALL KNOW THIS IS NOT THE CASE, let us be real. What group in this country truly enjoys the before mentioned?
U.S. soldiers are not fighting, killing, and dying for Black America, Latino America, Gay-America, etc. U.S. Soldiers are not doing these things for "minorities" of this country. So, let us use logic.
If the IWC (Ideologically White Caucasians, or those Caucasians who believe they are White)/White in this country is the majority and everyone else is a minority. It must be assumed the majority of those who are viewed as Americans, truly define this Americanism. I am a citizen of this country, but am considered a "minority" because of my skin color. Thus, U.S. soldiers are not fighting, killing, and dying for me or those who look like me. They are not doing these things for anyone but the majority of this country.
When Chinese soldiers fight in wars, they do this for every citizen of that country. When Iran fights in wars, they are doing it for everyone in that country. When Canada fights in wars, they are doing this for everyone in this country. When America fights in wars, they so do for the majority. There are no minorities in Chinese (at least to the extent of separating their citizenship), there are none in Iran, there are none in Canada. These countries fight the right of all who are citizens of said country. Everyone in these countries are treated the same (proportionally speaking).
Everyone in America is not treated the same, according to their citizenship. In fact, I dare to say, the actions these majorities of Americans also reflect what these soldiers are fighting for. If the majority of Americans believe in, practice in, or otherwise have privilege based on Racism (which is apparent), then these soldiers are also fighting for these feelings of the majority of Americans.
Now, this may be easy enough for the majority of Americans to accept, and sadly even most minorities accept this (even if they do not know it)..but this hypocrisy is not lost upon those whom you seek to mimic your own system, your own Democratic ideas. And it is this reason, this exact reason, why American wars are lost before they are fought.
No one expects perfection, we are imperfect by design, BUT EVERYONE is obligated to show progress. In this progress, one finds where they have done wrong, and attempts to repair the damage. This takes humility and self-respect.
The only true Americans in this country, are those former colonists of Britain, who in 1783 defeated the British to take possession of this land. Those IWC/Wasp who were on this land when this country was freed from the yokes of their colonial master (Britain) automatically became Americans because this is when America was founded. These are true Native Americans (Native meaning first, American a citizen of America; thus the first citizens of this country were Americans).
We know that Blacks (called Negro's at that time ((original meaning was from the Latin, meaning dead. When the Greeks saw the temples and shrines dedicated to their Gods in antiquity, they thought we worshiped our dead. The root word of Negro is Necro, Latin for dead. The full description of us were, Necropolis; Necro-dead Polios-city. City of the Dead. We are obviously not dead, but they thought we worshiped our dead) the later meaning came from the Spanish, Negro describing our Skin color..now, it means a Black person who is mentally dead.) were not true Americans, we were slaves. PNABS (Pre-North American Aborigines, or those who lived on this land before it was named America) were not true Americans, or Native Americans...why? Native Americans were not being fed poisoned meat, Native Americans were not being herded into impoverished land, to make room for more Native/True Americans, Native/True Americans didn't need laws to make them Americans.)
Thus, I believe that the only true Americans in this society, are those who enjoy the rights and privileges of being an American. Note: there is a reason IWC/White citizens of this country are termed the "Majority."
..think about it
Learn more about this author, Vincent Cooks.
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Yes
If you were assigned find all "Americans," you would encounter great difficulty because this nation displays such overwhelming diversity. We came here from everywhere else in the world, and we may become Americans either by birth or by choice. Our history is clouded by war and by prejudice, but "true" Americans will stand out in ways others do not.
Americans from the Beginning
People came here from Great Britain and Europe in order to escape conditions in their birth countries that were intolerable. Arriving on these shores in the 16th and 17th centuries, they wished and worked for a better life for themselves, and hoped for more for their children. They, politically speaking, were the first Americans.
Those we call "Native Americans" deserve to be called American by positional superiority, since they preceded other arrivals by perhaps twenty thousand years. Their conversion in the political sense was anything but gentle, so they usually take issue with the concept of "voluntary" Americanization.
None theless, in your search for "true" Americans deserving of the title, some of the players have been identified. Are there others we ought to include?
If we are completely honest, to be an "American" may mean something else on the other side of the world. Our nation's reputation and presence among other cultures is important in defining what may be "true." In fact, Canadians sometimes wonder whether the world forgets they, too, identify as Americans.
Who Are the Other Americans?
Hamid, who owns the convenience store and gas station a couple of blocks away, was naturalizedbecame a citizen through action of lawfive years ago, and he loves this country like few others. Why? His struggle to reach these shores and to learn how to fit in cost him and his family dearly, so he knows the face of democracy first-hand.
Georg and Ingrid, an elderly couple formerly of East Germany, were naturalized twenty years ago. They found life in their country difficult and dangerous, and they longed for a better future, so they pulled up stakes and came to the United States. Their struggles since that time have revolved mainly around honing their English and making many friends in the community. They are very committed to the notion that America has great potential for the future, and they are active in community groups seeking to realize that potential.
Many others not born on this soil call America home now. Are they "true" Americans? That all depends on how you view the life of a committed and dedicated American citizen.
Convenient or Right? We Choose
Americans are a hardy, scrappy bunch. We fight among ourselves all the time over less consequential things than life and death, but we usually unite behind larger concepts like the future of America. That is why this is such an important time. Our nation needs to be a trusted part of the community of countries all over the world. We really have no other viable choice, since only six or seven of us are off the planet at any particular time.
So what should we be doing? Here are some suggestions that may sound familiar.
A "true" American recognizes that the Constitution of the United States describes for the world who we are: a nation ruled by laws, laws that can be challenged within the framework of freedom and common sacrifice. We declare that we want to be free, which must mean that we are willing to extend freedom to others who choose it.
We tell the rest of the world that ours is the best system of government, and we sometimes demonstrate it by doing truly amazing and compassionate things for one another. We want the respect of the world community and its cooperation in living that better future.
A "true" American knows that beating people half to death in order to extract information from them is a violation of our basic principles of freedom and security. To believe that other humans somehow do not deserve the benefits that we enjoy is to say that there may be some other species running around out there that only appears to be "people." They are less than we are, from their very beginning, and therefore we may treat them with brutality without consequences. A true American knows better than this, and will work to ensure that this stops and never happens again.
If our founding documents are truly representative of what we want, and who we want to be, our freedoms and our benefits must be available to all people regardless of origin. If we are the people our government tells the world we are, then we need to become, once again, a beacon for the world. They are waiting for us to act, to be those "true" Americans they once knew.
Learn more about this author, Jon Dainty Sr..
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