greedy. redneck. work-a-holic. excess. mono-linguistic. fast food. fat & happy.
This is the list of traits my cross-cultural class thinks the world sees Americans. I don't know about you, but this list doesn't describe me. So who are we? I know who I am, but does that necessarily describe you? I like movies, music, and dining out, does that make me American? As my professor was asking for examples I couldn't think of anything except freedom. Obvious answer I would think, but no one said that one, in fact no one said anything positive. Read the list again. Tell me one thing up there that makes you proud of your heritage. Honestly, I felt a little sick inside to think that my peers show an extreme lack of pride in who they are as a nationality. There is a lot that we should be proud of. How about the fact we have a fascinating and highly advanced economic system? How about the fact we have freedom of speech? Freedom of religion? We can go anywhere we please, we can explore, think, and discover. As a woman I like knowing that I can have my own career without someone trying to push me back into the kitchen. American to me is being an independant, strong woman who vocalizes her ideas and doesn't like to be told she can't. I'm American because I love cheese grits and going to church on Sunday. I love being able to vote and write angry letters to companies, so that makes me American. I love art, music, and everything beautiful because of America. I think being something means that that something has shaped you into who you are. I am American because I was born in America, and the things that I have learned is because of my environment.
So who are you? What are you proud of? What is being American to you?
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Abby, I agree with you. America should be seen as more than an overbearing, overlitigious, overpowering ogre. It's the place where we can go to Wakulla Spring on Saturday afternoons and drink sweet tea on front porches. You bake pies, you know all about it. And although we may travel far and wide and experience new and different things, we'll always think of a hand patched quilt as being the warmest blanket and baseball being the best pastime. Especially in this time of partisan division, blue vs. red, I wish someone would offer up the list that most defines them as americans. I think we'd all be suprised how similar our values are. Ain't that american, home of the free...
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