What does it mean to be American?
On the surface, the question of ‘what it means to be an American’ would normally invoke an emotional response of patriotism, freedom, and the opportunity to live one’s dreams. While this is true for me in the larger context, however, ‘what it means to be an American’ is deeper and has a more visceral meaning to me. To quote Ayman from the New York Times interactive story project about being an American, “I think America was an idea sold to different groups of people and rebranded multiple times, for my parents it was opportunity to escape a third world country for a better life.” Yes, this quote says it all, ‘America’ was founded by people escaping persecution and wanting to establish a better life for themselves and their family. I am Cambodian American and my story of emigrating to the United States is fundamentally the same as those who came before me from all corners of the world. So, yes being an ‘American’ is collection of all our combined experiences, dreams, and ingenuity that continues to shape the landscape of what being ‘American’ signifies.
…show more content…
There are many unique things about the United States, for example, we are one of the first republics of the modern era, we never had a coup, or a revolution and we are considered the most stable democracy in the world. And the list is long, however, in my opinion, it is the people that make the United States unique. We bring our cultures, talents, energy, ideas, accomplishments to the existing the ‘landscape’ and to the tapestry and fabric of what makes this country