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"In my younger years, my father gave me some advice. The ability to do what is good and right is not given out equally at birth. The rich and powerful -- who should have it -- often do not. And those who were born knowing neither good nor right, sometimes know it best."

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Today's Fourth of July holiday, our country's birthday, marks a new beginning for undocumented Americans like me.

Last month, TIME magazine featured an unprecedented photograph of 36 undocumented young people, myself included, on the cover of its U.S. and international editions. "We are Americans," the headline declared. "Just not legally." Shortly after, President Obama, in the most significant step in the fight for immigrant rights since President Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986, issued a directive to stop the deportation of an estimated 1 million DREAM Act-eligible undocumented youth and welcome them to our workforce. America, in turn, embraced 1 million dreams. And in last week's Supreme Court decision on Arizona's immigration law, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion for the highest court in the land: "As a general rule, it is not a crime for a movable alien to remain in the United States."

As we celebrate America's Independence Day -- as we explore what it means to be American on the most American of all days -- I also celebrate my independence from the word "illegal."

Academics and lawyers will be quick to point out that I, in fact, was never a "criminal." Being in the U.S. without authorization is not a crime, but rather a civil offense for the country's estimated 12 million undocumented residents. Yet for too long, the rhetoric around immigration has been shrouded in and synonymous with criminality. As a cable news producer on Aaron Sorkin's "The Newsroom" tells a colleague in the show's most recent episode, we've grown accustomed to talking about human beings as if "we're talking about scraping gum off our shoes."

"These people chose to take a huge risk to become Americans," the producer notes, "and they deserve a better descriptor than 'illegals.'"

To me, what it means to be an American goes beyond your place of birth or the documents you have, back to when throngs of Irish, Italian and Eastern Europeans crossed the Atlantic Ocean in search of a better life, no papers asked. What it means to be an American is less about who you are than what you are about-- how you live your life, how you contribute to this country, how you pledge allegiance to a flag hoping and praying it will make room for you. What it means to be an American is in the hearts of the people who, in their struggles and heartaches, in their joys and triumphs, fight for America and fight to be American every day.

A few weeks after I "came out" in June 2011 about my undocumented status in an essay in the New York Times Magazine, Washington state revoked my driver's license. Among the first people to reach out to me was Aaron Sorkin. I've interviewed Sorkin before. He told me he was working on a new show about a cable news program, and that the second episode is set on the day Gov. Jan Brewer signed the Arizona immigration bill into law. He asked for my thoughts on immigration. In an email later, I told him about the first time I watched one of his films. It was 1997, not too long after I discovered that I didn't have the proper documents to live in America. I was watching "The American President," a movie starring Michael Douglas, and toward the end of the film, Douglas, as the president, says: "America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight." I was 16, lost and disoriented, and I told Sorkin that hearing those words helped me realize that I had to fight -- that America was a fight and that America had to be earned.

Undocumented Americans, aspiring citizens like me, have been fighting and will continue to fight for this country we call home. And, as more and more undocumented Americans and the people who support us -- the Good Samaritans in our lives, the teachers, pastors, neighbors and friends who make up our underground railroad -- "come out" and tell our stories, America's view of immigration and the nature of citizenship itself grows increasingly more complex and nuanced. It becomes about human beings.

Together with a small group of friends, I founded a campaign called Define American, which seeks to elevate conversation on immigration. And elevating and broadening the conversation means engaging different types of audiences from all walks of life. After appearing on "The O'Reilly Factor" last month, I received an email from Dennis Murphy of Omaha, Nebraska. The email reads:

"Mr. Vargas:

As founder and former state chairman of the Nebraska Minutemen, now merged with the Nebraska Tea Party, I was positively impressed by your interview with Bill O'Reilly. If I understand your situation correctly, you [were] brought into the United States by your parents when you were a young child, and they chose for whatever reason to do so in a fashion that avoided our immigration law. You now refer to yourself in your blog as "an undocumented American," which I believe is a fair and accurate assessment."

Thank you, Mr. Murphy, for considering me one of your fellow Americans. Let's keep the conversation going. Let's keep exploring what it means to be an American.

WATCH: Jose Antonio Vargas and others define 'American':

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Today's Fourth of July holiday, our country's birthday, marks a new beginning for undocumented Americans like me. Last month, TIME magazine featured an unprecedented photograph of 36 undocumented young people, myself included, on the cover of its U.S. and international editions. "We are Americans," the headline declared. "Just not legally."

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An incident that took place at a Starbucks in Philadelphia on Thursday, April 12th sparked protests as two black men were arrested for "loitering." The two men were waiting in the store for their friend who was going to have a meeting with them about real estate investments. One of the men asked to use the bathroom and the employee said the bathroom is for customers only. It isn't exactly clear what happened in the store but we do know that an employee called the cops on the men for not ordering.

There are a lot of issue with this situation especially considering my own personal experiences as a white person. People meet at coffee shops all the time for business or dates or hanging out and Starbucks is no stranger to that environment. I, as a white person, have gone to a lot of businesses to just be somewhere and not eat their food. I've bought tacos at 711 and ate them in the back of a Panda Express. I've gone to Wendy's and brought my food to the McDonald's next door because the place look nicer and I've never been kicked out. People do this all the time. And as someone who works part-time in the food industry, it's something you deal with because it doesn't matter. Telling someone to leave if they honestly aren't causing any real trouble isn't worth the time and effort.

Another big issue with this scenario is how the call immediately ended with arrest. The clip that went viral shows police officers arresting the two men while their friend is trying to explain the situation. Again, we don't quite know how much time had occurred between the call, the police showing up and the friend showing up, we can estimate that the entire scenario happened in a fifteen minute time window since they were meeting up with someone. That is still not a lot of time spent figuring out the situation which means the police didn't take time to think whether or not arresting them was really necessary.

The thing is, a police call does not require arrest. I know this first hand from having to call the cops on a person myself. For context, I was dealing with a drunk person in my home who had been acting aggressively towards me and the call was a last resort. An important thing to note is that the drunk person was white. When the cops came, they questioned us individually about the situation and reasoned with him as to why he needs to calm down. They didn't immediately arrest him even though he was an aggressor. They didn't threaten him even though he was being drunk and condescending. They just went on with their night.

If we compare these two scenarios, mine being a little bit more extreme because I had been dealing with an aggressive drunk person, compared to two people who were allegedly loitering in Starbucks, we can see that an arrest was severe. Nothing violent happened to them during the arrest because the two held a calm demeanor, even though they knew they did nothing wrong. However, being arrested is a terrifying and traumatic experience for anyone, but especially if you are a person of color.

To me, it's very obvious that the call was unnecessary, though for some reason other people are reluctant to agree. But this situation is not new. White people tend to view police differently than black people do. We tend to view them as a solution to the problem rather than the reason for all of the problems. A white women in the suburbs doesn't see an issue with calling the cops on the black person walking by her house. The white boy doesn't see the problem on calling the cops on a black person getting in a fight at a party. White people just don't see the harm in getting the cops involved in a situation like people of color do because we've had the police on our sides. Even in our most messed up situations where we did need to call the cops, we don't realize how much it could have escalated if we were people of color or if people of color were involved. But that's something we need to consider especially if the situation involved a non-violent crime like loitering where police force isn't necessary, where no ones lives are actually in danger.

A lot of people are saying that the Starbucks employee wasn't racially profiling, but they were. They absolutely were. Starbucks is very much a white store. Sure there are customers of color, but it appeals to the basic white suburban community. They are very specific to the types of customers they cater to and maybe they aren't as out about it as maybe some sports bar in the middle of Alabama, there's still that subtle racism that I wouldn't notice since it's not something I have to think about as a white individual.

If you work part-time in food service or retail, you profile your customers. When a white women with highlights comes into your store, you wonder how long it'll take for her to ask for your manager. When a person of color, specifically a black man, comes into your store, automatically you profile him. You look at his clothes and you pay attention to what kind of phone he has as if that says something about whether or not he lives somewhere. You look at your tip jar and you wonder if he'll notice if you move it away from him in case he tries to steal from it. Maybe you're not even having these thought consciously, maybe they're just quick passing thoughts, but what you're brain is doing is assessing danger that you think is there because society taught you it's there. It's screwed up, but we do it and we need to be more aware of it.

A call for boycott of Starbucks stores has been made on twitter. The Starbucks executive has issued an apology to the two that were arrested. Starbucks is closing U.S. stores on May 29th to have racial bias training.

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An incident that took place at a Starbucks in Philadelphia on Thursday, April 12th sparked protests as two black men were arrested for "loitering." The two men were waiting in the store for their friend who was going to have a meeting with them about real estate investments.

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How I define American identity is living in the land founded by both political and religious leaders, and being part of the American culture. As Americans we are viewed as the abolitionist who fights for what we believe is just. During the founding years of our nation we were led by thoughts of both the radicals and constrictive, religious and political leaders. Over the years we have come to reach a state of equilibrium between the opposing groups for a stable and functioning society.

Most Americans value civil rights. Compared to countries around the world, the United States is a younger country. From day one the United States has always been known for its freedom and democracy. Today's society is in a constant state of evolution. Every day there is new progress made somewhere; whether it is along the lines of technology, medicine or knowledge, somewhere in the world there are new advancements beings made continually. With America being such a young nation compared to other countries around the world we evolve at a rate much faster than most. If you look at the recent revolts over the past few years, they take place in regions where the governing limits the power of the people. In our society we the people limit the power of the controlling government. The Declaration of Independence opens with "We the people," including all of those who make up the nation. When the power is literally placed in the hands of those who it directly effects, by no means does this limit our people but pushes them to explore and question the unknown of the nation we control.

Even though our society can be broken down into different ethnicities, as a whole we are a culture of our own. A very unique bread of all our own, the values, dedication, hard work, and perseverance makes us American. With America being an infant country, we pull the strengths from all different regions of the world to build what we call the American identity. Regardless of where your blood has come from Americans come together to value hard work, perseverance, freedom, and determination to better their lives. Even though we all come from something different we all have the pursuit of happiness. All of this combined is why we call ourselves American and is what makes up the true American identity which we all can relate to.

To me, I am myself and no one else.I don't find following the role of someone else to be unique or enjoyable.I do what I enjoy regardless of other people's opinions. I personally would much rather become my own leader then follow someone else. Setting aside others' views on how I live my life allows me to live my life how I enjoy it, not how others think I should.

I enjoy a lively social life while still having my own personal alone time.One of my favorite pastimes is motocross or, anything a little on the edge mixed with speed. At the end of the day when the small things start to get to me, I always have my bike to hop on and just let everything go while I ride. When I am riding it allows me to have that time to myself and just enjoy what I am doing. Not having to worry about what else is happening in life with all of the stressors and responsibilities. Once I reach that point when I am relaxed I start to rewrap my head around all of the thoughts. I find that time important to clear my mind for that point in time. This allows me to regroup my thoughts and process them clearly.

One example that strikes my mind is from a few months back right at the start of my first semester at SUNY Fredonia. In early August I had experienced a loss in my family that really was quite mind-blowing, the death of my uncle and the next day the death of a friend. After the news was first relayed to me I didn't seem to believe it to be true. The first thing I did was grab my keys and load up my bike and take off to the local track for the rest of the day. That afternoon I spent what seemed to be like ten minutes riding my bike, when in reality I had been riding for hours. During that time I first managed to just lose myself and forget about everything. The very next day I spent the entire day on my bike again in attempts to straighten out what had seemed dreamlike and bring it back to reality. Over the second day, I used motocross as an escape to help clear my head, allowing it all too slowly once again be comprehended and accepted for what it's worth.

I believe that for myself motocross and bike are just two things that help me identify who I am. At times I am a bit outspoken; I have created enemies over speaking what is on my mind. To me it is very important to express your thoughts freely and clearly so others can understand your ideas. Sometimes I am not always right but when someone brings up a valid point and backs it up I respect it. When I was younger one of my teachers Mr. Frank Burst had told me, "Having enemies is not always a bad thing. It shows that over time you have stood up for something you believe in; consequently you will be taken seriously and never as a joke." I always try to keep that in the back of my mind during everyday life. By doing this I will never be pushed around and walked over for having a different opinion on something. I believe if you feel strongly about something you should stand up and support what it is you believe in. If you don't have the courage to stand up and support the belief you should not have the belief in the first place. I have learned that you sometimes have to act alone before others start to follow. Most of the time if you have a unique view on something there is someone who also has the same view, and if you act first others will follow. While I am not always the most open with discussion I am never afraid to support something I believe in. If it is something on personal side I most likely will not share it with you. When it comes to personal privacy I am respectful. If I feel the need to share something from my personal life it will be known. The odds are if it is something a bit more personal than I am not willing to share you will not clue there is something relevant there to relate to.

My own personal experiences I've had with American identity are something you cannot teach in a classroom setting. To me they are something that is much easier to comprehend with reflection on your own experiences as you grow up. Over the years I have been fortunate enough to travel all over the country and different parts of the world to experience culture first-hand. The American culture is truly unique, like no other. The American identity is full of perception and personal opinions. What your beliefs are something only you have to own up to. Not every family lives in a beautiful two-story home with a dog and a yard. Today the true American identity is becoming more of another radical. While we all have the same endpoint, individually we have our own pathways in the succession of achieving the goal at the end. Everyone takes in their own past experiences to create how they see topics differently. Psychology has proven that we all reflect back on our past experiences when it comes time to make a choice. In fear of committing the same mistake twice, we learn how use our experience to dictate our future actions.

Even though I am very proud of my Native American and Irish heritage it is not very often that I will identify as strictly that. I am sure that my ancestors before me have worked very hard of what they had become and shaped the lives of those after them, but I have been shaped by more than just my ancestors. I am one person who has been shaped by everything I am exposed to, from my heritage to those I come in contact with daily.

For me in my own experience from around the world the American lifestyle is something idolized by those who do not have it, and taken for granted by those who do have possession of it. I personally have spent the time over the years to sit down and talk with others from various parts of the world and hear their opinions about Americans as whole. The general consensus is that most do not appreciate what they have and how lucky they are. Over the well-invested time I have spent talking with others, I have heard several people mention radical gestures stating what they would do to just live the life of freedoms Americans have. I myself have been in both public and private schools going up and have had the chance to meet all different people. Some of my best friends are anything but a similar person--much more like opposites of each other. One of my best friends growing up would always tell me "you are so lucky that your parents are not divorced." Even though I would get into fights with my parents I would not have to deal with the stress of living out of two different homes with different sets of rules. I am come to understand how lucky enough I am to have only one place I call home. Another one of my good friends came from a very wealthy family with what most would call a very expendable income. This allowed me to witness the difference between someone who had too much and someone who hardly had enough. In high school he would buy new shoes every week simply because the other pair was dirty or scuffed. At the end of senior year for graduation he was handed the keys to a new truck while the rest of us got a pat on the back from mom and dad as they said, "we are proud of you, son."Most people would be happy with just having a car being me age, when he would not settle for a vehicle that was nothing less than what some would consider a small mortgage.

By being exposed to different extremes it has opened my eyes to how different the people of America are today but how as a whole we can come together as one country. One of my favorite questions I have always managed to ask over the years is "how would you feel if the government took away just half of your freedom and threatened your pursuit of happiness?" Oddly enough most people respond with very strong feelings of how they would feel obligated to stand against it and fight for it back. As Americans as a whole we are very fond of the privileges that we do have, even if we all do not use them to their true potential.Each individual has a unique place and without them, the country would not be the same. My own personal life experiences and those shared by others have helped develop who I have grown to become today.

Today I would identify myself as who I am and what I have become over the past 19 years. Everything from my hobbies, heritage, friends and family, personal characteristics, and past experiences have helped me find myself on what I would use to call my own personal identify. With my own personal identity discovered it can be used to contribute to another variety or blend into the personality that we have come to known as today's American Identity.

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How I define American identity is living in the land founded by both political and religious leaders, and being part of the American culture. As Americans we are viewed as the abolitionist who fights for what we believe is just.

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What does it mean to be an American? In a recent Gallup Youth Survey*, Gallup posed this question to U.S. teens (aged 13 to 17). Asked on an open-ended basis, the question allowed respondents to offer whatever answer came to mind. While some people might expect disinterested replies, teens' responses reveal a deep and sincere appreciation of the implications of their status as Americans.

Teens frequently mentioned freedom, or some aspect of it, in their responses. One 17-year-old boy said being an American means having "freedom to choose what school I want to attend, what church I want to go to, study what I am interested in, travel freely throughout this country without any restrictions, listen to any radio or TV stations that I want to, and achieve my career and educational goals ... without any influence from any government or military group." A 15-year-old boy said, "Being an American means being proud of my country and defending our right to free speech and the freedom to be who we are." He ended his comments dramatically: "I will defend my right to be free to the death."
Teens Don't Have to Agree With the Government
The war in Iraq has raised many questions about the meaning of patriotism. However, some teens stressed that being American does not mean one has to agree with all the government's actions. A 16-year-old girl said, "Being an American is just caring about the good of America. It doesn't mean agreeing with everything the government does, but at the same time you have to agree with the most core values ... freedom to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, speech, etc." A 17-year-old boy said, "It means having citizenship in the United States. It doesn't matter if you burn flags or join the armed forces, if you have citizenship you are American."
Many Note Freedoms and Welcome Diversity
The United States, by virtue of its founding principles, is a nation of diverse religions, cultures, races, and ethnicities. A 16-year-old girl said that being an American means being "able to have our own ideas and beliefs, and being able to express [them], along with the freedom of being an individual who is different from everyone." A 14-year-old girl gave this response: "I think to be an American means accepting others, treating everyone equally, being open to new ideas and thoughts, understanding and appreciating your freedom, and not taking what your ancestors did for granted."
Criticism and Apathy
A few teens gave apathetic answers, and some were notably critical. But such downbeat responses were rare. "To be an American is to be blind to [the] world's problems, and to consume its resources," said one 16-year-old boy. A 16-year-old girl commented, "I am grateful to be in a country with so many freedoms. I just don't like how high-headed America is and how we may be a little more headstrong than we can handle."
An Open Door to the Future
A common theme in the replies is that being an American and having freedom opens the door to great opportunities. One 13-year-old boy said it means "having the freedom to make choices in my life -- I can be as successful or unsuccessful as I want to be." A 14-year-old girl said to be an American is "to have freedom. To be able to dream and try to be anything you want ... My parents taught me to always do my best and to always have hope, even if you get knocked down over and over. In America, you have the right to always get up!"
Bottom Line
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly in these uncertain times, teens tend to show deep appreciation of what it means to be American. While writing about freedoms, they also note citizens' obligations. Negative and cynical voices are rarely heard. One 17-year-old girl reflected: "...we are a group of people who have dreams and live in a place where we have the chance to fulfill them." Another 16-year-old simply said it means "being part of a nation that tries to be good."
*The Gallup Youth Survey is conducted via an Internet methodology provided by Knowledge Networks, using an online research panel that is designed to be representative of the entire U.S. population. The current questionnaire was completed by 517 respondents, aged 13 to 17, between Aug. 1 and Aug. 29, 2003. For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±5 percentage points.

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What Being American Means to Today's Youth

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What does it mean to be an American? In a recent Gallup Youth Survey, Gallup posed this question to U.S. teens. Asked on an open-ended basis, the question allowed respondents to offer whatever answer came to mind. While some people might expect disinterested replies, teens' responses reveal a deep and sincere appreciation of the implications of their status as Americans.

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What are American values and what does it takes to be considered "American"?