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From this assignment, I have made a couple of different takeaways. The first is the reminder that I am privileged to live in America as an upper-class cis white woman. Another conclusion I came to, is that patriotism is overrated and instead of feeling prideful of our country, we should want to strive for more change and improvement. My last thought is that the definition of what it means to be American has a different answer per person, as your identity influences your response.

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Being an American is regardless of the racial and ethnic group or religion. As the terms of being "patriotic" has changed throughout the time, being white is not the source that represents patriotism which was mentioned in the second source. Willing to be a part of the society of Americans, and having the loyalty of the country are the main ideas of being patriotic, which also indicates being an American. However, there are people who still don't feel comfortable about defining themselves as Americans due to the difference of their background. Therefore, the third source I researched included more information about various ways that people can think and feel comfortable about being an American such as being proud to be in America and fighting for America, which shows being born in the US is not the only way to be defined as an American.

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After completing this assignment, there are a couple takeaways that I have made. One take away I have is that being an American is not defined by others, as well as it is not necessarily defined by one's background. Being an American does not have a specific look, it does not matter what a person looks like or what their background looks like. Part of being an American is about exercising one's freedom to speak and fighting for one's right (the improving of the democracy and country). The term "being an American" has changed overtime especially because of what George Washington said and how he made this idea of what being an American meant. Also the idea of the "American Dream" was another thing that I was thinking about and how this made the presumption of what the American life was. It was displayed as hopeful idea and life where it was advertised as “this is where your dreams will come true so move to America

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The main thing that I took away from this activity is that being an American isn’t always what it is supposed to be. All of my sources had significant evidence to how many people feel that living in the United States doesn’t always feel as free as it is supposed to. Many Americans feel even though they are American citizens they are treated with disrespect. My sources show that America is now split into politics, races, and lifestyles and members do not feel as though they are a part of one community.

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Based on the research and reading I have done these are the takeaways I have:

1. In order to be considered an american you must either be born in American or have immigrated to America and become a citizen.

2. While being technically considered an american is not that difficult or complicated, actually feeling like an american and trying to adapt to American culture is. In order be an american you need to agree with the laws in the constitution and be able to navigate the social norms created by the white, english majority in America. Because the USA is considered a “melting pot” of different identities this can end up leaving many people feel left out or forced to change things about themselves to be come more American. These issues are further complicated by political parties calming different things about what makes people Americans. For example, a republican might consider being patriotic as being a large part of brewing an american where as a democrat many not. Many other differences that make us who we are such as race, gender, sexuality, and age can also affect how difficult it is to become culturally “American”.

To conclude I am going use a quote from an article that explains my point really well.
“What is now formally required of immigrants seeking to become American citizens most clearly reflects the first two models of solidarity: professed allegiance to the principles of the Constitution (constitutional patriotism) and adoption of a shared culture by demonstrating the ability to read, write, and speak English (liberal nationalism).” (Sarah Song, 2020)

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Being American can define so many different things, but some of the main sources that make one identify as American are to have lived in the US for long time, or to have rights and responsibilities in the US. Something that was new for me was that you can be American if you choose to.

Two things that were interesting to me was that
1. You’re most likely to be willing to sacrifice yourself and fight for your country in order to identify as American. This is a contrasting aspect of being American from what we usually think of such as freedom and opportunities.
2. Even when a person has lived a long time in the US or they’re family’s background is involved in the US, that doesn’t result in the person feeling as American. And ironically, even when someone identifies as American they can feel they’re not American because of their race and others’ response to that. I think it’s important that everyone should be able to identify and be treated as American regardless of race.

As I was trying to find the definition of being American, I learned that there are no specified or clear standards in being American. The standards of being American can differ by each individual.

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1) Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem was something we talked about.  He kneeled because he was standing up for what he thought was right and yet many americans thought it was unpatriotic of him. This is ironic because America as we know it was built because of people standing up for what they thought was right, it's in the constitution. And now it is seen as "unpatriotic"
2) With the political division within this country, what it means to be an American has become equally divided. Patriotism has become more of a republican linked term rather than something for everyone to use. In our discussion we were wondering how if our country was actively at war/in conflict would both parties become more linked to patriotism?
3) Being American also means you have the freedom to speak up for what you think it right in order to make this country better for everyone. No matter what party you identify in both parties are trying to make the country a better place based off of their views. Because both parties don't agree with each other it's hard to see the simple connection of the fact that all of us, as Americans, are fighting to make this country better by using what we believe is right. This is also dangerous because it creates so much division between parties.

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1. Media and television portray being an "American" as only one way, something more comfortable and easy. This portrayal feels out of touch to a majority who may not live life like in a television series. The media excludes from TV what experiences may be uncomfortable or too real, but this does not accurately represent the "American" experience.

2. Terms like "patriotic" and "American" have been coined over time to represent the Republican party. Over time, the term 'patriotic' specifically has shifted towards the Republican party, and especially older generations. There is a new connotation to the definition of patriotism now that has been politicized in a way where others can't identify with it because of their party or because they don't feel represented in the term "American."

3. When zooming out, we can see that "American" is a term that has been used to only represent the United States when there are other countries that fall under the literal definition of America (South America, North American countries other than the US). These countries and people don't feel able to use the term American to identify themselves since it is used too commonly to represent people inhabiting the United States.

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Takeaways:

Being American can means more than just having an American citizenship or living in America. Being an American can mean for an individual to gain freedom and equal opportunity from the society and take responsibilities, doing their part to keep the society running properly, which can be paying tax, voting, and other responsibilities that an individual should do for the society.

Also, being an American might mean to have the feeling of wanting America to be a better society, not discriminating others, and having the want to make America better and creating new changes not only for an individual person but for everyone.

Lastly, being an American can mean to have pride and patriotism towards America more than any local discriminations, like racism, as whether others say an individual is not American they can be defined as American with the pride and patriotism they have in mind.

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Anyone can become an American if they are willing. It does not matter what their abilities are, what they look like, what they believe in, or where they came from. As long as one is willing to advocate, support, and pursue the interest of the common good of all their fellow citizens. No one person is more American than the other. Being an American means having the opportunity to pursue ones own individual interest with freedom and within reason.

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Although there are many differing opinions and perspectives throughout the country, everyone is still considered American. It doesn’t matter what religion or political view one has, everyone should strive to respect and acknowledge differences in identities, as one is not more American than another. It doesn’t matter how someone looks or where they come from, to be American means to hold up the ideals of equality and liberty in the country and being willing to advocate for others and not just yourself to make the country a better place for everyone.

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Takeaway: Being an American TODAY means having the liberty to challenge outdated ideologies and faults within our society. Being American is not supporting all that it means to be an American according to this country's leaders and representatives but it is wanting America to be better and not looking past implemented laws that no longer serve an inclusive and diverse community. As Americans we should want America to be better and create change that not only benefits ourselves alone but our country as a whole.