American Culture – Inherently Divided

People from countries around the world don’t usually understand the obsession Americans have with “where we come from”.  There is a certain need Americans have to know, not only where they come from, but to identify with it as well.  Non-Americans don’t understand it.  You see, when you are born in Ireland, you are Irish.  When you are born in France, you are French.  But Americans don’t see it that way.  No one is just “American”, everyone feels the need to go more in depth or define what type of American they are.  You can be African-American, Asian-American, Mexican-American, European-American, etc etc etc.  There are constant questions about ancestry, and at pretty much every major company you work for now, newly hired employees have to fill out an EOE form (anonymously, of course) that gets reported to the government that tells them that you are hiring people from all nationalities and not discriminating. 

What is interesting, though, is that no one stops to question Americans’ obsession with ancestry and nationality.  When did it become so important to define exactly what kind of American we are?  I would argue that it possibly started way back with the founding of the country.  When the 13 colonies were joined together, they were British colonies, but had many other groups of people living in them.  So it could have started then in an effort to keep some of the heritage from their native countries alive. 

In the early 1900’s, during the waves of immigration through Ellis Island, millions and millions of foreigners poured into the country in an effort to escape persecution and search for the land where “the streets were paved with gold” and to live what became the American Dream.  What did happen was, naturally, groups of people from the same areas lived together in the same neighborhoods.  That’s why, in places like New York City, you have a Little Italy, Chinatown, Little Germany, etc, etc.  Living with people of the same background helped new emigrants acclimate themselves but also keep part of their culture alive.  Unfortunately, this belief that the phrase ”American” must be defined more, has, inevitably, separated its people along cultural lines.

It is hard to say what American culture really is.  It has been described as a “melting pot” where cultures can come together and blend to create one American culture.  I think it is patently obvious that that hasn’t really happened.  What people are now calling American culture is more of a “tossed salad” where different cultures come together but keep their own ingredients to create one large salad of a culture.  Sometimes, though, I wonder if we have become more of a three-course meal where different groups want to be completely separate from the cultures that have come together in the US. Obviously not all cultures are going to mesh well, and there will always be some sort of conflict between different groups of people. 

My question is, though, is it really all that necessary to define ourselves as different kind of Americans?  When we ask someone where they are from, can’t we mean the state or the city instead of ancestry?  People insist on claiming other areas of the world as their own when they have never even set foot on that country’s soil – forget about being a dual citizen.  I understand wanting to identify with a certain culture – I most certainly identify with one that others may not identify with.  But why the need for classification? 

This post is merely food for thought – but it must be remembered that if we live in the United States, we are all Americans and until we remember this, we will always be divided.

“United we stand, divided we fall.”