Immigrants Shape American Identity

America consists of a variety of people, with all kinds of different backgrounds, such as their immigrant ancestors. “In the same sense, we cannot speak of a particular “immigrant contribution” to America because all Americans have been immigrants or the descendants of immigrants; even the Indians, as mentioned before, migrated to the American continent,” (Kennedy 23). Everyone that is “American”, their

In the boiling pot of America most people have been asked “what are you?” when referring to one’s race or nationality. In the short story “Borders” by Thomas King he explores one of the many difficulties of living in a world that was stripped from his race. In a country that is as diverse as North America, culture and self-identity are hard to maintain. King’s short story “Borders” deals with a conflict that I have come to know well of. The mother in “Borders” is just in preserving her race and the background of her people. The mother manages to maintain her identity that many people lose from environmental pressure.

In his essay “Blaxicans and Other Reinvented Americans” Richard Rodriguez supports his claim that identity is a choice by providing an anecdote that exemplifies his point. Rodriguez gives an anecdote about going to San Diego where he went to a convention of mixed-race children and he expected for the parents to be black and white. Then Rodriguez met a young girl. Rodriguez stated, “But this girl said that her mother was Mexican and that her father was African. The girl said “Blaxican.” By reinventing language, she is reinventing America (lines 187-189).” Rodriguez is demonstrating that the young girl is reinventing herself. She is reinventing herself by believing in who she is and choosing her identity.

In Richard Rodriguez’s essay “Blaxicans and other Reinvented Americans,” Rodriguez supports his main idea that a person can choose their own identity by giving an example from his own life experience. Rodriguez shares that he met a mixed girl in San Diego at a convention of mixed-race where they have to identify themselves as one race. He says, “This girl said that her mother was Mexican and her father was African, [but the girl considers herself as “Blaxican”]” (lines 188-189). By calling herself “Blaxican,” she reinvented her identity by creating a new word, just like how Rodriguez said, “ by reinventing language, she is reinventing America.” (line 189)

Defining what really is to be an American does not sound as easy as it seem. It will always be complex process. As immigration continues to fuel the growth of the population of our nation, racial and ethnic gap increase and evolve along with it. Racial and ethnic identities become more and more convoluted and difficult to understand. Race and ethnicity continue to intermingle and push a cultural shift in the US– a shift that plays a significant role in redefining America in a day-to-day basis.

Since the time of the American Revolution, people always asking “What is an American?-Today, Americans tend to believe the religion and the politics of government have had the biggest impacted on American identity because it has introduced a new system structure nations, cultures, and the Enlightenment's ideas to form the United States.

The increasing fear of crime and terrorism in the world is persuading many Americans that the country should close its door. But what about the fact that this country itself was founded by the immigrants? American journey of success would have not been possible without the generations of immigrants who have come to its shores from every corner of the world. I believe immigrants are a positive influence on America because they strengthen the country’s economy, allow people of America to learn about different cultures, languages and ideas, and shapes how the world views America.

What defines you? Is it the many tiny, wriggling spiders that could potentially be inside your body, the experiences you might have had in Istanbul, your list of hobbies which may or may not include crochet, or is it something a bit more trivial, such as where you come from? Who are you? Take a moment to reflect on yourself. In an essay concerning the argument of identity, Richard Rodriguez forces his readers to analyze themselves, particularly during the high climb of immigration in America today, because with the rising amount of cultures and ethnicities finding a home in this country, there really is no “black and white” answer. The question of identity is the key idea in Rodriguez’s Blaxicans, further expanded upon by careful word choice,

The colors of red, white, and blue reflect the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness established over two centuries ago by the nation’s forebearers. Being American is about anticipating change and being provided with the environment to dream. Americans have dreamed of a more equal union, where Women obtain the right to vote and African Americans are social equals. The country’s images of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller inspire the American dream, where individuals are not satisfied with their socioeconomic standing and have the opportunity to progress. Furthermore, only a minor portion of the United States population is of Native American descent. Therefore, the United States is a country of immigrants,

Richard Rodriguez’s use of irony in his essay “Blaxicans and other Reinvented Americans” supports his main claim that assimilation occurs naturally by exaggerating his ideas to the point that they sound fallacious. In turn, this causes his point to vibrant, stronger and more reasonable. During his interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation, a woman asked Rodriguez if he was “in favor” of assimilation. Rodriguez replied, “One doesn’t get up in the morning, as an immigrant child in America and think to oneself,”“How much of an American shall I become today?’... “One doesn’t walk down the street and decide to be 40 percent Mexican and 60 percent American” (Lines 146-148).

Richard Rodriguez's essay “Blaxicans and Other Reinvented Americans” reinforces the idea that race does not identify a person, culture is what defines a person and should be used to identify someone. Richard Rodriguez was in church listening when “[These people] were being welcomed into a new community for a reason of culture” (Rodriguez 90). Culture is being welcomed in church and other people are being nice enough to welcome a person just by their culture and traditions. Rodriguez’s considers himself Chinese because of that fact that he answered a survey with the following “I answered that I am Chinese, and that is because I live in a Chinese city and because I want to be Chinese. ”(Rodriguez 91).

Immigration has shaped America,but now it 's becoming harder and harder to enter this country. With the growing threat that immigration is bad and that illegal immigrants are stealing American jobs, many people believe the laws need to be even more strict. With Donald Trump recently elected that may become a reality. Trump has said “I will build a great wall” and also “anyone who is in the United States Illegally is subject to deportation” (Brandner). While it is important that Illegal immigrants be dealt with not all of them are bad. Immigration has shaped the United States before and will continue to help The United States as long as people want to live here.

Richard Rodriguez’s essay “Blaxicans and Other Reinvented Americans” illustrates that the race of people should be identified by their culture and not their race. For example, he states, “I am Chinese, and that is because I live in a Chinese city and because I want to be Chinese” (164-165). Richard Rodriguez identifies himself as Chinese because of the culture he is surrounded by on a daily basis. For instance, Richard Rodriguez states that culture should be the way to identify someone’s race, and he identifies himself as Chinese because that’s the culture he lives in. Richard Rodriguez also denotes, “I wear an Indian face: I answer to a Spanish surname as well as this California first name Richard” (39). This illustrates that Richard Rodriguez

Most Americans place their pride in being apart of a country where a man can start at the bottom and work his way to the top. We also stress the fact that we are “all created equal” with “certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” (Jefferson 45) During the early 1900s white Americans picked and chose who they saw fit to live in America and become an American. “Those that separate the desirable from the undesirable citizen or neighbor are individual rather than race.”

Everyday I am on a constant race to discover who I am as an individual. I am fighting this battle whether I choose to acknowledge it or not. Donald Hernandez has written in his book Children of Immigrants: Health, Adjustment, and Public Assistance; he talks about major key points, but the most important one state “Third, because life chances differ greatly according to race and ethnicity in the United States, and because of the race and ethnic composition of immigrants to this country has shifted markedly during recent decades,” (3). That is true trying to be one thing is very hard in USA society has an effect of how you may become as the individual. If I were in another country they would just see as an American and nothing else, but the place that I was born and raised they see me as what my parents are Nigerians. I am not American because my parents are from Nigeria; this has been a very constant thing, because of several definitions of what it