The Cultural Identity Of The United States

America is commonly characterized as the greatest country in the world, the glorious “land of the free and the home of the brave”, “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”. This idealization of the American identity conveniently focuses on what people want to hear and blurs out most everything else. In reality, Americans do not live up to the dreamscape created by our views, and we never really have. America is no longer characterized by its freedom and democracy, nearly every first world country can afford that luxury. Nor are we set apart by the great opportunities given to our people, for those are far from universal. We aren’t equal, we aren’t unified, we aren’t kinder or smarter or richer than any other country across the board. It’s easy to find the shortcomings of American culture, all the things we aren’t, but the things we are have proven to be more elusive. First, let’s examine the nots.

According to the Hay’s addressing model, my cultural identities as a Latina woman of low socioeconomic status makes me part of non-dominant groups. My identities set me apart from the majority population which means that; I am perceived inferior than those of dominant groups. My lineage constitutes of indigenous ancestors that like me, share a darker skin tone that till this day is seen imperfect.

Though it does not come up in everyday thought, cultural identity is an idea that all humans possess. Abridged, cultural identity can be simply explained as the sharing of a similar culture by people of various ethnicities. However, cultural identity is more complex than that, defined by an individual’s values, beliefs, and ideas of moral behavior influenced by their culture. Furthermore, cultural identity is ever changing from individual to individual. This means that although two individuals may be of the same ethnicity, differences in circumstances may cause variations between the individuals’ personal beliefs. As a result of interracial interactions, multiculturalism has grown during the twenty-first century.

There is a Mexican man that enters with the rest of his family. They eat beans, rice, flour tortillas and etc. The family does there every day routine, the dad wakes up at six- thirty to go to work in his truck. The children go to school and the mother stays at home. The things a person does in their all has a reason which goes all back to culture. Culture is what makes up everyone different from one another. Texts such as “What is Cultural Identity?”, “Where Worlds Collide” and “Two ways to Belong” supports that depending on one’s culture it effects one perspective on the world and others.

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,

The United States is shaped by its cultural myths. Cultural myths are widespread views or notions that are held and propagated by a nation to enforce its values. Among the great American cultural myths is the cultural myth of “educational empowerment” (Mann 110). It is the idea that the quantity of schooling is the yardstick of intelligence and the singular predictor of success. The notion that children fed into the machinery of education at an early age will be extruded further along the process equally and efficiently educated. However, like all cultural myths it is misleading, if not outright false. Problems in education throughout American history have made access to a good education difficult, if not

Prior to the French and Indian War, colonists were somewhat satisfied with Great Britain. The laws imposed on the colonies were usually unenforced giving the colonies free reign over most aspects of their life. Despite the distance between North America and the mother country, colonists considered themselves equal with British citizens living on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. At this point, the colonists had no intentions of breaking off from the mother country. As John Murrin says in his essay “The Dilemma of American National Identity”:

For hundreds of years, people have been immigrating to the United States in search of freedom, better living and the fulfillment of the American dream. Being an American means to uphold values of independence, responsibility and freedom. Patriotism and unity are main agents for a nation's identity. These values have been forged by our forefathers, and still remain vibrant in the American culture from east through west. As we will see, the existing American identity has been influenced by many factors, such as the Frontier, the Melting Pot and the political thoughts on this nation.

I chose to write about the key components of the American identity in the 1600 to 1750. The colonies had freedom, liberty, religion, and diversity. Freedom from the strict rule of Great Britain; having the ocean in between them made it hard for Great Britain to keep close control of the colonies. This allowed the colonies the liberty to rule themselves and practice their religions. People who lived in the colonies were not all English; they were French, Jewish, German, Swedish, Dutch, and Scots-Irish. Others were a mixture of many different ethnic groups. This group of people could not be found anywhere else in the world at this time. This helped create a separate identity from Britain.

In the excerpt from “The Crisis of American Nationality” Susan-Mary Grant describes the northern viewpoint and its strong disapproval of southern ideology and how it “took on the attributes of a sectional” identity.

Ever since our ancestors began to migrate to this country, we have been in conflict with each other. Facing off against each other through slavery, the civil war, and even against the Harlem Renaissance. Although our country has gone through this turmoil and faced ethnic issues, our true identity shines through with our fight for freedom, the ability to create our own-and america's- path through american ingenuity even in times of great distress. Through the workings of Jackson Pollock, showing how not to conform, and through the Jazz evolution; the american identity has always shown its fight for freedom and independence the country contains.

Although I am middle-aged, I have never traveled outside of the United States nor have I had the privilege to experience a wide diversity of cultures. Other than research or articles that I have read throughout my life, I have little knowledge pertaining to other cultures. However, through my former employment and my daughter, I have some experience and knowledge of the Hispanic families that relocated to our area.

Does someone's cultural identity affect how they look at the world an other people? Cultural identity affects how someone looks at the world and how they look at others. The culture that someone creates for themselves determines how they look at the world and someone. Your childhood, lessons you learn throughout your life, and your cultural heritage all effect your culture and how you look at people and the world. There is also some people that are not affected by their culture only affected by their childhood and lessons that they grew up with in other words there not affected by their parent's culture heritage their affected by their culture they made for themselves. Culture affects everyone and the extent of the effect determines how

American identity and values are shaped by history, in fact the Civil War illustrates exactly what McNeil is saying. The American Revolution left us with a terrible contradiction---the Constitution spoke of freedom, democracy, but slaves were still not free. The south ran on a plantation system, so they believed that if there was no more slavery there economy would collapse. They presumed true that the north would let them secede. However, the north saw it as an act of war. Leaders on both sides made hard choices, and ordinary Americans shed blood to determine the outcome. Because of them, we take for granted now this unified nation, dedicated to the principle that all citizens are born free and equal. These things are burned into our sense

Cultural identity is the basis in which identification is used to express different aspects pertaining to identity and heritage. A person's cultural identity may be created by social organization, as well as traditions and customs within their lives. The two aspects that construct my cultural identity are the frequent chores I must complete every day in order to fulfill my behavioral expectations, and the youth group I attend weekly. These aspects are important to my family and me. Therefore, my identity has an immeasurable effect on my upbringing into this multi-cultural world I live in.