Standing in a crowded
room waiting for the USCIS Assistant to call my name, I can see hundreds of
unfamiliar faces. The faces differ in skin, hair, and eye color. These
individuals are different heights, weight, speak various languages and
immigrated to the United States. Their physical characteristics cannot
nearly define where they have come from, or what they have done to get to where
they are today. Thousands of individuals, like the ones filling this room, come
from all over the world to America hoping for success and prosperity. They must
leave the country they once called home, and immigrate to an unfamiliar country
where they must adjust their lifestyle and tradition. Every immigrant shares a
common desire; to one day become an American citizen. Today is the day I
“officially” become an American.
Throughout history the
rhetorical question “What is an American?” has remained unanswered. The French
author Michael-Guillaume-Jean de Crevecoeur attempted to define an American,
“He is either an European or descendant of an European, hence that strange
mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country” (Daniels 101). I
strongly disagree that an individual must be from European descendents to be
considered an American. I, for example, immigrated to the United States from
Mexico with my family in search of a better future. I was two years old when I
first came to America. I have no childhood memories of the two years I spent in
Mexico. The United States is where I grew up, and even though I wasn’t born in
this country, it’s the land I call home.
Crevecoeur also mentions, “ He is an American, who, leaving behind
him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode
of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he
holds. He becomes an American by being received in the broad lap of our Alma Mater” (Daniels 101). I am not sure
what Crevecoeur means by leaving behind ancient prejudices and manners; but
immigrants definitely have to make drastic changes to their lifestyles in order
to adjust in the United States. Crevecoeur adds,”the notion that an immigrant
could shed his culture the way a snake sheds his skin is nonsense” (Daniels
102). It is entirely up to the individual to either keep or lose their cultural
traditions, values, and morals. My family continues with the same morals,
values, and traditions as we had in Mexico.
Crevecoeur continues by
saying “Here [in America] individuals of all races are melted into a new race
of men, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in the
world” (Daniels 101-102). The United States is made up of thousands of
individuals who have traveled from all over the world and have overcame
numerous obstacles to achieve success. America is known as a “melting pot” due
to the racial and ethnical diversities of every citizen. The numerous
individuals that have immigrated to America do not melt into a new race of men,
they simply have the same purpose as every other citizen of this country, the
ambitious goal to succeed and prosper.
When I think of an American;
there isn’t a specific race, ethnicity, or culture that comes to mind. America
is the country it is today because of all of the immigrants that have suffered
through indentured labor and humiliation to achieve the American dream and
succeed. There is no race, ethnicity, or culture that defines an American; it’s
the ambition, dedication and determination to succeed that make an individual
an American.
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