Being An American Essay

I believe there is no simple answer to what being an American means. I think that the background which a person is raised in influences their definition of an American. Being an American can mean many different things to different people and that is where the line becomes blurred as to what does it actually means. Merriam-Webster dictionary states that an American is, “ a person born, raised, or living in the U.S.”. Being an American includes the Lakota Sioux, Chinese, Japanese, Mexicans, African Americans, Jewish, and many, many more. An American is simply someone living on United States soil. Throughout history, many minority groups have and are still sacrificing to be considered an American. Chinese laborers working hard to build the transcontinental railroad. They were forced to do all the work that nobody else wanted to do and were made to work through the dead of winter. After the transcontinental railroad was completed, they were not needed anymore. The Chinese were pushed out of towns and had to live in slums. Then, in 1882 Congress passed an immigration act stating that Chinese could not gain citizenship. Japanese were also not
Members of minority groups were lynched, shot, convicted for crimes they did not commit, and plenty more appalling things. Also, it is good to understand American’s history towards groups so that history does not repeat itself. Today, Americans still struggle with hate. Many of the groups that were treated with hate in the past are still experiencing hate today. Lincoln said that this nation was dedicated to the proposition of equality. Minorities and groups were not treated equally in history and are still not treated equally today. Today’s generation could be the face to end inequality of thousands of different groups and