Since America has been created, tons of people have been travelling here and starting new lives striving for the success they deserve. Different aspects can add up to the identity of America. America has been widely shaped by citizen’s uniqueness, their ethnicity, and chances they have to become successful. Though there is a lot that molds American Identity, America has been shaped due to different lifestyles, which is illustrated through people’s individuality, religions and race, and opportunities. Everyone has a different lifestyle, which in the big picture creates American Identity.
Individuality creates everyone’s uniqueness and shows what people can bring to society. In “American Identity: Ideas, Not Ethnicity,” author Michael Jay Friedman explains the difference between the “Melting Pot or Salad Bowl” metaphor. Friedman states, “They strain at first to overcome their differences, but by film’s end all have bonded – as Americans” (Friedman). This quote clearly explains the strain that Americans have overcome to create a bigger whole, which has become America. No matter how many differences each and every American has, they can all come together to create something much greater than anything else, a free country with a lot to offer. In another part of “American Identity: Ideas, Not Ethnicity,” Friedman defines how there is no picture perfect American. Friedman expresses,
“There simply is no one picture of a ‘typical’ American. From the powdered-wigged Founding Fathers to the multiracial golf champion Tiger Woods, Americans share a common identity grounded in the freedom – consistent always with respecting the freedom of others – to live as they choose” (Friedman).
In the text, Friedman explains how everyone is different, but in his or her differences Americans can respect the freedom of others, letting people be as unique as they please. In this nation, people have the freedom to do whatever they like, but it’s up to