Essay On Being An American

Words: 1434
Pages: 6

“To be an American. Many take this phrase too lightly others, too strict. Being an American does not mean that you go to baseball games and eat hot dogs, but to live your life out to the fullest, not just waving around a flag every day. Being an American is to help another, whether it be Polish or Chinese or Afghan or Muslim. Being an American means helping your sworn enemy, even if you do not wish, but you shall help with dignity and pride. Being American means that you capture the true essence of every being, from the simplest little flower to the most-beautiful person in the world. Being American means to be united as one, under whatever deity you worship, and to be able to depend, rely, and give hope to each other. Because being American does not just mean living in America, every person has a part of being an American in them, deep inside, embedded, until they wish to release …show more content…
That is what a true American is.” Twelve year old Jonathan B. from Hawaii looks at America as a concept, not a geographical location. For this young man, to be an American is to have the sense of independence, freedom, and equality. However, for twelve year old Matt B., from Wisconsin, to be an American means something else, it means to hold patriotism for our nation. “When I think about September 11, 2001, I walk up and down my neighborhood waving an American flag. On September 11, 2002, I will wear an American shirt to school.” With these two opinions, it leaves many of us wondering what we feel it means to be an American.

While there are many different ideas of what it means to be an American, one of the absolutes is that it means freedom. To be an American means that you are free, free of inequality, free to vote, free to speak your mind, free to life your life as you wish. In other words, in the United States of America, there is no tie from one man to another in the sense that one is bound