The True America

Identifying America

Anonymous

                                                     

As we start to get older, we tend to start seeing who we really are as a person and start to identify what other people’s characteristics, personalities, and goals truly are. As I was growing up, my identity was all over the place. Things constantly changed, such as friends, lifestyles, interests, and my understanding for life. Also, as you matures you start to realize more serious matters such as government, money, family problems, etc. And when you begin to understand more about these serious matters, you may also catch yourself identifying them differently than you would have when you did not understand. My identity and how I identify America are important to me because it shows who I truly am and how America actually is as well.

Throughout life, your identity and who you are as a person changes every day. My identity has changed drastically over the last few years since moving away from home and into college. Back in high school I was on the football team, honor roll, Boy Scouts, very family-oriented and never drank or smoked anything. Today I currently play no sports competitively, have joined a fraternity, have picked up both drinking and smoking, currently have a 2.9 GPA, but still have stayed very family-oriented. If I were to define myself I’d say I am a very humble yet outspoken guy that is extremely into his social life, family, and future. But without my family raising me the way they did, I don’t believe these same characteristics would be true. In the book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, by Amy Chua, she talks about how raising her daughters in a strict manor caused one to be really obedient and another to be very disobedient. I was raised similarly to Sophie and Lulu but not as intensely and turned out quite similar--more of a mix of the two, rather.

I recently became more involved in my social life because in high school I was awkward, sheltered and was not a social butterfly whatsoever. When I came to college I told myself that this needed to change. Seeing as I was basically starting a new life, I made sure I made friends with a ton of people and got myself involved in groups and clubs. This strategy helped me to break out of my awkward shell and do things I never thought I would ever experience, such as joining a fraternity and being able to make so many friends. I also happened to become more family-oriented as well during my freshman year, but this was unintentional. In December of 2009, my grandfather had fell into a coma and never came out. As he was taken off of life support, I held his hand while the rest of my family watched sorrowfully as the heart rate machine slowly went flat. Not only was the death of my grandfather tragic, but seeing my handicapped grandmother be alone in her house was saddening too. Since my grandfather has passed away I have made a huge effort to see my family members and help them out as much as possible because you never know when something will happen and you will never see them again. But besides being loyal to my family, I haven’t really looked into or been interested in where I am really from. I know that I am of Czech, Irish, German, and English descent but other than that I couldn’t tell you really how my family came to be here in America.

When I was younger, I always thought America was the home of the brave, the red white and blue that could never be touched, and our government was out to make the world a better place than it was before! Oh how I was wrong. Since I’ve come to college, my view and take on our government and America has taken a turn for the worst. I mainly started hating our government because I started learning more about marijuana. Now this might sound extremely “hippyish” if you will, but it’s not about getting high whatsoever. It’s more about lobbying, money, and politics that sparked my interest.

After smoking marijuana for about a year I started to research more about why it is still to this day illegal. What I had found in my research was much different than I expected to find. I learned that marijuana has never killed a single person ever; it is a phenomenal medication treating many things such as multiple sclerosis, anxiety, and depression--it even lowers growth in cancer cells. I also learned that hemp, the male form of marijuana, is the strongest soft fiber known to man, cannot get someone high, yet is still illegal in many places. So why are there so many positive things coming from just a simple little plant that is so illegal in many places? The answer to this question is simple. Some of the two biggest industries in America today are pharmaceuticals and timber, and these industries can use lobbying to their advantage and pay politicians to vote on what they want to see passed. For example, a new bill arrives in Congress to legalize the sale and distribution of marijuana in stores. If this bill were to pass, the pharmaceutical industry would take a serious hit, seeing as this new “medication” can be grown in one’s home at almost no expense. Yes of course people would still be buying medicine for many other different symptoms, but when you can grow your own medicine without having to fill a prescription or pay the pharmacy tons of money, why would you?

But it is not only marijuana that is made illegal or less popular due to lobbyists. The timber industry and the oil industry are also two of the top industries in the nation and they also pay politicians to vote in favor of them. Cutting down trees and burning non-renewable resources is terrible for our environment and has in turn changed the world since we started this awful habit, yet our government hasn’t done much about it to fix it. The technology for an electric car or other means of transportation using electricity such as monorails has been around for centuries and we are now just starting to utilize it. And as for the timber industry, there are many other soft fibers we can make from plants such as hemp, fiber stone, and even elephant feces! There is no need to cut down our forests when there are plenty of other sources for paper. After realizing that our government is basically paid to do what is good for the corporation and not good for the economy or society I began to wonder, why is our government so greedy? Do politicians really need more money to feel better about themselves? This affected me directly because I now think of all authority this way. Police, judges, sometimes even professors I feel are just out to do what’s better for themselves and not what’s better for the community or their students. I know this is strictly just paranoia but this how I think of it. If the top leaders of our country can be as corrupt as they are, who is to say this shady technique doesn’t trickle down to the lower spectrum?   

Seeing all of this made me tremendously upset and shocked. I realized now that our economy and environment could be running much more efficiently if what we are doing now could be changed. Not only that, but if they are mainly keeping these things around because the lobbyists can pay the politicians a large amount of money to keep it that way, what else are they doing strictly based on being paid? This question made me realize that our country's identity is not what I thought it was. American politics are not about red white and blue, but more about the color green. My new belief on American identity is that the people who run our country are nothing more than greedy fat cats that will do anything to keep their pockets and wallets full.

Something else that piqued my interest just recently was the fact that our government is making our freedom to do almost anything very limited. I only just learned that our government wants to oversee more of what we do on our private time. This includes what we do on the internet, where we're going by using public transit, even detaining people who “maybe” are terrorists! I am sorry but whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? There is evidence showing that innocent people have been put into the Guantanamo Bay holding facility and have been tortured for many years, just to be let go and be told “ok you’re free to go, have a nice day.” Our government has become too power hungry over the years and it needs to end. I remember learning in high school that during World War II, Japanese Americans were detained just for being Japanese. I was told this was extremely immoral then so what makes what we are doing today any less immoral?  The science fiction novel Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow, portrays a society that is similar to what I feel we are reaching here today in America. At one point in the book, the protagonist named Marcus is scooped by the police and taken back to his mother’s home. They are accusing him of possible terrorism, drug dealing, or stealing, strictly based on his travels on public transit. They said they tracked him easily on his transit card. Who says our government can’t do the same exact thing?

Another topic that should be addressed similar to the same issue is the control of immigration and how illegal immigrants are treated and dealt with. The book titled The Death of Josseline, by Margaret Regan, talks about how Mexicans cross over from Mexico to America and how dangerous and expensive it could possibly be for individuals and their families. It also discusses how border patrol officers can sometimes be very brutal and seriously injure these people. Another thing about this topic that we discussed in class that really seemed strange yet was not surprising was the fact that they let a certain amount of immigrants in to do jobs Americans don’t want to do. I think this is absurd! Our unemployment rate is through the roof and people all over are scurrying around looking for jobs yet our government is still giving some of these jobs to people that don’t belong in this country.

I don’t like thinking of America in this way but after looking into why politicians aren’t making certain decisions, it made me realize that they really are only into making money. The way America’s identity should be is obviously very clear. I agree completely with the Tea Party activists that are currently protesting all over the country that are saying America needs to go back to its roots. Not to the point where we are limiting our racial boundaries but where our government was more centralized around our country and not every other country that has a problem. In connection with that statement, I believe our country needs to have much better money management skills so they can take us out of a trillion-dollar debt. I say we can start doing this by giving people who actually are citizens of America jobs before illegal aliens. But I also believe that our politicians have great money management skills, although just for themselves, not for our country.

Our country, as of now, is in an extreme amount of unnecessary debt. Our money is spent on things such as war, oil, less-than-par programs and so on. I believe our country is spending so much on war mainly for oil in these foreign countries. It is very evident that the big corporate “fat cats” of the oil companies have a big say in what politicians vote on. Mainly because there have been studies of new renewable resources that can be used to replace oil, yet our country’s automobile companies have been at a snail’s pace trying to incorporate them into the newest cars. It is not only with oil but with multiple industries that have been mentioned previously including timber, which can be replaced by hemp; pharmaceutical, which can be replaced with other herbal remedies instead of pills that fix one thing but cause a great number of side effects; and multiple other industries.

Basically, I believe that America’s identity has changed from colonial, high nationalism spirit to a corporate “fat cat” run country that is nothing but driven by money. I understand that lobbyists will always be around but I believe that we should go back to when our country was more about the red white and blue instead of green green and green. With this being said I think that I personally won’t be able to do anything about this. Not only can I do nothing but I believe that other people won’t be able to, either--seeing that we have been having protests such as Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Partiers and nothing has changed. I have accepted the fact that our nation is changing and has already drastically changed. So I’ve taken the old phrase, if you can beat them, join them. I plan to take my major, business administration, and join the “1%” so I can live above the rest as the other 1% does today.

America's Identity Crisis

My Own Identity

While growing into a knowledgeable individual it seemed as though everywhere I went I had an identity already established. I never understood this and I definitely never enjoyed having someone else’s definition of me proceed my own. The idea of someone already sizing someone up before they actually meet is quite unfair. Our society feels the overwhelming need to label everyone. There seems to be a metaphoric box for every individual to fit in or claim. I often wondered where this need derived from, and I also wondered whether how I identify myself will even be accepted in a society that feels it already has the right methodology of identifying everyone. I have come to learn that it is not about trying to find a difference, but to find one’s self.

I remember one day a long time ago asking my mother “Ma, what am I?”, and she answered “You’re black, do you want to be something else?” Till this day I really do not know what kind of answer I was looking for, but that answer did not satisfy me at the time as much as I had hoped it would. At that point I wanted more and I think I even wanted to be something else. I guess with the way our society seems I just wanted to have some deep historical family tree or sole ancestor to tell stories about, because evidently it matters. I just did not have enough information to fall back on in case someone asked me the same question in the future, which is bound to happen in my lifetime. I mean, even impersonal institutions ask for our race on a normal basis. Back then I did not feel like a complete person, because I did not know my complete past. People in our society who actually research their past can be split into two categories--those who are trying to find out their complete heritage and those who are just trying to find out their complete race. I truly was undecided between the two.

The older I got the less I cared about my past and the more I became focused on the identity I was making for myself. I know now that nothing back then could truly define who I am as a person now. I am African American, but I do not thrive off of knowing that alone. Why do some only rely on knowing their nationality? Would they do so if they were blind? I never anticipated being treated a particular way because I am black, but that is what society sees and for some reason it holds a lot of ground. I consider myself a nineteen-year-old talented, intelligent man who has the chance to make his identity even more distinct and complex by what I choose to accomplish during my lifetime. I was born and raised in Harlem which has had effects on my identity. Harlem, New York, is where my home, friends and family are. They are as much a part of my identity as anything else. Every individual’s identity is based on the similar aspects if not the same. There is nothing I can do about my race, but I will not let that define who I am.

I think what defines me the most is how I was raised and what I have learned throughout my lifetime. With what I have learned in my life I can control many future situations in which I am placed no matter how unfair. Whether it is politics, education or even law you still can give yourself a chance despite inferiority due to race. Your faith and personality will have to get you through adversity. I have also learned that no one has the exact same personality, and what can you identify with more than your own personality? I guess what I am saying is that I cannot be anyone but myself and if I don’t fit into your “box” then that is not my problem. I will do whatever it takes to prevent my race from deciding my life. That is my approach to life and my own identity.

America's View

To myself I am Christopher Perry, but to others in this country I may be nothing more then a African American male destined to fail. It’s a shame some people think and feel this way but it is a part of life. No one is immune to the trials and tribulations of life, and my ethnicity will be the reasoning behind some of the unjust things I will go through in my lifetime. My high school economics teacher stopped the class one day and said “These boys in this class will go through some things you girls will never experience.” I think she decided to express that notion because we had recently finished reading a article about the lack of African American men in the workforce. Unfortunately it is believed that the odds are against us, even in our own community. I thought it would be easy for me to get a job being a college student, but I had absolutely no luck. Sometimes it honestly feels as if the odds are against me as soon as I step foot outside my own home. I find it highly unlikely that individuals from every race, of the male gender, feel the same way when they leave their homes. What separates us all is our fears.

One day as I left my house on my way to the barbershop, a routine that I have done a hundred times before, I was stopped, yelled at and thrown up against a gate in my own courtyard. The police officers decided to do so because they thought I was a drug dealer. I felt totally violated and disrespected. I did nothing to imply that I was involved in any drug activity and I was only fifteen years old. Unfortunately this was not the first nor the last time I was thrown up against a wall and treated like a criminal. I understand the need to keep the streets safe, but I do not appreciate being treated like that in front of my own home. Everyone hopes things will change, but a line will never be drawn. Who's to argue with the ones in power? Who do you think will win the argument? It has nothing to do with race, it's just a constant attack at the throne and whoever is king at the time will defend their reign. The more supporters, the longer they will stay in power. It takes a collective conscious effort to change things. How far can we get if we are constantly attacking each other in this one country?

In my own neighborhood I have come to realize how different people can act towards each other based on anything, whether it be fact or fiction. I remember after the attacks to the World Trade Towers on September 11th the community’s attitude towards Arab and Palestinian people became ridiculously cruel. In my area I would say 95% of the corner grocery stores are owned by either Spanish, Arab or Palestinian families who have decided to open their own chain of grocery stores. These stores and their owners are as much apart of the neighborhood as any other establishment. Their ethnicity never mattered before and everyone seemed to get along fine, but after the attacks people began to change and began to look at them as if they were terrorists. They were at the losing end of the power struggle at this point. Every now and then some one would call a store owner “Osama Bin Laden” and harass him. It was really uncalled for and they did nothing to deserve such treatment. It was partly the media’s fault and the ignorance of some individuals.

People can change in a heartbeat. It seems like one minute they love you and the next minute you’re their worse enemy. Most actions are based on what you believe to be a true. Stereotyping has become so integrated into our thinking that it seems to be the basis of most jokes on prime time television, movies and even cartoons. Every day people get away with saying a lot more. The need for a racial identity is becoming more and more irrelevant in America, but deep down inside individuals will still judge based on race, sexual orientation and religion. After witnessing what I have witnessed you ask why the world is the way it is, and you realize what has happened before has a lot to do with what is happening now. I would admit that I now look at all police differently based on what has happened to me on several occasions. I know that is not fair but it is not a way I want to think; it is a combination of developed feelings I have collected over a matter of years. I do not expect anything good to happen when they are around. I also know that propaganda can turn the world against you no matter how substantial their word may be. This is not my fault, this is America’s wrong-doing that may never be fixed.

Identifying Tactics

To decide how we should claim our own identities in America is no easy task. Regardless of what people say, every person desires to belong to some group, some cluster that they can claim. A support system is something that everyone needs. Does one’s support system have to be people of his or her own race? I personally think that overall skin color is not a factor at all when deciding one’s identity. From what I have observed one’s roots, heritage or origin seems to be very important to most. The idea of acknowledging ancestors does not seem detrimental to me. Relating with a past relative and where they came from is a positive thing to know, but when asked about one’s identity that should not be brought up unless specifically referred. This can be considered as personal history not your identity. One can only decide how the world sees him or herself. Their identity should not be based on race, color or creed.

Who you are as an individual and what you do in life to live that life righteously is what decides who you are as a person. Your identity should be nothing more then your name, age and what you have accomplished as a person. Whether or not you want to include your personal history should be an option. Why do corporations, educational institutions and financial institutions have to know where you are from and how you look? Racial profiling is a huge problem in our country. Institutions and groups of people make up their minds about some before even giving them a chance. This is where it all begins to get complicated. This is where hate, constant disagreement and wars stem from. Constant debates over misconstrued history have resulted in the total lack of respect of people all over the world, not just in this country. Racial baggage leads to the development of issues that can never really be solved.

America is a “melting pot.” There can never be a single American identity or even narrowed down to a few. America is supposed to embody freedom but it seems like no one wants to be independent. They want to be tied down to an identity solely based on how they look. If America lived up to America there would be no problems because all mankind would be treated equally. If this were the case there would be no problems with people identifying themselves. If we were all treated the same, ethnic information would be irrelevant. Our society relies on demographical information to make major decisions, and even though this may be used for good it also holds us back. Our nation is one of great unbalance. There are a number of countries whose development has been staggered and therefore countries look at each other as if they are all on a different levels. From this a type of hierarchy formed. The problem doesn’t necessarily have to end at race; wealth also plays a role. It often seems like a competition, and there always has to be a loser. We do not look at each other and see similarities; we only see differences. This goes hand and hand with respect. The land and race a person claims today is the one they respect the most. One’s ethnicity should not decide whether you treat them with respect or not. What determines an American identity is how he or she uses their American liberty to live their lives.