An American Identity

Since today is the 4th of July, I believe it is the perfect opportunity to reflect a little bit on the following questions: How does one define "American Identity?" and What does it mean to have an "American Identity?"

The American Heritage Dictionary has approximately six definitions for the word "identity." Of those, two are useful when attempting to describe the "American Identity:" 1.) The collective aspect of the set of characteristics by which a thing is definitively recognizable or known. 2.) The set of behavioral or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognizable as a member of a group.

I would use the first definition to identify things as American. If I see something that is red, white, and blue and covered in stars and stripes, I identify that as "American." Today many products and brands are identified as American because that is where they were developed. If foreigners are asked to describe America, they might say things like McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Nike, and Britney Spears. Of course, there are many other things to America, but these are the media giants and what foreigners are exposed to. Unfortunately, together with foreign policy it is these things that outsiders use to characterize America.

The second definition is how people are classified as "American." For example, when Americans travel overseas their loud voices can immediately give them away. Americans may also be seen abroad as materialistic, flag-waving, church-going, Chevrolet-driving, monolingual morons that have no concept of the world beyond their borders. However, by the same token, many Americans would identity themselves the same way only putting a different spin on things. They would say they are hard-working, patriotic, moralistic, domestic car-driving, English speakers that know that there is no world beyond their borders. Either way, these people can be, without a doubt, identified as Americans.

I was born and lived most of my life in America. I possess an American passport and dearly love my Coca-Cola. I still prefer to watch American sitcoms (even though they are dubbed in German) and don't know diddley squat about soccer. Obviously all of these things identify me as an American.

Although my cultural experiences would classify me as American, I am not sure how many of my behavioral or personal characteristics would still define me as American. Taking the above example, hard work doesn't really do anything for me. I would rather laze about relaxing and reading than worrying about the next project deadline. While patriotism simply means the love of one's county, I think these days in America it has much more to do with feelings of superiority. There are many people in that country that I love, but I am not really all that attached to the land itself and I am definitely not under the impression that America is greater than any other country. I believe that I am a moral person in the sense that I know the difference between right and wrong. However, as an agnostic, the association of morality with the church and its so-called "family values" are nothing but a thorn in my side. Unlike a true American, I no longer drive everywhere. If I need to go to the local grocery store for milk, I now walk. I take public transportation into town, and between my husband and me we only have one car, which he drives to work. Even before moving to Germany I had learned another language and now living in a land that is English-aware but not English-speaking in order to make my way I have learned yet another language. Simply living across the Atlantic makes me conscious that there is a world beyond America, but beyond that I feel I have a much larger global perspective than that average American.

So, what of my own personal American identity? On paper, I am an American, but otherwise I would like to be able to identify myself as a "Global Citizen."