Emily Gan Week 7- United
A few months back, we had to write an essay on what we thought made America’s voice and identity. At first, I didn’t know how to respond, so many factors make up America and each factor or person has a voice. I thought of America and the American Revolution came to mind since we were learning about it in USH. The American Revolution happened because a bunch of people disagreed with how the British were treating them. What is fascinating is that those who banded together to fight for the Revolution were from all different backgrounds yet worked so well together since they had a common enemy.
I think this is what makes America so different from other countries, the fact we are united as one. I believe that to be American is to be united. We are the UNITED States of America after all. When people band together it gives the invisible a mic, someone has a voice as long as at least one person is standing behind them. I think that what makes America the land of the free, is that almost everyone has a voice, especially with social media.
America is a melting pot of different cultures and people, immigrants from everywhere come to America to start a new life. This connects the people since they share a common background and goal of wanting to achieve the American Dream. People may have different views but at the end of the day, we are all equally united, just in different ways.
Hi Emily! I like your insight on how American is different because of how important unity is to American society. I’ve never thought about this, since when I think of American traits I think of liberty and freedom, but unity is also a large part of American culture. Without unity and people from different backgrounds and cultures working together, America would not be the country it is today. For example, in the 19th century, a large number of immigrant workers was the only reason the transcontinental railroad was able to be completed, and also why America was able to be brought into prosperity from bankruptcy during the Gilded Age. I like how you tied your blog back to the American identity essay we wrote in class a few months ago, since I had a similar experience to yours. When I was thinking about American identity, I could only think about the facts and statistics we learned about in history classes, but I then realized that there’s so much more that defines a person’s identity than events like the American revolution. I like your description of America as a melting pot since I think America’s diverse population is what makes America so unique and prosperous.
ReplyDeleteHey Emily! Thanks for almost giving me a seizure by mentioning the AV&I essay! (joking, kinda.) I never really thought about how people who fought for the Revolution were from different backgrounds, yet they still ended up beating Britain, who had a much stronger army and was supposed to win (at least on paper). I can think of many other instances where people who were disadvantaged but still ended up winning a battle, such as the Vietnam War, the Battle of Stalingrad, where a small group of Soviets ended up beating the Germans, and a couple more. I think that as long as many people have the same opinion on something, they can really make that dream become a reality. I agree that this unity is what makes America so different from other countries. Even though America may be filled with people with many different views, they generally fall into at most a few groups of different ideas, so they are mostly united. One interesting thing about social media, is that even though social media may give everyone a voice, it can also drown out an individual's voice as well. That sometimes gives just a few more well known people a lot more power. Also, it's nice that you brought up the American Dream because we are just starting the Great Gatsby unit, and the American Dream is probably something that we will talk about.
ReplyDeleteHi Emily, I enjoyed your blog as it demonstrates an extremely positive ideal that America is built on. America’s fight in the American Revolution symbolizes the fact that even the underdogs can win if they are passionate enough or believe deeply in a certain cause. The mention of social media in your article got me thinking about the different ways that it has given the “underdogs” a platform to speak about a cause. For example, when black people were getting racially profiled and cruelly murdered by the police, many people became aware of this through social media and started fighting against this police brutality. Many people became especially aware about the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, two innocent black people that were killed for no reason which jump started the “Black Lives Matter '' movement. Through countless platforms of social media, black people were given a voice and this problem was finally being addressed. Incidents like that of Floyd or Taylor most definitely could have happened in the past, but because it wasn’t put on social media, no one heard about it, and the problem went unnoticed. Social media is such a powerful tool as it gives many people a voice that usually goes unheard.
ReplyDeleteHey Emily, I liked reading your blog and it gave a lot of insight on what it really means to be in America. I do agree that being considered an American can have many meanings. Thinking about the American Identity you can bring it back to when America was finally declared independent or you can consider our modern society and how everyone has their own opinions which they voice via multiple platforms. Being united is what defines people especially when people come together to support others. Having an Identity shouldnt be seen as being an individual of a group. Having an Identity should be seen as being a part of a group as a whole and that whole group should all work together to recognize each other for their works and what they have done to help, no matter how much they've helped. The American Dream is a goal by many and I think that if people were to work together, they can all achieve what they believe is the “American Dream.”
ReplyDelete