What does it mean to be an "American"?

What does it really mean to be an American? There are endless aspects in which a person can look at this. Does the person posses an “American” culture? Do they follow the “American” tradition? Are they living the “American” dream? There is really no certain way to define what it means exactly to be an American. Everyone will have their own opinion on what this concept is saying.

There are so many different versions and images that might come to mind when you think of an American. You might think of a cowboy on a farm driving a Chevy truck. You could think of a business person on Wall Street carrying a briefcase, and being financially successful. Then there is football...the American sport. College students getting degrees to have good jobs waiting for them after they receive their degree. The stereotypical suburban house with a nice car in the driveway and a white-picket fence in the front. Or you could think of the ghettos that exist in the cities with their own sets of rules to live by. The gated communities that lock out people that don't belong. The list is endless...

I guess the “American” tradition would be growing up in a suburban neighborhood, with both parents being involved in your daily life, you get your education, get a good job, get married, and have kids. At least that was the stereotypical tradition. Up until recently, this tradition was basically expected out of everyone. If you did not fall into this pattern of living, you might be looked at as an outsider, or not part of the “correct” culture that is to be American. Now however, this tradition has wavered and taken many different routes. People are given the choice of having children or not (based on economic issues, health issues, or just choice of living without kids). Marriage is not only between a man and a woman now, it can be between two men or two women now in many states, or some people choose never to marry. There are so many different lifestyles that people grow up around. Now, more than ever, children are being raised in single parent households; this not only poses different influences on the children, but also causes the economic situation to differ (the parent must now earn enough on their own to support themselves, their children, and pay all the bills, and this is not always possible).

The “American Dream” is another aspect of what it could mean to be American. The “American Dream” can be found in plenty of literature from the 19^th and 20^th centuries, it can easily be found in the news, and in biographies. If you work hard, you can achieve anything you want. When immigration was thriving in America, this was considered a new start, a land of opportunity, a place where if you worked hard that your life would be good. This is not always true. Different groups of people will not get the same chances as others, and there will always be clear advantages based on gender, race, and ethnicity. Job opportunities, full-time careers, housing options, and income levels vary on gender and race factors in certain cases. More times than not, the people who are making less money to support themselves and their families are working hard and extreme jobs, long hours, and doing most of the work that the business takes to be run successfully. The people with the higher paying salaries (while there are exceptions to this) tend to just tell the people in positions lower than them what to do to get all the jobs done, and then they end up getting a larger paycheck than the person doing the work. So even if you work extremely hard, its not always the case that you can achieve anything you want. If we live in such an intelligent and “advanced” country, then why are people still so stuck on general characteristics that should not define a person.