American Identity and its Relation to the Field of Social Work 1

RUNNING HEADER: American Identity and its Relation to the Field of Social Work
American Identity and its Relation to the Field of Social Work
W. Alexis Carrington
Professor Richard St. Pierre
SWK 207
6 April 2010

“America the beautiful” is what we, as Americans, call the United States of America. This is the country where liberty is the greatest value and where diversity is apparently and consistently evolving. However, with all of these understood values and evident demographical data, there is an argument that can be made, drawing individuals to question what, indeed, is the true definition of being an “American?” This age old question is addressed, as there are many books, articles, and even authors that try to answer that one question that greatly impacts the social fabric of American life.

There is a great deal of difficulty in locking this question into one specific answer, a difficulty in finding the one true meaning. Why? Because there are so many hurdles that have to be jumped in order to break down what the American nation stands for. Is it race, religion, creed? What about nationality, political ideology, gender? I believe that this question is addressed if one analyzes a quote by Henry Ford II, the notable automobile manufacturer. Ford stated, “What’s right about America is that although we have a mess of problems, we have great capacity—intellect and resources—to do something about them.” While many can debate the issue of American identity, Ford’s quote reveals that the intellect and resources available to the American people, when capitalized upon, set them apart as citizens. Thus, the answer to this question is arguably that American citizenship is to be determined by a practiced culture, genetics, and legalized citizenship into the United States.

The first question that should be asked is what is or makes a person an American Citizen? While the history of America is taught and the laws and morals of this nation are practiced, there are still many contradictions and puzzling ideas about the identity of members of American society, both individually and collectively. While American history is being taught, a critical lens must be applied and all must realize that there is more to the picture than what is seen at first glance, or first review. With so much ethnic diversity, much of this history is left out. “In the United States there is more space where nobody is than where anybody is. That is what makes America what it is” (The Geographical History of America 1936). Trying to describe the American identity can be tedious, not just because it is a broad concept, but because the concept does not take into consideration the fact that the American people are not yet united as one nation, but are still divided. When a person thinks of a simple math problem, it is known that you use the sum to describe addition. Instead of the division and multiplication that has happened, it seems as though there is no addition to condense the diversity.

Socially, diversity is an issue because the aspects of American identity shape how we perceive and interact with others. In other countries, there are ceremonies and rituals that identify an individual as being a citizen or a member of an organized culture.

Under Jewish Law, children are not obligated to observe the commandments, although they are encouraged to do so as much as possible to learn the obligations they will have as adults. At the age of 13 (12 for girls), children become obligated to observe the commandments. The bar mitzvah ceremony formally marks the assumption of that obligation, along with the corresponding right to take part in leading religious services, to count in a minvan (the minimum number of people needed to perform certain parts of religious services), to form binding contracts, to testify before religious courts and to marry. (Judaism p.2)

In the Jewish culture, having a bar or bat mitzvah establishes belonging and membership for the individual child to belong to a whole group.

While other cultural and religious groups have specific rites of passage and activities that signify membership or belonging, Americans do not have an established means of indicating belonging. While some may argue that chasing the American dream, and the ability to do so are in and of themselves integral aspects of American culture and identity that set Americans apart, the fact remains that the identity is established by association with diverse and individual groups, but not with the concept of American identity in and of itself. Many celebrate the diversity of this country as one of this nation’s greatest assets. “America is not merely a nation but a nation of nations” (Johnson). Though America does consist of many different nationalities and is still hailed as the “melting pot of the world,” it is becoming increasingly difficult to determine the legal citizenship of many people living in the United States. In addition to this confusion regarding legal vs. illegal citizens, there are also those individuals that do not like the social stigmas associated with the diversity of the American country. For example, when it comes to filling out forms or documentation that requires delineation of a certain category or racial group, some people refuse to answer or cannot because they have a multi-ethnic heritage.

The topic of division and the historical role that it has played in the United States adds to the concern raised by social stigmas and identification based on ethnic or religious group. “Americans agree fairly equally across party and age categories that the U.S. is divided along ethnic and cultural lines. 80% of Whites, 86% of African-Americans, and 74% of Latinos are concerned about this division” (The Bradley Project p.1). These percentages show that Americans are tired of being separated. From one era of segregation to pure racism, the tolerance level of this type of diversity has gone down, in that racial, ethnic and religious identifiers are many times ignored or frowned upon. In addition, there is a great growth in the identifying labels, which is only compounded by the number of individuals whose racial and ethnic backgrounds are comprised of multiple groups. In regards to religion, it is apparent that “By some counts, there are over 2,000 denominations in the United States alone” (Emergism p.1). These two thousand denominations have divided the acceptance of one religion. There is still the crisis of people still trying to find their identity in society. When will the citizens of America sit down and collectively come up with the true identity of an American Citizen? Seeing as though we have many morals, laws, and social practices, consolidation would be the best answer in terms of creating a “culture” for Americans. In addition to belief systems, racial and ethnic backgrounds, another aspect to consider when attempting to find out about one’s roots is genetic identity, as indicated by DNA.

Some may believe that genetics makes people who they are. For instance, if both parents are of a certain race, then the child would indeed be of the same race. “In Asia, in countries such as Japan or Korea, the defining characteristic is race. The link that determines “Japanese-ness” is genetics, i.e., whether someone can trace his racial origin to a distinguishable lineage of those who have lived on the Japanese home islands for thousands of years” (What makes an American p.1). Others may revert back to family heritage and the ethnicity of that group. Contrary to what some may believe, there are many people who are perplexed and inquisitive about our “melting pot.”

In other cultures, a people’s race is determined by a concrete definition of who they are. “For example, a German is someone who can demonstrate that his ancestors were German-speakers originally from those areas in which Germans have been historically concentrated in central Europe” (What makes an American p.1). The United States is compromised of so many religions and races, thus the realization is that Americans have had ancestors from different places in the world, ancestors that have spoken different languages from all parts of the world. In addition, the image projected throughout the world as an accepted belief is that American citizenship is open and available to all. After all, one of America’s most famous slogans is “The land of the Free.”

With the American constitution listing and agreeing upon liberty and equality, it makes legalized citizenship acceptable to allow this revolutionary idea, that of American identity, to continue.

The 14th Amendment defines citizenship this way: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” But even this does not get specific enough. “As usual, the Constitution provides the framework for the law, but it is the law that fills in the gaps” (U.S. Constitution Online, p.3).

So then, the question remains, what identifies an individual as an American citizen? It is very clear that neither race nor religion gives a true definition or meaning. This is clear because of the fact that American citizenship is currently granted based on being born in the United States of America, or by going through an approved series of classes and testing, upon completion of which soon to be citizens raise their right hand and repeat an oath. If this is the case, the history that is being taught in America is a process that needs to be revised, simply because there is much that is left out and looked over and because of the fact that citizenship is not valued because the fact remains that there is a lack of significance or importance that citizenship plays in the lives of Americans.

The regurgitation of historical facts is something that most American children are familiar with. All are expected to know that George Washington was the first president of the United States and that Abraham Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. There is a list that can go on and on about what “Heroic Americans” did for their country. There are countless books that record the great feats of Americans who made a difference in this country. However, one problem that is consistently encountered is the lack of parity in regards to reporting history. For example, in American history classes, the majority of history classes still spend much time on what the “white man” has done for his country. For many students, these ideas aren’t even challenged until their pursuits at higher learning, and even still, this information is available in specific classes that teach about the accomplishments of other racial groups and how those groups helped build this so-called great nation.

Ironically enough, while the focus is placed on the historical perspective from the Caucasian point of view, it has become known that the European nations that colonized America were actually not the first to discover this country. Author and historian Gavin Menzies conducted his own investigative research efforts, and believes that the first people to discover the United States were the Chinese, in 1421. “They toured up and down both coasts of the Americas, established colonies, made maps, and left behind chickens” (The Christian Science Monitor p.1). There are many pioneers, both men and women, that are overlooked. Yet, these individuals played a role in “American History.”

The role of non-Caucasian men and women that are only now becoming widely known are important to American history. When spoken about, the minorities are now praised for being the first to invent, create, or discover something. President elect Barack Obama is the first African-American to be elected, but he is certainly not the first Caucasian. Senator Obama is not only African-American but he is a mixed individual of the Caucasian race. This fact raises several questions. Do we praise him for being the First “Black” President? Or do we celebrate because worked hard during a time when Americans were ready for change? Do we celebrate his mixed ancestry? Or do we create a label for him based on the historical fact that one drop makes you black? America has gone as far as to set aside months to recognize the minorities of this nation. This dedication is a noble, but lofty idea. It is almost like the United States is making a mockery of the different races and ethnic groups.

Americans have recognized black history annually since 1926, first as “Negro History Week” and later as “Black History Month.” What you might not know is that black history had barely begun to be studied—or even documented—when the tradition originated. Although blacks have been in America at least as far back as colonial times, it was not until the 20th century that they gained a respectable presence in the history books” (The History of Black History p.1).

Even though segregation ended in 1970 due to Supreme Court legislation, is seems as though this nation is still segregated. Americans have become spoiled, as if they are handicapped adolescents who are now stuck and complacent in their comfort zones. Author John Updike believed that America is a place where everything is structured not by structure, but for pleasure. “America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy (Problems, p. 1)” The American society has become accustomed to getting what is wanted, whether it is right or wrong, moral or immoral, and this is what makes Americans happy. The conspiracy is that there are so many laws that have been created to fit many lifestyles and human beliefs, and if it is not acceptable or pleasing to them it becomes a vetoed idea. With respect to all American citizens, some may believe that I am completely wrong.

However, the assertion can be made that Americans have created this philosophy of “I know it all.” Therefore, some individuals may feel that Americans do have an identity. The identity of many is the identity that we can stand on and with which we can identify. As Americans we are very unique and contrary to what others may say about our uniqueness, some Americans actually do like being different. Some may even go as far as saying the “uniqueness” is what makes them who they are.