American Identity Essay

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In this country, knowing your identity is very important in showing you are as a person and as an individual. Although, sometimes it seems that in this country they always seem to be clumping people together as a group, and at times ignoring the facts that those groups are really individuals with their own minds an thoughts. The word identity is something that cannot be easily explained. Identity is the fact of being who or what a person or thing is. It’s the disguising character or personality of an individual. It’s the qualities, beliefs, etc. that makes a particular person or group different from another. Identity can be shaped by many different experience and influences in an individual’s life. There are those who are not able to have…show more content…
When the settlers first arrived, they were escaping from all the hardships they were facing with England and they wanted to become their own nation of free people. “What defines an American? Is it the love of liberty, the pursuit of justice, the urge to invent, the desire for wealth, the drive to explore, the quest for spiritual values? The paradox of the American identity is that although the United States is a melting pot of many different traditions, motives, and ideals, there are nevertheless distinctive qualities that define the American character.” There are so many ways to describe what America truly is and how its identity is still hard to decipher, mostly because there are so many people who reside in this country with all types of opinions and backgrounds, so it is very difficult to place where America is. Race is an identity problem in America that dates back from when America had slavery. Zimmerman’s case conveys how race is still a big part in identifying people’s identity. Also, whether you apply to school, job, or scholarships there are times when race is important, mostly because in America, every paper that you get and fill out you must put in your race. There are so many negatives in the country and nation as a whole, but due to the fact that there are still people who fight for their right, freedom, and cultural backgrounds, that is the positive and most beautiful part about

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