Is Ethnicity An Important Elements Of An American Identity In 21st Century America

1. Is ethnicity an important element of an American identity in 21st century America? Why or why not?

Ethnicity is an important element of an American identity in today’s society because it defines who people are and their ancestry heritage roots. Furthermore, it shapes people’s moral, culture, and behavior. Like Rich in Split at the Root, Rich illustrated her narrative that she grew up in a Jewish home and community, but she did not consider herself Jewish. Additionally, she stated a plethora of times in the narrative of using the word “real Jews who wanted to seize us, drag us back to the ghetto, in its many manifestations (Rich 4).” Throughout the story, she stated Jewish a handful of times, but the countless number of times she stated “Jews”

Without everybody’s contribution, America would not thrive like it would be today. Everybody from different backgrounds come together to this American land and work and live together in harmony. However, the term “melting pot” means the aforementioned above. It would mean everybody assimilating into just one culture: the vague description of American culture. Stating that everybody in America is American would equally be stereotyping. This is why America really cannot be considered a “melting pot,” as everybody will holds different cultures and backgrounds. In my example, I was born in the United States, making me American, but I still wield a sizable amount of traits that would label me as Chinese mentioned above. Therefore, the better term for the ethnicities would be “salad bowl,” where people still live together in a bowl, but accept their differences in culture and ethnicity and unite together in harmony to make the best tasting salad, or in this case, the best land America can be. All institutions and ethnicities work for the national identity of being American. The concept of being “American” merely means born in the United States and a good chance of speaking English. If one was born in and resides in the United States, all infants undergo K-12 education, therefore learning the English language, fitting the criteria of being American. Therefore, all persons who fit the criteria aforementioned above, regardless of any race or identity, would be considered