What is an American? | Teen Ink

What is an American?

October 22, 2013
By Ambie19 BRONZE, Lafayette, Colorado
Ambie19 BRONZE, Lafayette, Colorado
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
" It's not who we are underneath, but what we DO that defines us."



- Batman


What is the American Dream? That has been the question for the past few years and each year the definition changes, but also the American Dream is different to everyone. To some people the American Dream is about money or it’s about family. Some people might even say it’s about being better than their neighbor. The American Dream to me is about being fair/ equal to everyone that lives in America. Certain people get treated unfairly based on colored, sexualitiy, gender, and even how they are ranked in class. What makes a person different from you and me get treated so unfairly? Alot of Americans are racist, sexstist, ect., but that isn’t what the American Dream is about. It’s about treating our neighbors the same as we treat our family. Equal. No one is better than the next, especially based on color, class, gender and sexuality. That is what Red Skelton is saying, that people from different places, and ethnicities should all have equal right to justice. De Crevecoeur is saying that if you work hard enough you can change the world but the only way to do so if people given opportunities.

Equality should be something that everyone should get not something that some people get and others don’t. “and justice- the principle or qualities of dealing fairly with others.” Red Skelton was defining the Pledge of Allegiance by paying special attention to the word choice. When he says “ and justice- the principle or qualities of dealing fairly with others.” he means that everyone deserves equal rights, and every person who lives in America should be treated fairly not just people have more power then the next.He also was saying that justice is something that everyone in America deserves that is why we have trials and no one is found guilty until proven guilty. What I think Red Skelton was saying is that justice is about being fair to everyone who is involved in the problem. What I also think Red Skelton is saying is that justice should be fair to people because America isn't fair when it comes to the justice system. The justice system isn't always fair because some people who work in the system can be racist and judgemental towards certain people even if they haven’t done anything illegal. This act of the justice system is unfair that its to the point where it can take away people’s freedom. Some people get accused of something that they didn’t do and they pay the consequences of someone else fault, which takes away that person’s freedom. In To Kill A Mockingbird is an example that the justice system is unfair because Tom Robinson was accused of raping Mayella Violet Ewell because he was a black man and Mayella is a white woman. Tom got wrongly accused because Mayella’s father Robert "Bob" Ewell caught his daughter kissing Tom, which isn't allowed back then because of Tom’s skin color.People believed that Tom raped Mayella because she had bruises all over her body from her father. This relates back to the the quote because this shows that the justice system isn't fair by how they just jumped to conclusion about Tom raping Mayella just because he is black. This also shows that justice should be fair to everyone it doesn't matter if you're a man, woman, black, white, or whatever. In America everyone deserves a chance at a trial to be proven guilty or not, people shouldn't just accused someone because someone else says that person did it or not.



America is advertised like opportunities are just given free to everybody, but they are not. Opportunities are actually rarely given. “whose labors and prosperity will one day cause great change in the world.” De Crevecoeur was describing that any American who works hard enough and doesn't give up can change the world one day. De Crevecoeur was saying that if you work hard enough and try your hardest you can achieve something great, and when you don’t give up even if it gets hard you can achieve great things. In Europe they didn't have many opportunities given to them. People who worked on farms had to give away their food to the lords, so they couldn’t expand their talents, and they couldn’t provide for their families.De Crevecoeur didn’t have any opportunities in Europe and in America, people believe that people get opportunitites all the time which isn’t true. What I think De Crevecoeur is saying is that if people gave more opportunities to each other, people could work hard and if they work hard enough we could change the world. I think that not enough opportunities are given to people, especially to certain people. Someone could not give someone a job because of who they are, even though it is against the law it still happens. I also think that people don’t always take an opportunity when they see it. John D. Rockefeller took an opportunity into his own hands which changed his life. Rockefeller, as a child, and his family struggled to put food on the table. and grew up with not that much. When John became old enough him and his brother became partners in Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler. They monopolized oil by making kerosene for lanterns. John D. Rockefeller took an opportunity into his own hands and changed his life himself. He didn’t wait till someone gave the opportunity to him, he saw the opportunity and took it. He came from nothing and ended up changing the world. even if he didn’t know how big his company would get. This shows that if people gave opportunities and people took advantage of them, then people who do work hard could change the world in someway.

The American Dream to me is about equality. Everyone is America, even if they are not from here, deserves to be treated how we treat the people we love. I don’t understand how someone can treat another human being so badly just because they are different. Isn't that what America is also about, being different? Being our own person? That is what Red Skeleton and De Crevecoeur are saying in their quotes about equality.

Red Skeleton explains that justice should be equal to everybody no matter what the situation is, but the justice system isn’t like that. De Crevecoeur says people who work hard will change the world unfortunately not enough opportunities are given to people to change the world. America is still trying to accept everyone for who they are. People get judged every day for something about them like how they dress, talk, act, etc. If people just accepted people for who they are even if you don’t agree with them, it could be a better place. Treat someone like how you would want someone to treat you.



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