Who is an American

A friend received this on the Internet so I have no knowledge of its authenticity, but it was a thought-provoker anyway.

Written by an Australian Dentist     To Kill an American        You probably missed this in the rush of news, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper, an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.      So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the following day to let everyone know what an American is . So they would know when they found one. (Good one, mate!) An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish , Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan. An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.      An American is Christian , or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in   Afghanistan . The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses. An American is also free to believe in no religion.. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God. An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence , which recognizes the God-given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.      An American is generous.. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.  When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country! As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.  The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty , welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These, in fact, are the people who built America. Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists. So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin , and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American. Please keep this going!        Pass this around the World        .        Then pass it around again. It says it all, for all of us.

dkchristi wrote:

An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish , Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan.

An American is none of those things -- they are the national identities of ancestors. An American is someone born on American territory (including embassies).

Why does common usage assume that Americans are only from the US? Isn't any citizen of North or South America  an American?

Hmm. Are West Virginians also Virginians?

Agree with Shelagh.  Laws dictate your identity based on where you were born.  How many of us had a choice in that?  What we become after we are born is largely a matter of choice.  I wish there was a non-country identification.  I would like to be identified as a "citizen of the world."

Did you ever read The Little Prince by Anton St. Exupery?  It has a lovely metaphor about borders and wars.

There are some lovely songs about seeing the world from space without borders and in all the glorious nature available to enrich the lives of all its inhabitants.

Instead, I have a fence.  The recent rain made a hole on the fence line and the fence sunk down.  My neighbor blames me for the hole.  I blame her because she drains her pool there.  How much better if we didn't need a fence at all and got a load of dirt and filled in the hole together.  Until we do that, the world has boundaries.

Your neighbour sounds like one of mine, DK. On the one side, we shared the cost of replacing the fence. On the other side, we received a small donation amounting to 10% of the cost of replacing the fence. It wasn't worth arguing about it, so we paid up and at least had absolute choice over the type of fencing.

I am proud to be an American!

Alice,
I remember a plaque hanging in our home.  It followed us wherever we lived.  It said: "Home is where the heart is."

All the Rah,Rah,Rah over national identity does more to offend/isolate than bring people together.
Wherever we live, we like to think that is is the best because we chose to live there.  Then there are those who have no choice and are stuck in a place they may not like.  Some of them see no way out of the squalor they live in.  For those of us fortunate to have worked and accumulated enough money to buy a home in a location of our choice are very fortunate.  We only realize how fortunate we are when we see how others with no choice are forced to live.  I have flash-backs when I see the conditions that refugees are forced to live.  Even in squalor, they make it a home assuming they are surrounded with family and loved ones.  Those who live in squalor and are the only survivors of conflict try to make a life for themselves.  No luxury can replace the pain of lives lost.
Being far removed from areas of conflict can blind us to the plight of others. 

We are fortunate to have been born in a country where opportunity exists.  Being sensitive to the plight of others and giving when we can, is our duty.  In the end, "things" don't matter.  Things can be replaced.

I stand corrected, Abe, but I am nothing else.

There are two kinds of Americans; North Americans, and South Americans. Mexicans, and those from Canada are also Americans, North Americans. Those in South America are South Americans. We here in this country are citizens of the United States of America. The name of our country is not America, it is the United States of America. If our country was in South America, we would still be under the name, The United States of America.

7/29

                      Proud to be 3rd generation American .....

                      I am an American English-German & French
                      When I was a teenager I asked my Mother how
                      come we didn't know German, French ? She
                      told me her grandmother told her mother and her
                      mother told her your an American, the past is gone
                      it doesn't count, you are an American.....
                      

                                         Cheers...Joe.........................................