“Where are you from? No, but where are you really from?”
People of color often find themselves answering this question. The pigment in their skin or the accent on their tongue can be a quick signifier of their foreign roots. The authenticity of their “Americanness” is questioned time and time again.
The United States is comprised of a high number of immigrants. In 2012, the Pew Research Center acknowledged the existence of 20 million U.S. citizens born of immigrant parents and in 2013 alone an additional 295,000 babies were born; babies who by the 14th Amendment are granted an automatic right of citizenship — a right that politicians like presidential candidate Donald Trump would like to see repealed. The term ‘anchor babies’ is given to these children for their ability to legalize their parents at an older age.
These children will have to fight time and time again to prove themselves worthy of belonging in a country where they are not always welcome, despite this usually being the only place they know as home.
The question then becomes who is the face of America? Is it solely the white man dressed in his suit and tie, working a nine-to-five job to provide for his family, or does it also include the second-generation Latina who goes to bed at three in the morning because it’s on her shoulders to provide a better future for her parents who will never be able to claim retirement?
“Unfortunately, when I think of the word ‘American,’ I think of an Anglo person” Suzette Brito, a sophomore majoring in Latino studies, said. “This association stems from the way I was taught history; that is in the American perspective. White people can call themselves American, however if you’re a person of color you’re more inclined to say African-American (or) Mexican-American. If you say you’re American, this question will follow: where is your family from? A white person does not have to explain themselves,” she said.
This is a land that was discovered by the West with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 and the emigration of Europeans thereafter. Anyone who has ever bothered to pick up a history book is well aware that the U.S. was established by immigrants, yet there is a distinction among the masses — that of the “American” and that of the “other,” one that is accounted for in terms of power.
DePaul professor Steven Ramirez works to put context into this elusive term of the “American” in his course, The American Family.
“Whenever I talk about the word ‘American’ or what it means to be American, I like to substitute the words ‘dominant culture’ instead of ‘American,’” Ramirez said.
As a person of Mexican descent, Ramirez said he has also been questioned in regard to his background.
“It does make me feel like an ‘other,’” he said. “It does make me feel less American than somebody who doesn’t get asked. And so I feel like when I think about those questions, I realize that it’s not that I’m not American, it’s that I’m not fitting into what dominant culture is. What’s the dominant culture? Oh I don’t know, turn on the TV, go see a movie, read a book or whatever and you’ll see the dominant culture right now. At least leading up to right now, (dominant culture) has Mexicans looking and talking and dressing a certain way. That’s the dominant culture, so because I don’t fit that I’m going to keep getting that question, ‘What are you by the way? Explain yourself,’” he said.
Ramirez reminds those around him that in answering this broad question of what an “American” is, one must acknowledge how young the country is. “We haven’t even cracked the 300 year mark,” he said.
“We are perpetually in this identity crisis. We don’t know who we are, and (we) don’t know what it is to be American. And we can’t predict, we’re too young. Right now, we’re just trying on different hats; in 2015 we (were) trying out the fear hat, the terrified hat. Right now, to be American feels like to be scared, to be defensive, to be suspicious. That’s what it means I feel to be American right now, and that could change tomorrow, next year, 10 years from now.”
The growing fear and confusion surrounding what it means to be a “real” American can be attributed to the changing demographic. According to Daily News, by the year 2043 whites will no longer be the majority in the United States.
“People would have to shift their perspectives,” Brito said. “Everything would have to change.”
“Fifty years ago, you turn on the television you see the Beavers (of the sitcom “Leave it to Beaver”) doing their thing,” she said. “Black and white television, that was the dominant culture. If you didn’t fit that, you weren’t (an) American. But now that’s different, that’s changing and when you turn on the TV you don’t see a Ward Cleaver coming home from work and June making dinner and their little white kids running around the house. You don’t see that anymore, and so somebody might look at that and they might turn on the TV and see a black family and be like ‘oh, where is this country going?’ That’s what I feel like is happening and what is behind our new identity crisis.”
In an article published by Voices From the Middle, an educational journal, a student responds to the question of what an American is by saying, “you are the most American when you express your constitutional right, that which allows you to express your culture. There’s nothing more American than expressing that right, that’s what makes us different from the rest of the world.”
This is a statement that resonates with Ramirez.
“When I say I’m Mexican I’m not saying I live in Mexico, right? I’m saying that’s how I identify, that’s my culture, that’s my language, that’s my family … that speaks volumes about myself as opposed to American. To me right now (that) doesn’t carry any weight behind it,” he said.
An elusive term, “American” is full of contradictions, and citizens of the nation must work to regain their pride but also understand that there is no single concrete definition. It is constantly being redefined time and time again.
“It’s a pretty scary time right now to be an American but, I’m optimistic,” Ramirez said.