What Does it Mean to be “American?”

I used to think “American” meant the people who lived in the United States because before the birth of our country and the revolution, revolutionaries called themselves “American” instead of British or whatever country they came from originally. Instead, by reading this article I realized that “American” is more than just the United States, it’s the continent as a whole. North, South and Central America contain the “American” people. The title “American” shouldn’t be attached to white people anymore as it once was. It should instead be attached to a group of people (white, black, asian etc…). I think we are the only country in the world who bestows the title “American” on any person who is a legal citizen despite the color of their skin or what nationality they are. What I mean is European people are classified as Swedish, Spanish, English, German while us Americans place the title of American on these people and claim them as our own. I find this really interesting and I’m not sure why it’s like this but I completely support how we “adopt” any legal citizens as one of our own. It also baffles me how here in 2050 white people will be the minority and the minority (blacks, hispanics, asians) will be the majority. It’s crazy to think about because white people have been the majority since before the birth of our country and have always been seen as surperior. Does this mean that in 2050 minorities will be seen as superior? Who knows? I just hope that in 2050 this doesn’t create a wedge in the relationship between whites and minorities.