THIS IS
If we flash back to the discovery of the Americas, we start at the very beginning of America’s long history of discrimination. The taking of America by Europe led to the mistreatment and violence against the indigenous Native Americans that had inhabited the land previously. Native Americans were forced to assimilate into the new “American” (really European) culture. This meant the spreading of Christianity and the upheaval of the tribal values that the Native Americans held. The White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant European came to be the common American, as many Europeans came across the sea to start the New World. As different European countries colonized, a mixing of nationalities and identities came to define America. But one thing remained: the tendency to discriminate against those with a “different” appearance and culture. Being a true American really means being from Europe, but the white part of Europe, not the “ethnic” part.
6
In the late 1800s, to the early 1900s, many immigrants came to America in search of the American Dream. What they got instead were ghettos and slums, and work that paid squat. These immigrants were forced out of nicer areas and herded into small, crowded spaces with poor living conditions. They were told to stick to their own kind, and they followed. This led to the creation of places like “Little Italy,” and the historically known Jewish Lower East Side. These are revered as cultural artifacts and wonders now, but back then they were places of squalor and humiliation. Clearly, America was confused about who belonged. It still is. Just read the daily news, and there is a new group being targeted for simply existing almost everyday; Jews, Muslims, members of the LGBTQ community, Black people, Mexicans, Transgender people, anyone from the Middle East, the list goes on. This begs the question, who really is an American? And honestly, I’m not too sure.
AMERICA
