What does proud to be an American mean to you?

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  1. pagesvoice profile image73
    pagesvoiceposted 11 years ago

    What does proud to be an American mean to you?

    Before someone gets all in a tither by just saying "America"...I'm referencing the United States of America. Although I am a devoted "American" citizen, I am also proud of my heritage which happens to be Scottish and English. However, there are some who get upset when those of us in the U.S. reference America. To that I say, "It is an accepted norm that America means the United States. I've never heard any of my Canadian friends complain about it. So, to my U.S. friends, what does being an American mean to you?

  2. peoplepower73 profile image89
    peoplepower73posted 11 years ago

    Since it has been 8 hours since you posted this and no one has replied, I'll take a stab at this.  This involves a very complex answer, obviously because no one has tried.

    As an American, I'm proud of all the accomplishments this country has made including: social, economical, technological, political, military, how we have provided the land of  opportunity for people from foreign lands, and anything else I have left out. 

    Having said that, I'm not proud of how the Indians were treated in the name of Manifest Destiny; how Africans were treated as slaves, the intolerance for differences in others, the needless wars that we have been engaged in, and how our country is divided politically today.  However, they say time is the healer of all things, so we shall see!

    1. pagesvoice profile image73
      pagesvoiceposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Well Sir, your response was worth the wait. I share your sentiments on how the Indians and slaves were treated and also the intolerance of others that exists today. How can we be so smart and yet so narrow minded and foolish?

    2. peoplepower73 profile image89
      peoplepower73posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      pagesvoice: The people who put a man on the moon and those that enslaved others are not the same people, but if you live in this country as an American, the legacy you inherit includes the good and the bad.  Thanks for your reply.

  3. American_Choices profile image76
    American_Choicesposted 11 years ago

    Being an American means opportunity and responsibility. For decades we have set the standards of excellence of innovation and opulence. Our history is strong and our responsibility to be accountable for financial freedoms and continued innovation must continue.

    As citizens we must contribute. We must not allow our government representatives, our financial institutions to rule, we must rule. Our voices must be heard. We are the strongest force in the political and economic environment but yet we have not spoken up for what is right and what is just.

    We must make intelligent choices. We must become involved. Being American is a privilege but it bears an important role for every citizen. My children and my forefather have served in the military, I must do my duty by serving with my words. Buying American, speaking up about food labels that are incomplete, speaking up about non-disclosure of processed foods, recognizing the world commerce is now truly global are items that each of us must take an active part in.

    You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
    - Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi (leader of nonviolent mass civil disobedience which led to Indian independence from Great Britain)

    1. pagesvoice profile image73
      pagesvoiceposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I share your sentiments and the fact that being free does carry a certain amount of responsibility...not just for ourselves, but for those who need a helping and welcoming hand.

  4. pstraubie48 profile image80
    pstraubie48posted 11 years ago

    thank you for the clarification on America. Been there and done that with the term. Semantics is a tricky slippery slope to climb, huh?

    Proud to be an  American brings up so much for me. My father fought in a skadillion wards for America including being a World War I flying ace. We had a little ceremony at our house every day until he was too infirm to participate and then I did it. He raised and lowered the flag in front of our home each day. He taught me to love this country.
    I learned that despite whatever imperfections this country has it offers something that many countries do not: the freedom to be me, Pretty much whatever I want to say, I can do so without fear of recrimination. What a powerful freedom that is.

    I am Proud to be an American because it is a vast and diverse country filled with so many of other cultures that teach me so much. In New York harbor stands the lady who welcomes all..Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breather free, the wretched refuse of the teeming shores, send those the homeless tempest tossed to m, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.'
    Being a part of that is at once awesome and filled with challenge, responsibility,and duty..
    In that pride comes a responsibility to help to improve areas that are weak and need restructuring or shoring up. It is not a free ride.
    Can I just close by saying unabashedly, I am proud to be an American.

    1. pagesvoice profile image73
      pagesvoiceposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you for a beautiful response. My dad was a WWII and Korean War veteran and I was born an Army brat. Dad is buried in a veteran's cemetery on the same road he grew up on. Proud to be an American? You bet I am!

  5. whittwrites profile image84
    whittwritesposted 11 years ago

    As I grew up I the Viet Nam war was raging and a lot of people felt it was a black eye for the USA.  After the war I never gave it much thought until I started to to study American history. I became proud of what our forefathers accomplished in fighting the war and then setting up this country. Now as an older American. I look at all we've done with the great land our forefather's gave us and have to wonder where we are headed. I am proud to be a US citizen but I am not proud of some of the things we have done over the years.

  6. andrew savage profile image58
    andrew savageposted 11 years ago

    The meaning of having pride to be an American means that you love the country of the USA as if it were the very home and family you live with because it is. Being proud to be an American especially includes loving the rest of the Americas, and recognizing that someday every national territory in the Americas will someday see the light and recognize the United States of America as the sovereign nation of all of America (from the northern shores of Canada to the southern shores of Chile, and all the land inbetween and nearby).

 
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