Dear Welcomed Newcomer,
It is my pleasure to explain to you what I believe an American is. As, I am aware that your only exposure to what Americans are like is the media and speaking with people that have no firsthand experience with the topic, you’re in for a treat. I was born in this country; therefore I believe it would have been somewhat difficult to explain and compare American culture, if it weren’t for living abroad most summers, thus providing a leg to stand on. I find that being American is both greatly awesome and somewhat bothersome. There are many facets to each aspect of this country.
Culture is huge in this country. I know that only in this country, in fact, in one city of this country, New York, one can personally see someone from everywhere else in the world. Imagine the entire world in one place, other than Earth as a whole. What’s so great about this fact is that not only is it nice to be exposed to cultures other than one’s own, there is about a 100 percent chance that an immigrant will find a community of people from their country, area even. Because people in this country have the rights to move wherever they want amongst the states and territories, many immigrants build communities consisting of others like them. There are cultural celebrations all the time, people here love to celebrate who they are and the places that provide their roots. This enables the cultural practices of home lands in the free world; the best of both worlds… multi-cultures are born.
Although, English is the primary language in the United States, people are allowed to speak whatever language they choose, and in a lot of cases, special accommodations are made to interact with someone who is not familiar with the English language. The only issue that could arise for non-English speaking people is the inability to acquire any form of citizenship here. However, anyone who wants and/or needs to learn English can learn to do so and it’s often offered at no cost. It is common practice to know people that fluently speak at least two languages.
Women have equal rights to men and vice versa. So if you’re from a country that considers women to be inferior to men, get over it. American women are powerful, assertive, and possess so many other traits that are forbidden and/or absent in many foreign countries. Of course, there are some people that do not believe women should partake in leadership roles, such as: religion, corporate, government, and politics, but overall women make a lot more noise than they do, so no one really hears them.
Religion is huge in the U.S., and do you know why? Because anyone can partake in and reject ANY religion, faith and belief without the risk of persecution, and when individuals attempt to discriminate against people based upon beliefs and faith, the bigot is usually singled out and looked down upon. Honestly, there are a lot of people (not nearly close to’ most’) that tend to frown upon ‘certain’ believers of a ‘certain’ faith that approve of ‘certain’ religious practices, due to a major incident that destroyed thousands of lives. Americans are really ticked about this situation, but overall we know that there are good people and bad people, and when we let the bad people decide what people in this country can and cannot believe, then we officially commence to fall apart, thus no longer free.
Race and ethnicity supersedes the whole lot of what America is. Although, freedom is the catalyst that drives this country, its multi-racial/cultural aspect is the road the vehicle drives upon. If it were not for all the different types of people in this country, the freedoms that I boast of would be few. There is still a lot of adversity surrounding ethnicity and race, but it’s really nothing to reflect upon, as everyone is from somewhere else and the Native Americans are the only ones with a right to bitch about foreigners…which includes anyone not Native American, and they don’t.
Another great aspect of the U.S. is the opportunity for everyone to receive an education. There are so many different types of schools that accommodate practically anything that you can dream of and usually the primary requirement is hard work. Money plays a large role sometimes, but money is pretty easy to come by for education in this country. So to be an American definitely means you’re capable of achieving an excellent education.
Although, this is a capitalist country, poverty exists. The degree of American poverty isn’t as horrible as in so many other countries, but there are Americans that are extremely deprived due to various choices and situations that have taken place in their lives. As in most places, class plays a large role in many instances in this country, but if you are not rich, always remember that most Americans are not rich, so you’ll fit right in.
The topics I elected to share are based on the issues that I personally and particularly appreciate and observed while visiting other countries. Although, your friends and the media have depicted Americans to be spoiled, conniving and greedy, we’re actually a melting pot of the entire world that brought spoiled, conniving and greedy behavior when it settled here. I hope this letter assists in your decision to move here.
Hoping to be your neighbor someday,
Sha Trent
Richmond, Virginia, USA
