What it means to be an American

Our first unit question of American Studies was "What does it mean to be an "American"? Angelina Jolie gave her answer to this question in a recent interview with Hello! magazine. She said "One of the best things about America is that we area melting pot, a mix of many,many different races and nations. Yes, they have their own nationalities and are very proud of them, but that certainly doesn't diminish the fact that they're American. To me, that is what being American is."  For those of you who are not aware Angelina Jolie has 6 children, 3 of them have been adopted and all of the children were born in foreign countries. Her view of America as a melting pot is commonly held, but her family is a very unique American family. 

This question also relates to the presidential elections. During the elections the phrase "American" is constantly used. Each candidate tries to appeal to all Americans, often subtly changing their speeches to appeal to the type of people in their audience or the issue they are speaking on. The diversity of America is something that makes it so unique as a country, and that is why the President must be good at unifying the many types of people that make up our country.