The American Race

By Taylor Gillig

One day in middle school we were celebrating “multi-cultural day.” M class was making a pie graph of the different races in our class. When a boy was asked what he was, he replied “American.” The teacher immediately said, “It’s impossible to be an American,” and the only true Americans are Native Americans. She went on to say that race is not determined by one’s country of origin, but instead by one’s ancestors. I thought that was absolutely absurd.

The human race was founded in Africa, which is the cradle of all human life. As we continued to evolve, we started to spread outward following herds of animals. We went into Asia, to Europe, and then we crossed land bridge that once filled the Bering Strait. If one determines race by one’s ancestors, then we are African, because the first human was African.

I do not think since I share a common ancestor with some guy in Mexico, Russia, and the Congo, makes us related, or part of the same race. A culture excludes all people outside of it. This is why I believe one’s culture defines one’s race. A culture is the beliefs and achievements of one group of people, not many.

Americans have a culture with beliefs, values, heritage, and have achieved goals as a society and as a people. Yes, at one point, we were a mixture of different people and cultures, but they have mixed together into the American melting pot. The mixture of different peoples and traditions came together to form our culture. It is distinct and unique, since we took the best of all the races and formed our own. The brave men in Iraq, Afghanistan, Europe, and in the Pacific have fought and died to defend and protect the values of America. Americans are deserving of a race, and I am claiming that title.

The greatest thing we can achieve is to stand up and proudly proclaim we are Americans. We are a single people, and we shall not be divided. We shall stand united under a single flag, and a single name: “American.’