American Culture: What Is It Exactly?

Crowds near the Washington Monument for a pre-inaugural concert on January 18

With more and more cultures coming together and creating a big Melting Pot of different cultures, beliefs, ideals, and other traditions, the American Culture has become a mix of different views and beliefs that it can be quite difficult to pinpoint an exact definition or description of American Culture. So, what exactly is American Culture? How does one define or describe it? This can all be tied together to what makes up an American.

To many, being an American can depend on your origin, skin color, religion, and many other physical characteristics. This is something that a great deal of people take into consideration when it comes to defining what makes up an American. However, people also take into consideration the civic conceptions of citizenship. For example, following the rule of law and performing civic duties that all American must perform such as voting. These are the main core descriptions that make up an Amercian according to John Sides, an associate professor of Political Science, that 93% of people believe civic duties to be the main core of being an American. Essentially, there is a divide between "ethnicity" and "civic" backgrounds. Some people look at the ethnic backgrounds to define an American while others look at the civic side to being an American.

Of course, there are also those immigrants who choose to become American citizens. Many of those who pass the citizenship tests officially become American citizens and are now defined as Americans. However, what about those who have lived in the United States for the majority of their lives and consider themselves Americans, but have not taken the citizenship test? If the majority of these people follow the rule of law placed in America and have adjusted to American Culture, then why are they not considered Americans? This can be all tied back to the two core descriptions people use to define an American. Many people believe that to be an American, one must be a citizen of the United States and follow the laws and practice in place and be able to speak the English Language. Many of these components listed are what American culture looks like or what it is supposed to be.

But in a way, American Culture can be described as much more than what most people think. American Culture can be described as a diverse culture and what many seem to forget is that America is a lot more than what laws or other countries think. This is what truly makes up American Culture. Being able to communicate and connect with different cultures without even having to travel to another country is what makes America truly unique as a society.