The two concepts that Ashley mentions- the melting pot and the salad bowl- regarding America, I believe, both hold true. There are many people who claim they are strictly “American” in terms of ideals, personality, culture etc. while others who say they are from whichever country their parents/ancestors are from. I agree with Elizabeth that America can actually be considered as mix of the two.
However, if I had to choose one, it would be the idea of the salad bowl. Because think about it, when you meet someone new in school, at work, anywhere one of you first few questions would be where are you from? – usually the answer would the country that their parents are from –their origin; but it is rare that one of the responses would be America. One might say that I was born here (I’m American) but I’m from _______. One more thing regarding this topic that I find interesting is people assume that one is born in America. For example, when I’m asked where I’m from, my response is India and many assume that I was born here. Later when they do realize that I was born in India they say- “Oh, I thought you were born here.”
As of now, I consider myself Indian because I was born in India and have lived in the US for about 6 years; however maybe as the years come by I might being to consider myself an Indian-American. Thus, here comes the concept of a hyphenated-American. This I consider a huge part of “American culture” which also goes to agree with the mix concept of America (salad bowl and melting pot). While you are an American, you still hold on to your roots, making yourself identifiable as the “left part of the hyphen”.
Another thing that I find interesting is that when in America your asked where are you form the reply is his/her origin, but when asked the same question in the country of origin the answer tends to be America (that is if one considers him/herself American).
Anyways, to sum it all up- in the end it comes out to be that it is actually a mix of both- being American and your country of origin.
