creation of Americanism(outline)

Essay text:

One side you have those who want a positive, upbeat America; America is something you should be proud of and want to be proud of 2. Then there are those who think America is something that is yet to be; take a critical look at America; have certain ideals in America that we have not always looked up to, and we need to fix those; offer a history that is very critical of US, policies, people, wars, presidents, religions, etc. There is an angry clash between these two extremes Question of America: What does it mean to be un-American? Question of who is and who is not an American Author mentions in book that there is never going to be “the answer” of what is American and what is not The idea of American, or un-American has been used as a weapon to usually marginalize- pushed to the edges • Has been used against African Americans for example • Has been used against immigrants o Except for like Anglo-Saxon o Used against mostly everyone else; those who are not white The idea of America has also been used against ideas Race as a social construction Race was created by people; gave meaning to skin color Can apply this to every form of identity- man, woman, heterosexual, homosexual, blonde, fat…etc Those above are socially constructed; people have created the meanings of these America has been imagined, imposed, contested, argued and fought over (blood has been spilled), has been transformed, recreated constantly There is no one true “America” or one true “American” The author of our book points this out The idea of America is a form of power Idea of America has been used to try and control people’s thoughts and behaviors 1...