Rachel Fugate Blog #7 American Nationalism?

Anderson speaks a lot to the role of education in the development and maintaining of nationalism in a country, whether it be nationally recognized or colonialized. And indeed American nationalism is bred in schools across the country, attesting to the theory that we, a once colonized country, and now a mixing pot of all of those cultures. Those who bring their own histories and national identities and then add them to the established identity or mold. I find it interesting that one would try to say that America has just one Nationalism, even though we know that it does. It seems that Americaness is a populace that identify to the freedom that is offered by America. They can keep their heritage, their origins, but it is important that they incorporate it into the American model of life in order to be included in the wide net cast over the nation.

I think American nationalism expects its citizens to fit into a mold or a category. We are made up of people all over the world, but they have something that makes them different and distinctly American. Be it an American education, as Anderson seems to suggest, or an American style of living, they hold a new level of identity layered on top of the one they already have. Perhaps it’s that stylized structure that we were discussing in class the other day. The education of young people at an early age reflects the sense of freedom that they should feel from being an American. Then as we grow older the structure emerges, eliminating that freedom, but creating that sense of Americaness through what is learned. We don’t feel like the freedom is taken away because structure is what we think everyone needs to have when growing up in our society. Then choices arise again, but they are Americanized choices, instilled during the structured phase. We know that each one we make will have a positive or negative outcome, and either incorporate or isolate us from the American community.

I feel like Maya Lin showed an example of how everyone in the American education system has a firm hold on what is American Nationalism. She is obviously a very American person and identifies as such with her work that she did on the memorial and her future projects. But I felt that some people tried to take away her Americaness because they were disgruntled by her other attributes. This is where the point I touched on earlier comes into play, the fact that there is not a thing as American nationalism because different socio-economic groups of Americans view the Nationalism in their own way. We like to present that American has one sense of a unified whole on what Nationalism is, but underlying that is the fact that it is truly divided and unwholistic.

Perhaps the world will agree with me. It is like the man who Anderson described, who temporarily portrayed himself as a Dutchman to show the oppression of his people, I would like to step outside as a member of the world looking at American. How would I see American Nationalism when I looked from another point of view? Would I see it the same without my American education and background? I feel that sometimes the world might see America without the glaze that is put over the eyes of the people who live there. I don’t want to offend anyone and I feel like America is a great place, but perhaps our Nationalist view of ourselves may not be what the rest of the world truly see.