What makes you proud to be a member of your nationality or religion?
Simply put - I've seen people put down Americans; I've seen it happen to Canadians, Iraqis, Muslims, Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses to name a few. What irks me is that people fail to see beyond the obvious in a person and judge them to their well-ingrained societal stereotypical beliefs. I just saw a resolved question that asked what bad things do you hear about Americans - the answers puzzled me simply because they couldn't be any further off, but that is the world we live in.... my question to you, regardless of where you're from, what you do, or what you practice/preach, what do you like best about YOUR beliefs and YOUR society?
2006-03-18T08:25:47Z
Good answer - but you didn't answer my question. WHY is NY awesome or elite? What makes it so; that way someone from another country wouldn't say, "Oh, it's another American who thinks they're all that and a bag of chips."
2006-03-18T08:44:45Z
Excellent choice of words, Dog! I appreciate your candor and your views.
2006-03-18T08:48:07Z
Shark38DD - I appreciate your long answer - and I have seen that even within our own race and nationality, we have (sort of!) sub-races and sub-nationalities - you know, like New Yorkers! But you have a positive outlook and that is important. And definitely enjoy those sunsets and sunrises over the plains of gold there in Kansas!
shark38dd2006-03-18T08:42:09Z
Favorite Answer
Well, simply put I am a Mexican American , which in some areas that is taboo, even to other latins in America itself. WHY ? Heck I dont know but i know i am proud of being what I am. I am Bi-lingual, dont need to tan, dont wrinkle easily, and I Love GOD and all he stands for. I lived in New York for about 4 months and then moved back too Kansas just 3 weeks prior to 911. I feel God Blessed me with that decision, ( to move home).I lived close to the towers and was at the towers by 8:30 a.m. every morning ...just because. I noticed that as I walked the streets looking for a job, no one was willing to hire me. And as I began seeing other hispanics I noticed all the DIFFERENT hispanic race there was, and NONE Mexican American, all of the Mexicans were sitting on the curb panhandling, and being put down by other LATINS...I was so confused by it all, I guess ... I thought...well I thought kansas was bad...but ...I clicked my heels and came back home where I could look straight ahead and watch the sun set and rise..instead of having to look up past the skyscrapers just to catch a glimps of the gorgeous sun.A place where people value others as being of blood and bone and skin, and not because of color. Where you can walk by them and say *hi* or Good morning* and where most people hold a door for the one coming in behind them... *sigh* . Yes, toto we're home.
I posted a question asking what other's thought of Americans simply because I am American and I don't get the chance to hear veiws and outlooks on our nation from other countries. I was simply curious as to what people were saying about us. I am proud of my country and I am proud to be an American. I feel like I am lucky because I don't live under tight restricted rule, I can say or do whatever I want as long as I don't hurt anyone, I am free to express my thoughts and ideas without being arrested, I can go to the grocery store whenever I want, I can assist in changing laws that I think are unfair, I am free and that's what I love about being an American. The answers I got when I asked "What are your veiws on Americans," were a little disturbing. I think some of the things people were saying were true. There are a lot of areas our country can improve, don't get me wrong. But at the same time shouldn't I be knowledable about the things going on in my country? Shouldn't I be in the fight to strive for improvment? I am not anti-American or anti-any religion or nationality. I wish people could veiw the world as a whole instead of seperate entities. We are all brothers and sisters of the same species. When one is down and out we should all be down and out. That's how I as an American view the world. And that's why I was curious about what other's thought about Americans. I couldn't necessarily ask, "Hey Americans, how do you veiw yourselves?" without getting a biased answer. But I just may ask that so I can compare it to my last question. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure I was clear on why I had asked that question. In general, if you aren't happy with your country or religion then change it or do what you can to improve it. Excellent question by the way!
I just wanted to add that I did ask Americans what they thought of their country. You might want to check out the responses. So far they are a little unnerving.
I am mexican, and i am so proud of my nationality.. (i will speak about the nationality, since i'm not very religious person).
What i like the most of being mexican .. oh, there are so many things that i don't know where to start.
First i love the family ties we used to have, there is this kind of brotherhood betwen parents, brothers, sisters, but not only that, we keep that kind of brotherhood with the aunts, cousins, grandparents, and this becomes a huge big family and you can't imagine how strong can make you feel having this kind of background, there is no way for you to feel alone or unprotected, cause there will always be someone of them who you know will be there behind you whenever you need suppport.
Second, i love food, i enjoy my kind of food so much, i am the kind of person who still prepares food at home, and try to make it as close as my grandmother did, and my mother did; i like it so much that i doubt that i would be happy in any other place in the world.
I love my country, all of the places i have visited in my country have great things to see, to know, to enjoy. I have been to Michoacan, where you can see this forest landscape wich is great to the view, and there is such a clean air that you enjoy even breathing, there are lots of rivers, and fountains in Uruapan, a great waterfall, the PAricutin volcano. I love the beaches and the joyfull people of Veracruz, i like the colonial citties of Queretaro, Guanajuato, San Miguel, etc. And finally i enjoy living in a big and growing citty of MOnterrey.
I don't remember something else rigth now, and i have to go, but i am really proud of my country, of our people, of our history, and plan to remain a big fan of it.
I think that nationalism just comes naturally with people.
Personally, I'm not so much proud of being an American as I am being a New Yorker and I'm proud of THAT because I just so happen to think it's an awesome place to live and because of that, I feel that NY is a bit elite and such. It also helps that people think NY is even better than I think it is (quite frankly, as great as it is, it's overated) and when they react like "OMG UR FROM NY THATS SO COOL!" I can't help but smirk and realize that it is kind of awesome.
Like most Americans, I simply take "being American" for granted most of the time. Every now and then, though, I'll read something that makes me swell up with pride. Here's one of those things:
On Wednesday, March 1, 2006, at a hearing on the proposed Constitutional Amendment to prohibit gay marriage, Jamie Raskin, professor of law at American University, was requested to testify.
At the end of his testimony, Republican Senator Nancy Jacobs said: "Mr. Raskin, my Bible says marriage is only between a man and a woman. What do you have to say about that?"
Raskin replied: "Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You did not place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."