I'm Not American

I am human.  Others might say I am American, but that's not who I am: That's where I live.

One thing I refuse to accept is that my identity (who I am) is determined by the place I was born on the planet.  Truth is that where I was born does in fact play a part in molding me into who I am in a sense (the societal and cultural values of the U.S. society inevitably shape all who live here), but my thought is that I don't want my citizenship label (mine being "American") to change the way I see other people from other parts of the world.

What I'm trying to say is that the USA is not superior.  Neither is Japan or Kenya or Pakistan or any other country you could name.   Once we start seeing our own country and values as greater than another country's, we begin to form bigoted, ostentatious mindsets that allow us to look down and treat others with prejudice.  I'm not saying that you should not love and be proud of your nation or country.  I love where I come from, and I'm thankful for my liberties.  All I am saying is that we are humans first, then Americans.  Humans first, and then Japanese, or then Kenyans, or then Pakistanis, etc.  When I look at a person, I hope that I first see their humanity and not their race or the color of their skin.  I hope I first see our similarities in lieu of our differences.

Let's go back to the 1940s again.  Nazi Germany.  It was a time of unparalleled racism, ignorance, sorrow, and unspeakable horrors.  We know this.  But let me just bring something to remembrance.  Hitler was an anti-Semite, no?  He mass murdered people because of their religious creed.  He also believed in a perfect race.  Blond hair.  Blue eyes.  (A far cry from me).  He judged people by how they appeared and for what they believed.  He saw them for what they looked like.  They were not judged by their humanity; no, they were judged by their nationality and appearance, and their penalty was death.  Hitler did not see them as humans.  There's no way he could have.  If you've read even just one tragic story about the Holocaust then you know that he did not see them as humans.  I just finished reading a nonfiction book called Elly about a young teenage girl who survived the Holocaust.  At one part she said that they were treated lesser than animals.  Hitler did not see a human when he looked into the eyes of a Jew.

Hitler is a brutal and extreme case of radical nationalism.  I use it as an example that we all know, of a person going too far when he/she believes that his/her nation (and therefore values/customs) is superior to another. I just mean to say that we should see ourselves as humans...then our nationality.  Humans first...because if we don't see ourselves as humans first...we may see others only through the narrow scope of our own nation's values, which can lead to thoughts of superiority and ascendancy, leaving us with an incomplete view of the world we live in, which is shared by billions of uniquely beautiful people who are just being human.