"Learning from Ishmael Reed"
Learning from Ishmael Reed's "What American About America?"It is true that America is glorified as a wealthy country, home of the free, land of the brave, etc., but to whom should the credit actually go? In "What's American About America?," Ishmael Reed does an incredible job of shooting down all possible preconceived notions that the original settlers were the one sole cause of our success as a "culture." He argues vehemently for the cultures that arrived in America before and after the Europeans, and really puts a new twist in the thought of having one group of people as responsible for the way America is today. Our country's culture is original in that we have so many different cultures mixed in, but merely recognizing that fact and not celebrating it makes Americans seem unappreciative. When history is taught in school, not enough emphasis is put on the influence of emigrants that have made America as diverse and far-reaching as it is today. More often than not, students are relayed only one-side of the story to make one or two groups' contributions so great that it overshadows the big picture. As Americans, we should recognize we are who we are because of all the different people who live here.
In so many words, America needs to get rid of the bipolar notion that everything they do is all right. Not only that, but his examples are interesting and completely true, such as the first paragraph: "An item from the New York Times, June 23, 1983: 'At the annual Lower East Side Jewish Festival. By creating a firm foundation of America as eclectic and diverse, Reed does not have a problem going directly from the examples to his argument. Or the Irish, who came from the Iberian Peninsula?" (Reed 4-5). "What's American About America?" Ourselves Among Others: Cross Cultural Readings for Writers. The reader is fully aware of Reed's passion for this subject, but Reed puts his points in such a form as to not offend the average white person. The professor was 'white'" (Reed 4). This country is glorified as "the melting pot" of the world, but that is a misnomer in itself since America is more of a tossed salad and since the residents of this country who were born white do not fully accept everyone who is different. As he continues with true, personal accounts of how Americans are adjusting to the fact that several different cultures live here, Reed alludes to the concept that color is simply a label people put on one another: "[A] Yale professor. His argument over what Western Civilization really is does not put one culture on top of another, but instead focuses on how each culture's input to our society shaped what we know as American culture today. It is very important for the reader to understand that the Puritans definitely had their bad side, and it came out in the form of murder, mistrust and greed.
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Acceptance Essays
