What makes someone American, a true United Statsian? Is it language? No, not at all. We don’t have a true national language. What about the place of birth? That can’t be true either, this country has been put together by waves of immigrants, from Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Germany, Poland, and all the way back to those who first crossed the Atlantic, way back in the 1600’s. Maybe it’s loving the flag. Even though, no matter your opinion on it, flag burning is a protected form of first amendment free speech. Is being American a cultural identity? Who can really say, I don’t think I’m culturally similar to people from Boston. I’m sure there’s cultural differences from Bakersfield to Tehachapi. This country is full of a bounty of cultures, so many that Schoolhouse Rock dropped a song called, “The Great American Melting Pot” back in 1996.
So if being American isn’t a language, culture, love for a flag, or a place of birth how do you define it? From what I’ve seen the only common denominator to being an American is that you call this country your home. Not one person who lives in this country can perfectly trace their family line back to North America. Not even the Native Americans themselves. They migrated from Asia, my dad’s family migrated to California from Oklahoma, and Scotland before that.
This question was raised because in recent times, our politicians have begun to divide themselves, and how they see the country along Democrat, and Republican lines. The shining example of this for me, was the All American Halftime put on by Turning Point U.S.A, which is a conservative non-profit organization. It was a response to Bad Bunnie’s 2026 Super Bowl half time show, and was to serve as a self proclaimed ‘All American’ alternative. The show branded itself with the tagline “faith, family, and freedom.”
It being an ‘All American’ alternative implied to me that that Bad Bunny’s’ show was somehow un-American. That naturally brought me to the question, what makes someone American? More particularly in this case, what makes one show more American than the other?
Going down the list, one show was in English, and another in Spanish, but you can’t pin American identity on language, because the founders didn’t give us a national language. But! The ‘All American’ show did feature country music and Kid Rock, while the Super Bowl show had Bad Bunny performing in Latin Trap. America’s brand of country was born here, but I wouldn’t say music genre is the distinction between something being American and foreign. What about the main face of each show? Kid Rock, from Michigan, and Bad Bunny, from Puerto Rico? Though, that’s not it either, Puerto Rico has been a part of the United States since 1898 and Michigan joined the union in 1837. Both of those places are America.
That brought me to the conclusion that neither show was really more American than the other. While I don’t like country music, and don’t agree with some of the politics of TPUSA I won’t, on a whim, say they’re not Americans. On the other hand, while it may be silly for me to say that I didn’t know who Bad Bunny was until 2026, and I might not be a fan of his music, I would say, he’s also an American. We cannot define and divide ourselves on petty political lines. We all live in this country, and most of us don’t want to leave it, so we’re stuck with each other. We’re Americans because we’re calling America our home. Though, in hindsight I think it’s pretty un-American if you like hockey. That’s a Canadian thing.
