Who is American?

That's the question one of my night students asked as he and the class reflected on something we'd just read in The Soloist by Steve Lopez. In one of the chapters, Lopez compares his writing as a journalist for the Philadelphia Inquirer here on the east coast with his writing for the LA Times out on the west coast. The difference, he writes, was that some of the unsavory, bigoted emails he'd receive here on the east coast would tell him to "go back to Puerto Rico" while some on the west coast would read, "go back to Mexico." Where have we heard this refrain before? This racist refrain to "go back to where you came from"??Hmmm....{insert thinking emoji while feigning legitimate confusion}

....and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019

The encore came in grand style with a racist rally a few days later where his subservient, obsequious, fawning followers broke out into a "random" chant, "send her back!" The her being U.S. citizen and duly elected Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota's 5th Congressional District. The her being one of the early (February 27, 2019) co-sponsors of H.R. 1327, the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act. Yup, that's her! (By the way, the only 2 "nay" votes in the Senate came from Republicans, and 11 of the 12 "nay" votes in the House came from Republicans, just in case you were wondering)

So in light of what we read in the book and in light of what we're experiencing here in America, my student asked, "Who [really] is American?"

Good question.