Voices of a nation, about that nation
What does it mean to be an American?
As the country grapples with controversial subjects such as immigration, gay marriage and a war on terror, we asked several Americans from different age groups, races and backgrounds to share their thoughts on what it means to be American today.
Ricky Gonsoulin, 38, a sugar cane farmer in New Iberia, La., endured hurricanes last year and is dealing with drought this year.
"To me, it means to stay in business, to feed America, and to make a profit. In agriculture, we're having a hard time doing this right now."
Dan-el Padilla Peralta, 21, recently graduated from Princeton and is an illegal immigrant. He came to New York City from the Dominican Republic at age 4. He is applying for citizenship so that he can return to his family in the USA after studying classics at Oxford in the fall. He won a two-year fellowship to study there.
"Being American signifies, more than anything else, a profound awareness of the human diversity that is built into every encounter, a sensitivity to the transformation of the religious, ethnic and cultural landscape of this country that takes place with such stunning rapidity on an everyday basis."
Viktor Schreckengost turned 100 last week. He is an artist, teacher and designer. In the mid-1930s, Schreckengost created the first modern mass-produced dinnerware, called Americana, for American Limoges.
"It means being concerned about our safety: Our people must feel secure. It means being concerned about our health: We cannot be of use to others without personal well-being. It means communication between the people and government: If government does not understand needs, it cannot meet them. It means being aware of our country's relationships with other nations: We must be sensitive neighbors."
James Yee, 38, a former U.S. Army chaplain, ministered to Muslim terror suspects held at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In 2003, Yee was arrested on charges including sedition, aiding the enemy and espionage. The charges were dropped months later, and Yee received an honorable discharge in January 2005. He recently wrote the book For God And Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire.
"I experienced firsthand the ugliness of America for defending liberty and justice when I had my freedom unjustly stripped away for 76 harrowing days in prison, isolated, threatened with the death penalty and subjected to treatment similar to those declared as unlawful enemy combatants. Nevertheless, I'm abundantly confident that the people of this country have what it takes to steer the ship back on the rightful course, and that inspires me to believe that I can always continue to make a difference."
Jennifer Green, 35, left her job as a social worker for HIV/AIDS patients in Durham, N.C., to work in Madagascar with the Peace Corps.
"I actually spoke with (someone) yesterday, and he asked me if I had heard that there was a 90-year-old American who had received his high school diploma. I said, 'No, I haven't heard of him.' He said: 'That's the thing about Americans. You have dreams when you are kids, and you're able to realize them no matter what.' I thought, that's exactly it."
Professional golfer Michelle Wie, 16, is also a high school junior in Honolulu. She says she recently received an A in her American Studies course.
"Being an American means to be part of a lot of cultures in the country. America has a lot of cultures from a lot of areas. Me being Korean-American and living in Hawaii, it's so culture-oriented. Being American means being a part of the world. America stands for freedom: ... freedom of cultures, freedom of religion, freedom of everything. I think being an American is about liberty to be whoever you want."
Harriett Ball, 60, is a former schoolteacher and counselor from Houston who developed teaching methods for the KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) charter schools. She leads seminars for teachers who work with at-risk students.
"Your whole life is freedom. ... So many people have lost fortunes, but they went back and kept going until they finally made it. ... Take the lemon and make it into lemonade, or you sit there and throw it away because you think it's just a lemon. ... It's all in the way you perceive things. There's no excuse in what you don't have. You take what you have and go make something."
Ozzie Guillen, 42, is the manager of the 2005 World Series champion Chicago White Sox.
"People asked last November what was the greater thrill, winning a World Series title or becoming an American citizen. I told them becoming a citizen, because you can only do that once in your lifetime. So many people are trying to get into the United States to become Americans. People are dying every day trying to get into this country, and people are dying overseas to defend what this country stands for: freedom and opportunity. None of us should ever forget that fact."
Bogdan Dzakovic, 52, a former Federal Aviation Administration security agent, blew the whistle on the FAA after the Sept. 11 attacks. He claimed that the government repeatedly disregarded airport security problems before the attacks, and his claim was later supported by the Office of Special Counsel, the federal agency that investigated it. He says he has since been blacklisted in the airline security industry.
"I take my obligation of being an American to heart every single day. Being an American means not just how many toys you can buy, but being involved in the government. And what I've seen, from firsthand as well as close observation, our government, the way it is now, is not the same government our Founding Fathers built over 200 years ago. On July Fourth, as an example, I don't look at that as a day to celebrate. For me, it's actually a day of mourning because I look at that as another year gone by where our government is throwing another shovelful of dirt on the grave of the Constitution."
Marian Fontana, 40, lives in Staten Island, N.Y. She is the widow of a firefighter who died in the Sept. 11 attacks, the president of the September 11th Families' Association and the author of A Widow's Walk: A Memoir of 9/11.
"After my husband died on 9/11, I really felt grateful to be an American, because I just felt this collective humanity that happened, where I felt like it was affecting all of us as Americans on that day, and I was grateful to be in this country."
Chad Corntassel Smith, 55, was elected principal chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1999. He lives in Tahlequah, Okla.
"As an American Indian, as an American, we are not a people of the past as movies portray and as often public memory recalls. We are truly resilient people of the future who overcome horrific odds and have a great wealth and knowledge to share."
Bo Bice, 30, of Huntsville, Ala., was the runner-up in 2005 on TV's American Idol and is now on tour to promote his album, The Real Thing.
"When I think of America, I think of a '69 Camaro, a Miller Lite and a Willie Nelson album. ... Some people like hamburger, some people like tacos, some people like spaghetti with meatballs. Life is not about just America, and I think that's one of the beautiful things about America, is it's a melting pot."
Denny Meyer, 59, lives in Queens, N.Y. A gay veteran of the Vietnam War, he is the public affairs officer for American Veterans for Equal Rights.
"My parents, who were Holocaust refugees, taught me that the ultimate God, the ultimate religion, was American freedom, because they came to this country in desperation. And I still believe in that, and that's why I'm an activist for rights, because that's what it means to me to be an American in 2006, is to not stand by in silence as rights are eroded but to actively advocate for everybody's rights."
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