How is the American identity created? Do we have to create the identity or does it happen by itself? I think if you do it yourself, it should be earned. My great-grandfather was Mexican, but when he was old enough he immigrated to America. He told me the story of how he created his American identity. He agreed with me that sharing the American dream is a step towards becoming a true American. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay My great-grandfather was born and raised in Mexico. He moved to America once he was old enough to travel on his own. He arrived as a humble Mexican immigrant, but he worked hard. When he first moved in he lived in an apartment where bad things happened literally every single day. He stayed out of it, got a decent job, and worked very hard for many years. He met my great-grandmother and they had children. For the first five years they were together, people stayed away from them because white people didn't like them. After years people began to accept them, my great grandfather got enough money to buy a nice house in a nicer neighborhood. My great grandfather worked very hard to get to where he is now. The contributions of immigrants are very similar to many of the things my great-grandfather did. My great-grandfather taught many things to all the people who didn't know many things about his hometown. He also shared the food of his hometown with everyone he knew. In greatly enriching the American vocabulary, he played an important role in establishing “the American language,” which, as HL Mencken demonstrated thirty years ago, had diverged materially from the native language spoken in Great Britain. "This quote relates to my great-grandfather's story because he enriched the lives of many different people with Mexican religion, stories, and foods. He still enriches people's lives with Mexican culture today. Keep in mind: This is just one example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay An American identity is created by working hard and sharing the American dream. My great grandfather did and had exactly that when he came to America life to make a name for himself in his neighborhoods. He has never had any problems with the police, which has made him a perfect American citizen. Now no one can take that away from him. Jones, J. M. and Ramírez, R. R. (2019). of immigrant identity in the United States. In Handbook of Hispanic Sociolinguistics (pp. 165-188). (1999). Whiteness of a different color: European immigrants and the alchemy of race. Harvard University Press. Ignatiev, N. (1995). How the Irish became white. Routledge.Gjerde, J. (2018). Major Issues in American Immigration and Ethnic History: Papers and Essays. Cengage Learning.Gerstle, G. (2002). American melting pot: Race and nation in the twentieth century. Princeton University Press. Huntington, S. P. (2004). Who are we? Challenges to American national identity. Simon and Schuster. Waters, M. C. (1999). Black Identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams and American Realities. Harvard University Press.Waldinger, R. (2015). How the other half works: immigration and the social organization of work. University of California Press.Higham, J. (2009). Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American Nativism, 1860-1925. Rutgers University Press.