America is a Nation of Immigrants Essay Example

America is a nation built upon immigrants. The first people to "discover the Americas" were immigrants from Europe. Over time, the USA has developed and come to have its own culture, but the nation has always been a melting pot for people of different cultures and backgrounds to mesh with one another. Both Sandra Cisneros and Dwight Okita's writing reflect the theme that America as a country is made up of a multitude of people from different cultures and nations.

Dwight Okita's text, “In Response to Executive Order 9066: All Americans of Japanese Descent Must Report to Relocation Centers” is from the perspective of a young Japanese American girl being taken to the internment camps as a result of executive order 9066. In the text, Okita writes about a young Japanese American girl's experience with living in America. The girl has made friends with other American children and feels at home in the country. She even states that she isn't very comfortable using chopsticks and that her favorite food is hot dogs. One day, the young girl's best friend chooses to sit far away from her, and accuses her of being a traitor to the nation. The young girl was struck by these words and gave her friend a bag of tomato seeds, telling her that when the tomatoes grew, she would miss her. What this story is meant to show is the fact that many American citizens began to view any and all Japanese Americans as traitors and enemies after the events of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The young girl was just as American as any of her classmates, further showing that regardless of race and ethnicity, anyone can be an American. 

Sandra Cisneros’ text, “Mericans” is written from the perspective of a Mexican immigrant girl in America. The story is about how the young girl, Micaela, has trouble with figuring out her own personal identity. Micaela has trouble figuring out her own sense of self due to the change in the environment she and the other children are undergoing. After having immigrated from Mexico to the United States, Micaela was exposed to American culture for the first time. The children's grandmother was inside of a church praying and instructed the children to remain outside of the church for her. The grandmother going into the church and speaking solely in Spanish is meant to symbolize the immigrant family's old, original ways, whereas the children prefer to speak in English and also like to go by the made-up term for Mexican Americans that the children made, "Mericans". The Mexican American children making up the term "Mericans" go to show that a blend of their native culture and the new culture they are assimilating into is what the majority of American immigrants end up becoming. 

Both Cisnero and Okita's texts showcase how people in America come from all sorts of different cultures and backgrounds but also share America's own culture. The similarity in their interpretation of mixing cultures however is how the young Japanese American girl in “In Response to Executive Order 9066: All Americans of Japanese Descent Must Report to Relocation Centers” enjoys partaking in American culture, similar to how the Mexican children in “Mericans” see their grandmother as evil, due to her wanting them to follow Mexican traditions and behaviors. Where these two stories differ in their interpretation of the fact that the USA is made up of people from different backgrounds and cultures is through the depiction of national identity in the characters. The young Japanese American girl from Okita’s text sees herself as an American and partakes in American culture, makes friends with other American children, and doesn’t see a difference between herself and her white best friend. The Mexican children from Cisnero’s text see themselves not completely as Americans, but as “Mericans”, meaning that they feel that they are still part of their Mexican nationality.

The United States of America is a nation made up of immigrants. European colonists and immigrants were the ones who founded the nation and to this day, immigrants from other nations and the families they have started here are a massive chunk of our country’s population, and the mixing of cultures is what makes our nation one of the most unique and special in the world.