How to Be American 101

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Commentary

Teaching kids to be American is a primary objective of public education.

It’s important for young people to gain a working understanding of our country’s history, the mechanisms of American democracy, and the distinct values that underpin it all.

Accomplishing that goal, however, requires acknowledging that there is, in fact, a distinctly American identity worth defending, and therefore worth teaching.

It’s less about bald eagles and apple pie than it is about the ideas, principles, institutions, and history without which America would cease to be America.

Our founding documents enshrined foundational values that have guided our nation toward justice and success for 250 years. Their impact is undeniable, helping us ascend from a fledgling revolutionary experiment to the world’s leading economic and military superpower.

America remains the most attractive destination for immigrants, who are drawn to the opportunities our nation provides for talented and hardworking people of all backgrounds. The most successful among them are those who embrace American values and are eager to become American themselves.

It’s cliché to describe America as a melting pot, but it’s also true. Foreign food, music, stories, and attitudes have all influenced our culture without changing its essence.

If anyone forgets that, just look at a coin: “E pluribus unum”—Out of many, one.

So how do we teach children what makes an American? It’s a complex question, but the answer must include several qualities that are inarguably key to our national identity.

Foremost among them is individual liberty. The Bill of Rights, which guarantees a variety of freedoms, was not a constitutional afterthought; it was the reason the Constitution was ratified. Americans have argued over those freedoms, whether of speech, religion, assembly, or bearing arms, for more than two centuries, but always from the foundational assumption that the challenges of liberty are preferable to the problems of censorship and repression.

Another is representative democracy. We rebelled against the British crown in large part because we were being taxed without representation, and ever since then, Americans have cherished the ability to tell our politicians exactly what we think of their policies.

Congressional representatives are elected to short two-year terms precisely so that they are maximally responsive to their voters. Any of us can show up to our local city council or school board meetings and speak directly to our representatives.

Economic opportunity is also vital. The largest companies in the world weren’t founded in America by accident. They are a natural outgrowth of America’s distinctive entrepreneurial spirit, built from world-leading individualism, high risk tolerance, and a thriving free market. Google, SpaceX, Levi’s, and Costco were all built by immigrants who knew America gave them the best chance to succeed.

But to fully understand our core values, students must know how they have been implemented. For that, they must understand American history—warts and all.

Like every country, America has not always lived up to its values. It took a war to abolish slavery, and mass protest movements to grant voting rights for women and end institutionalized racism.

But in every case, the movement toward equal rights was enabled by our system of government. Constitutional amendments ended slavery and provided for universal adult suffrage. Legislation ended race-based discrimination. Supreme Court decisions established marriage equality and overturned segregation.

Our system was designed to be self-correcting, and each of us plays an important role in the corrective mechanism. American history is the story of our values being implemented ever more successfully over time.

To be clear, I’m not making a case for teaching patriotism. Telling students what conclusions they should draw from a set of facts is indoctrination, not education. Patriotism should instead be a natural outgrowth of learning American history, developed internally rather than imposed externally.

Students should instead understand both that America is exceptional and why it is so.

Sadly, many educators approach American exceptionalism as a myth to be busted. For them, America is nothing more than an evil empire founded by slave owners, defined by the worst moments in our history. Some even refuse to use our country’s name, instead employing an American Indian term for North America, “Turtle Island.”

These people see education as an inherently political activity and classrooms as factories to churn out revolutionary activists. A member of Minnesota’s Department of Education even called for America to be “overthrown” and “deconstructed,” calling his educational philosophy “insurgent.”

This approach is as baseless as it is harmful. Ignoring America’s monumental achievements in equality and human flourishing is as bad as ignoring its past and present shortcomings.

Our young people deserve the full story. They need to understand what it means to be American.

Providing that education is the best 250th birthday present we could give America.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.