America. The land of the free and the home of the brave, if the song is to be believed. In light of the recent election, the question of what America is supposed to look like has become more prevalent than ever. Who represents the "average" American? Who belongs and who doesn't?
That's right—True American isn't just a wildly confusing game on New Girl. It's an ideal. Once upon a time, the "truest" American was the working class white man, who lived in the suburbs with his stay-at-home white wife and his two smiling white kids. He represented the every-man—someone hard working and honest, who only wanted two things: (1) to be able to afford his comfortable life, and (2) to not have others (i.e. minorities) encroach into his space. This "true" American is able-bodied, in his lower forties, cisgender, heterosexual, and thinks capitalism is the bees-kneez. He's of European descent and probably thinks buying a foreign car is unpatriotic.
In the past fifty years however, there's been a demographic shift. John Cena explains it best in this endearing video:
The "average" American doesn't look or sound at all like the man I just described. Do you know why? Because America—this great, big country of ours—is always changing. People of different nationalities and ethnicities settle down and add their own flavor to this melting pot. Men, women, and everyone in between, find love with one another. Families are not bound by the nuclear structure—or even by blood—anymore. And patriotism, surely, can be both a waving flag and a peaceful protest. Or, simply, taking a knee.
There is no one "true" American. America has a responsibility to take care of all her children—young and old, disabled, poor, LGBTQIA, White and Black and Native. And to be clear, when I say America I don't just mean the vague and sentimental female entity—I mean the American government. It's important for our representatives and senators to understand and uphold the notion that every American citizen is a true American.
