There has been a lot of talk in the media lately about "real" Americans or "real" America. Usually this is also in the context of the cultural bubbles that people live in, although the fault is usually placed on liberals for living in bubbles separated from the "real" America that voted for Donald Trump. Here's what bothers me: Who gets to determine who the "real" Americans are?

The US population is over 300 million people, which is a huge population to make generalizations about. So claiming that any one group is the "real" or "true" America is, at best, ridiculously fallacious. Even the claim that a majority of Americans voted for Trump is false since he won the Electoral College but not the popular vote.

I know people are confused and trying to make sense of that very disparity that the election exposed, but there are much better ways than trying to invalidate the American identity of huge groups of people. So that brings us to the key question: What makes someone an American?

Legally speaking, birth or naturalization. That's the bar, either be born in the country (or to American citizens) or go through one of the various naturalization processes.

I understand that such a simple use of a legal definition may be unsatisfactory, but any other definition disregards a huge swath of the population that consider themselves to be Americans.

Maybe only those who voted should be called "real" Americans? Well, that leaves the population down to only 59.7% of what it currently is. What about that other 40.3%? They may not have voted, but there are many reasons for that. They might not have been able to find time if working multiple jobs, or maybe they are a victim of disenfranchisement, or maybe they couldn't get transportation to their polling location, etcetera. Voting is an imperfect measure because there are plenty of reasons someone couldn't vote even if they wanted to.

Okay, what about an ideological test? That would require identifying a uniquely American way of thinking, which even if we could identify would set the country up for ideological stagnation. Imagine an ideology and culture that were stuck 200 years in the past, the US would be so far behind every other country we couldn't even be considered a first world country anymore. Ideological or cultural stagnation is also scientific and technological stagnation. This is sidestepping a bigger issue though of if there even is a unifying American way of thinking. There really isn't. Evolution is rejected by 34% of the population but experiences a near complete scientific acceptance worldwide. 55% of Americans support gay marriage and opposed by only 37%. 56% of Americans say abortion should be legal while approximately 1 in 3 women have an abortion. 72% of Americans oppose banning civilian firearm possession. Point being, America is ideologically diverse so identifying a common ideology is nigh impossible and any ideology that could be proposed would go against the beliefs of a significant portion of Americans.

America is a country full of immigrants and a blend of so many different cultures that to deny that diversity denies the very history of this nation and so much of what makes it as good as it is. Americans come in all shapes and sizes and beliefs, we have to learn how to live together. More than that, we have to look out for the rights of everyone. I'll admit I'm much more concerned about the rights of LGBTQ Americans than I am heterosexual ones because no one is legally disadvantaged or punished for being straight. I'm more concerned about black Americans because they have so many issues and disadvantages that white Americans largely don't have. I'm more concerned about the rights of Muslim Americans or Islamic immigrants than I am any other immigrating group because of the prejudice they face. Everyone in this country is either American, wants to be American, wants to live like an American or is here to enjoy American culture (ie, on vacation). Everyone in this country should receive the best treatment we are able to give. Our beliefs are, of course, going to be different and I think that is a good thing. A diversity of thought breeds innovation and progress.

However, we also have to make sure that our beliefs do not erode at the rights and personhood of others. I will fight for this as long as I can and as much as I can, we are all people and should be treated as such. You can disagree with someone's lifestyle and beliefs, but so long as they are not harming anyone because of it, they have the right to their lifestyle and beliefs.