Who really is “American”?

If the Americas consist of three distinct regions - North America, Central America, and South America - with 35 sovereign nations, just one of which is the United States of America, why is the US in effective ownership of the collective terms “America” and “Americans”?

Aren’t the people of Canada who we share North America with or the people of South America, Americans too?

Why are the 700 million other people within our hemisphere stamped with qualified identifiers like “South Americans” while the minority US population of 330 million enjoys privileged status as simply “Americans”?

Could it be that perhaps that this seemingly insignificant commandeering of language is one of the many symptoms of the superiority complex that ills our nation? A nation where many of its citizens passionately proclaim its “exceptionalism” and “superiority” while unironically living lives of vast ignorance and intolerance.

For all of its flaws, the United States has many virtues and much to offer to humanity around the globe, and is thus a great nation indeed. But the more nuanced reality makes clear that the US is just one of several great nations within the global community, some of which reside in its own neighborhood of the Americas.

If accuracy and humility is the goal, we can consider referring more accurately to this great nation as “the United States” or “the US” instead of “America”, and refer more humbly to its citizens as “US Americans” or “US citizens” instead of “Americans”. (Perhaps even “United Statesians” should be on the table.)

We can all use more humility, both as individuals and certainly as a relatively young nation in progress.

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