AC 201 Class Reflection

For my final post, I thought it would be interesting to reflect upon my experiences taking this course and the main points I have taken away from it. Before taking this course, I found myself very unclear as to what exactly “Intro to American Values” was going to be about. Now, after delving deep into the underlying cultural values associated with each decade and war era within the past two centuries, I have come to the realization that what it means to be “American” is a product of our own creation. Whether it be the construction of gender roles during the Civil War (Little Women), or the establishment of “Americanness” as defined by patriotism and racial superiority (To Die For; Playing Indian), American culture and the underlying values associated with it have been artificially constructed around a certain set of norms associated with each generation. Furthermore, as we look at the progression of our nation (a nation that once embraced slavery and Japanese Internment, to one that elected an African American President) it is clear to me that what it means to be “American” is always changing with each successive generation.

On a more pessimistic note, another dominant theme that has stuck with me throughout this course is that ignorance has deeply engrained itself deep within the American system, both socially and politically. On a social level, we have seen countless times instances of racial and gender inequality, which consequently led to the exploitation of minority groups. On a political level, we have seen the government spend millions of dollars on war (i.e. Vietnam) when problems such as poverty and racial inequality were left unsolved. That being said, when looking at the progression of our nation once more, it appears as if our country is slowly detaching itself from this deeply engrained ignorance. It will be interesting to see what happens next…