Blog Post 9/22

According to O'Neil, ethnicity "refers to specific attributes and societal institutions that make one group of people culturally different from others... attributes include language, religion, geographical location, customs, and history, etc." Now, based on this, I suppose I would be considered a Caucasian America. I share many of my attributes with many other caucasians. However, I find I can specify my ethnicity even more and consider myself a caucasian "New Orleanian," wherein I share many attributes with caucasians as well as with other New Orleanians. New Orleans has its own state of mind - its own customs and traditions that many other people, other caucasians do not have.

National identity, says O'Neil, is "defined as an institution that binds people together through a common set of political aspirations, among which the most important is self-government. National identity is a sense of belonging to a nation." Based on this definition, I consider myself an American. I believe I belong to the nation of America. I agree with American ideas of politics and government. O'Neil continues on to say that national identity also encompasses the ideas of freedom and equality. In this case, I find myself being a feminist, which I believe is a nation within a nation. This nation of feminists believes in equal rights for women, and I, being a woman, think this is incredibly important.

Citizenship is a person's relationship to a state. Citizens "swear allegiance to that state, and that state in return is obligated to provide rights to those individuals or the members of the group." Being a citizen also comes with certain responsibilities, such as paying taxes. I consider myself an American citizen. I abide by laws set in place by the government, and when I am older and no longer a minor, I will oblige and fulfill my responsibilities (such as paying taxes) as a citizen.