Although at first the American society has an underlying uniform and stereotype, with attitudes of pride, resentfulness, and hope, true identity and individuality is proudly shown and expressed. In the poem “Why are we here?” by Tong Thao, he states, “We are the stereotypes you want us to be,” Despite the feeling of being stereotyped by, he follows this line with examples of how his people from his culture are all so same but yet different in their own ways. He ends his poem with a prideful statement saying, “But we know who we are” One part about being an American, no matter where you come from, is accepting the history of our nation. When we accept it and understand what we have gone through, we are much more likely to move forward, welcome new people, and hope for…show more content… She expresses, “When feelings of insecurity or inadequacy arose, I fought them, knowing that america, however great, could not match my country’s peerless poetry… No verse in this towering new land could outdo the love, passion, devotion and yearning, the beauty in the ones I knew.” Her identity may have been changed temporarily by physical objects or the land that she walks on, but what is inside of her will never go away. Her individuality is elevated because she now realizes that nothing can be better than her traditions back home and she will not let anything change that. Hakakian finishes her article with a strong line saying “I knew freedom in its most tangible and consequential way.” In the poem “I hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman, he indicates that working americans are content and satisfied with what they do. He says “Each singing what belongs to him or her and to no one else,” When Americans find their drive and true passion, they embrace it and become immersed in it. This line shows that when you devote yourself to something you love, nothing else around you matters and every uniform that once existed,
