The great debate over what makes an American

The two extremes in the debate are the “creedal nationalists,” who emphasize America as an idea, and those who boast of being “heritage Americans” with lineages in this country stretching back generations or centuries. For creedal nationalists, an American is defined by belief “in the rule of law, in freedom of conscience and freedom of expression, in colorblind meritocracy, in the US Constitution, in the American dream,” as Ramaswamy wrote in The New York Times last week. Being an American has never meant subscribing to one political party, but that’s the point — much of the “heritage” population, and the institutions entrusted to its custody, align with a single ideological faction today, one that does not revere the America of old.

Author: Daniel McCarthy

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