AMERICAN IDENTITY

VIDEOS
Study: Heavy Asian Faces ‘Look More American’
A new study shows people perceive heavier Asian-Americans as more “American” than their thinner counterparts.
GPS FOR THE SOUL
Jew Am I?
By Bryan Behar, Contributor
TV Writer. Emotional Eater.
RELIGION
Teaching 'Muslim Americans' In Texas, The Hotbed Of Islamophobia
By Dr. Craig Considine, Contributor
Sociologist
Texans can no longer afford to be misinformed about Islam and Muslims. According to the 2010 Religious Census, Texas leads the country with approximately 422,000 Muslims. Houston and Dallas are cities with the third and fourth largest Muslim population nationwide.
BOOKS
Seeing America and Ourselves From the Outside In
By Margaret Sullivan, Contributor
writer, artist, international consultant
Returning to California and heading "back east," Holshek's understanding of himself and America crystalized. He would later
BOOKS
At Home in the Airport: Lessons On Belonging From an Acclaimed Global Writer
By Camalo Gaskin, Contributor
Author. Mother. Birth Companion. Founder, Birth to Birth + Co-...
Author Brittani Sonnenberg has received high acclaim globally, including The New York Times Books Editors' Choice, for her new novel Home Leave. In it she masterfully narrates the layers of stories, anxieties, and familiarities that seep in and out of the heads of women and their family members who embody this itinerant lifestyle.
RELIGION
Easter Stories, Passover Stories and the Families Who Tell Them
By Marshall P Duke, PhD, Contributor
Charles Howard Candler Professor of Psychology--Emory University
This year, at both Passover seders and Easter family gatherings, in addition to telling the grand Passover and Easter stories, find some time to tell the parallel individual family stories.
RELIGION
People of the Story... or the Study?
By Samara Hutman, Contributor
Executive Director, Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust
Tonight is mid-stream Chanukah and Thanksgiving is behind us. In the end, I'm not sure the confluence of the two birthed any physical or spiritual properties for my family or me.
COLLEGE
In 2013, Can People of Indian Descent Be American?
By Sarika Arya, Contributor
NYU Law Student
Where do I come from? When people ask me this, I usually say America. "No," they persist, "where are you from?" What they are really asking me is, "Why are you brown?" (Or, as my mother likes to say, "golden." Right on, Mom.)
RELIGION
It's Anti-American to Care About the President's Religion
By Dr. Craig Considine, Contributor
Sociologist
Whether Obama is Muslim or not is beside the point. The president's religious background shouldn't matter in a presidential election -- or any American election for that matter.
POLITICS
Sworn-Again Americans
By Eric Liu, Contributor
Co-Author, 'The Gardens of Democracy'
It is time now for a movement to re-Americanize Americans. This means reanimating our creed, cultivating the character needed for civic life, and fostering a culture of strong citizenship.
RELIGION
The Buffalo in the Room: A Reflection For Native American Heritage Month
By Alison Owings, Contributor
Author, 'Indian Voices: Listening to Native Americans'
As we, the American public, hack through thickets of politically enhanced blogoshere-distributed demonstrations and debates about who we are, most of us overlook one factor: We started out as trespassers.
RELIGION
What's in a (Muslim) Name?
By Dilara Hafiz, Contributor
Author, 'The American Muslim Teenager’s Handbook'
Although it may seem harmless to assume someone's religion based upon their name, it's becoming apparent that this type of judgment is unnecessary and irrelevant, especially for Muslims in America.
RELIGION
Increased Numbers Now Link Christian Faith to Being American
By Adelle M. Banks Religion News Service (RNS) As the U.S. has grown more diverse, more Americans believe that being a Christian
BOOKS
In Search of Muslim Identity: Akbar Ahmed's Journey into America
By John Milewski, Contributor
Director of Digitial Programming & Managing Editor and Host, W...
Author Akbar Ahmed has dedicated himself to building bridges of understanding between worlds. I asked him about the impact of Faisal Shahzad's actions on the larger goal of increasing trust among Muslims and non-Muslims in the U.S. and beyond.
POLITICS
The Last Real American White Man Is a Woman
By Caryl Rivers, Contributor
Professor of Journalism, Boston University
Sarah is a tintype of what we used to be -- or who we believed we were: rugged individuals who charged across the continent, ripping up trees and taming the prairies.
STYLE & BEAUTY
An American in Paris
By Jessica Roy, Contributor
Contributor
I am an American woman. What does this mean, other than the fact that French men believe that we are easy and want to touch my hair on the Metro?