What is an American?

To me the definition of an American is anyone who is born in America or who is an American citizen. It doesn't matter where your parents came from or what race you are, you're still an American. Some people in this country seem to think that just because you may not have been born in this county, you aren't an American. I think that people categorize "American" because they want to either feel unique or make someone else feel different. Not necessarily different in a bad way, but like there is something that separates them from the rest of the American population. People label themselves as African-American or Irish-American because they want people to know where they or their ancestors came from. Although categorizing Americans is a way to represent us, it is also a way to divide us. Labeling people with their race or culture leads to stereotypes. It also depends on what people want to be seen as. In America you might want to label yourself as an African-American because we're all Americans and you want to be seen differently. In. Country other than America, you might want to be classified as just an American because that's what you want to be seen as. Basically the question is "What do you want people to view you as?" when deciding what you want to be labeled as.