American Culture

[NightskyeB4Dawn]

I was talking to the wife of a very close friend. He told a joke she didn't get. He said to her he was surprised she did not get the joke, because she grew up in America. She told him I am American, but I grew up in a Spanish household in a Spanish community. So I am basically from a Spanish culture, not an American culture. This statement gave me pause, because I have no idea what an American culture really is.

I grew up on military bases and in military communities. My mother was a nurse. The medical community back then was just one huge extended family. I lived in the home of Filipinos, Koreans, Northerners, Southerners, Indians, Middle Easterners, and a few others. They were all from someplace else, but all were Americans.

The best way I can explain American culture to myself, is that American culture is a hodgepodge of multiple cultures that merge together to form one cohesive culture, based on the members of the community in which you live.

When researching I found this article, "American Culture: Traditions and Customs of the United States".

the United States is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world, according to The London School. Nearly every region of the world has influenced American culture, most notably the English who colonized the country beginning in the early 1600s, according to the Library of Congress. U.S. culture has also been shaped by the cultures of Indigenous Americans, Latin Americans, Africans and Asians.

https://www.livescience.com/28945-american-culture.html

I found the article very interesting and brought it here out of curiosity. Please share your own thoughts and ideas about our American culture. I am sure there will be many shared and yet different ideas about just what American culture truly is.