“American” has, in many instances, come to be code for a specific set of ideas; and a specific set of people. When one listens to an elementary school teacher of European descent describe her student mix as: “African American, Latino, Asian and American” one gets the clear understanding that this teacher does not view African Americans, Latinos or Asians as “Americans.” It is not uncommon to hear individuals make statements such as: “Muslims come here and try to act like Americans.”

Nathan Deal, U.S. Rep. and Republican candidate for governor of Georgia wants to change the 14th Amendment which automatically grants citizenship to any baby born on U.S. soil.
Under Deal’s proposal (Huffington Post), babies born in the U.S. would automatically have citizenship only if at least one of their parents is a U.S. citizen [...]