Man Pham

April 27, 2016

AP Language
Individuality vs. Nationality
The concept individuality and nationality are portrayed everywhere around the world.
With the example given, there are arguments for either concepts. Either nationality as identifying
one’s self as a member of a society of culture, being more important than being an individual, or
individuality, arguing as being true to one’s self carries more weight than being a member of
society or culture. Nationality has to be achieved and aimed for, before individuality can be seen.
What that creates is a sort of sureness that can help differentiate each other in either one. Without
the help of individuality, there would be no nationality, and without nationality, there would not
be individuality. These two ideas and concepts are never to been clearly known, because of the
world that portrays it differently every time. There are different concepts and expectations to
what individuality and nationality means and not one is “the one” to explain it all.
Individuality, the concept of being true to one’s self carries more weight than being a
member of a society of culture. That is shown by Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X
and Gandhi. All these people have in common one trait. Their individuality, which comes from
their actions, actions that they do because of their nationality. They take it upon themselves,
mere individuals to take a stand for their rights, their beliefs, their lives.They want to create a
change for their nationality that will lead to a great victory in the end. Going into depth, Rosa
Parks, an African American lady, who was famous for sitting on the seat of a bus that was
belonged to white folks. She stayed at her seat and inevitably was put into jail because of her
actions. What she has done was a tiny act of individuality, where she caused an uprise with
nationality. She defended her rights, at the cost of time in jail, but that was an extraordinary
event, for it lead to bus boycotts all around. Boycotting for their rights, the rights of African
Americans, to have their own seats and time, whenever they wanted, to sit on the buses, in
whichever seat they wanted. During that time Martin Luther King was also a well known heroic
figure for the African Americans. He had many great speeches, including his famous “I Had a
Dream” speech. That speech was empowering every African American citizen that was denied
their rights even with Amendments, such that of Amendment 14. What Amendment 14 said, is
that every citizen in the United States shall be a naturalized and turned into an official citizen
with equal rights with one another. That didn’t happen, for Martin Luther King, also an
individual, shows his own individuality to provide a turn around on nationality making those
African Americans get their own rights by taking actions to. What he did as well as Rosa Parks,
was cause an uprise from merely individuality to nationality.
Nationality, when people argue that identifying one’s self as a member of society of
culture is more important that being an individual. These nationality groups are represented by
groups such as the proletariats, the KKK and Black Panthers. What these people have are their
nationality in their identity as a member of society or of culture. The proletariats are those people
and members of society because they are of the working class identifying themselves as a
member of society rather than being true to themselves. The impact of the proletariats nationality
would create the this group of people such as Ehrenreich and the group of workers going on a
strike to find their individuality. The individuality is created by nationality is shown by the
boycotts because they took their stands, stabbing at the bourgeoisie, or the higher class to get
equal rights, or in that case, profit as they were supposed to get. Then, there is the KKK, which is
a very unpopular group of people who were against the 13th-15th Amendments for the African
Americans. What they did was horrible, attacking and killing African Americans for their
freedom and equality that was given to them. The KKK was a group formed by nationality, with
their commonality for, in a way, culture, because they believed in one idea. The idea that white
folks shall stay superior while African Americans and shall stay inferior. They made African
Americans and political roles fought back for the intolerance that the KKK had. Those opposing
the KKK were the individuality that was formed by the KKK’s nationality. Without the
nationality created by the groups like the proletariats and the KKK, there wouldn’t have been any
individuality.
In conclusion, the way individuality and nationality works interlocks together on a deeper
level.
Even with the media and the world, right now, individuality and nationality are defined in
several different ways and are prevented and oppressed in one way or another. What is meant by
that is our different ethnicity, from being Caucasian, African American, Asian, Hispanic or
anything else, certifies and categorizes one another to be expected to do this or that. The media
and the world ends up having the power to separate everyone, by just broadcasting stories and
news giving one side of the story, the side that everyone is used to hearing. But with that one
side, there’s always the side that’s covered up, covered up by the world and their idea of what’s
right and wrong, of what individuality and nationality means. The media and the world doesn’t
state what those two concepts are clearly, but they show examples of them on daily basis. With
the increase in individuality, there would be a start in those with nationality. Vice versa, with the
increase nationality, the start of individuality shall begin. These two concepts were meant to be
higher than each other, to then, go back and even out. Once individuality is higher, nationality
starts to even the two ideas out, and when nationality is higher, individuality cancels it out.
Either way, with the work of individuality and nationality, there is a commonality in one another
to keep each of them up to speed. This causes for the equality in individuality and nationality
rather than one concept being superior and the other inferior to one another.