This is a website advocating for the use of the word 'Usonia' as the official demonymn of the United States of America's people over 'American'. It describes the history of the word, the potential, and the timing of this project.

But, just to answer the big questions first...

TL;DR

THE SHORT VERSION

If we want the United States to be the fulfillment of that promise that "all Men are created equal," we must first start by examining our relationship to the word "American." In the style of Frank Lloyd Wright, I propose that we drop the word 'American,' and replace it with the word 'Usonian.'

This is not my idea; in fact, it was so well established in the World Peace movement following World War I that it was selected for the word to represent 'United States' in the international auxiliary language, Esperanto (Usono). It is an idea that was originally popular from the 1900s - 1930s, roughly.

THE LONG VERSION

In 1927, the then creatively-towering Frank Lloyd Wright recorded a simple observation in a letter to a friend. In it, he posited, "why this term 'America' has become representative as the name of these United States at home and abroad is [now] past recall." Wright understood this term to be, above all, technically wrong, because how could we use "American" to refer to the actions and affairs of the United States when there are two continents named 'America'? It is simply factually incorrect.

Wright was not that naive about the words' origin — it was difficult in the 1920s to avoid the poisonous effects of white supremacy. It was the engine that had enabled great horrors all in the name of what was so-called "Manifest Destiny"; that being, the notion that all of the Americas were destined for, and thereby belonged rightfully to, European settlers. We named ourselves "Americans" because, simply stated, we thought the whole new world was ours'.

This is a wound has never stopped bleeding, leading us collectively into such atrocities as the Battle of Little Bighorn, the Trail of Tears, the American slave trade, the Spanish-American War, the Civil War, and so very much more after that. The very foundation of our national identity is like a house built from rotten wood, because it was founded on the principle that all of this land, all of these resources, the many products they contain, all belong to just one group.

In lieu of a word dripping with sin, Frank Lloyd Wright proposed a new term — "Usonian."

It was simple, it flowed off the tongue of any native 'American English' speaker, and most importantly, it was new. Wright was an architect, and he believed like many people in the modern era that our material conditions are one of the biggest influences on our mood and actions, and that lives could be improved through the combined application of humanity and science. So, in the way that living in an apartment with lots of natural light can make you feel less depressed, creating buildings and cities with our needs in mind can make us happier, more content, and therefore, less violent and divisive.

Wright felt that we needed a new label in order to shed the skin of our old labels; that the United States should instead be defined by its multicultural, cosmopolitan nature, and the people who decide to call this place home. He felt that we would not feel clean returning to dirty clothes, so to speak.

Quick Note: None of this is said in an effort to venerate Wright — by all accounts, he was a complicated man at best, but, it is an idea that is independent of the man, and I believe that this one idea is one worth rejuvinating. It is said to put into context that the Progressive Era in the United States happened in an environment of yawning economic inequality; many, many people were involved in the creation, fostering, and flowering of it. Wright is held up as the United States' greatest architecht — his name carries weight, so, it is mentioned.

For these reasons and more, I propose that we breathe life into Wright's old vision for a new American consciousness, and revive our efforts to replace the word 'American' with 'Usonian.'

It's just the first step — but it's an important one.

Learn More:

Join the movement towards a new American consciousness.

You can help out by just using the word 'Usonian' instead of 'American,' and 'Usonia' instead of 'America.'

To Do:

• Build a "More Reading" list of books detailing the history of the Usonia movement.
• Design an explainer or infographic.
• A store with some at-cost buttons, pins, and stickers that can be used to advertise and promote use of the word 'Usonian.'