Just recently, I participated in a college debate tournament in which I competed with the most skilled debaters of the country. The interesting thing about debate is that it brings together people from all perspectives and walks of life. But, what all debaters have in common is that they represent the quickest minds of our generation.
During sparring matches, I came to recognize a strange contradiction. This is that our society seeks to promote self-pride and individualism, but at the same time society seeks to promote equality by degrading those that they deem have too much pride.
Specifically, we are facing a generation in America that tends to be anti-nationalistic in the hopes of creating an equality of opportunities of individualism among minorities.
There is a growing trend in American society that people need to be more accepting of themselves and take pride in the things that make them unique. This is manifested through movements in ethnic populations, feminist groups, and those of certain sexual orientation.
People should be proud of who they are and should not accept societies preconceived ideas of who they can or can not be.
People are becoming passionate about being accepting of who they are and are shrugging the stamp of degradation they feel society has placed upon them. Whether it’s a Gay Pride Rally, the growing popularity of Down syndrome model, Madeline Stuart, or the #BlackLivesMatter movement people everywhere are addressing the fact that they as individuals are special and that they can be whatever they want to be.
The reason movements such as these are gaining momentum is due to the fact that people are tired of being told what do, and what to say, and what to be.
I find this an exciting prospective. I love that people are stepping out of their comfort zones and finding pride in being who they are. This idea embodies the very concept of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As a female, Caucasian American I take pride in my gender, heritage, and in belonging to this country.
At the same time, I think that this idea is being carried way too far by thinkers of my generation.
During the fore mentioned debate tournament, it became clear to me during the rounds that my counterparts held much less pride in their heritage than I did. In fact, in many debates, it seemed almost a sin if the speaker were to advocate ideas that supported the interests of America as a whole over the interests of minority.
I believe these notions are driven from the desire to create equality among all individuals in order to foster more opportunities of individualism. This conception of creating equality is held in such high regard that people are beginning to blame members of the majority at the hope of promoting individuals of minority.
The effect of this is seen, in that American college students are ashamed of their heritage for creating stigmas that supposedly curb minority individualism. In actuality, we need to realize that America is one of a few countries that promotes such an expanded freedom of individuality, and it’s because of the freedoms provided by America that people can express themselves to the extent that they do.
If you’re advocating for the right of equality in pride among individuals, shouldn’t male, American Caucasians have the same right to be proud of their heritage as those of other ethnicities and genders? The growing result is that society has stigmatized a large portion of our population in the effort of erasing the creation of previous stigmas.
Americans can and should be proud of being American. Despite all of the bad things that America might have done in the past, we also did a great amount of good things that are worth being proud of.
The fact that I am proud of my heritage doesn’t mean I’m curbing your ability to be proud of yours. The only natural progression in being proud of one’s heritage is seeking to promote it to others, and America has no reason to be shy in promoting itself in the world. If you want to promote equality in individualism you can’t hold exemptions for those that you suppose to already have too much pride.
So here we are. Myself and others like me are attempting to grow into the people we want to be in the future, but we are starting out by being told by our fellow intellectuals that our heritage has nothing to be proud of. We are being told that as Americans we should be apologizing to the world for who we are. We are told that in the interest of equality we should bow our head at our own heritage while others promote theirs. Finally, we are being told that our individualism is worth less than others just because we are the majority.
This is not equality.
You can’t have both individualism and equality while demonizing an institution that creates opportunities for both.
I am proud of who I am, and I take great pride in exerting my individuality, but I’m also an American, and I’m not going to apologize for being proud of a heritage that fosters equality among individuals.
