So, 12 years ago in Boston, a Senate candidate from Illinois electrified the country in a speech that would set him up to be the Democratic Nominee for President of the United States four years later, and eventually the Commander-In-Chief. During his rhetorically charged keynote address, Barack Obama said that there was “not a conservative America, not a liberal America, but a United States of America; not a black America, not a white America, but a United States of America.”
But where has that idea gone since?
A recent poll from Monmouth University says that 53 percent of Americans believe race relations have worsened since Obama became President. But statistics aside, when was the last time you felt comfortable discussing your religious, political or social beliefs in a group without being chastised by at least one person?
When was the last time you could look to a fellow American -- regardless of race, creed or sexual orientation -- and know that you could share a different opinion with them without being labeled a bigot?
By no means is discrimination ever appropriate, but honestly how far has it gone when seemingly two Americans can’t have a healthy robust debate without things getting out of control?
After I cast my vote for Senator Ted Cruz in the New Hampshire Primary this February, why did my peers and professors alike make hasty generalizations about my character just because I voted Republican?
The answer to all these questions, unfortunately, is because of the divisiveness in America today. More than ever before in our lifetimes, this country is divided along racial, social and political lines. Protests, riots, murders and terrorist attacks fill the news cycle each and every day. Slander and smear among politicians has grown more and more as the election season heats up. Much of this is because we have a tendency to label and categorize everyone out of convenience.
Since we were little kids, we have heard it said, “Labels are for jars, not people.” Though sadly, those words didn’t stick. Whether you’re classified on the right or the left, whether your race is white, black, Asian or Hispanic, whether you’re a free-market capitalist or a democratic socialist – we are all Americans and we should embrace that.
We should also value each other’s opinions and encourage healthy conversation. Free speech is in our Bill of Rights and it is part of what makes this nation one of the most special places left to live.
Last week at the Republican National Convention and similarly this week at the Democratic National Convention, we heard two separate platforms for the future of our country. Republicans offered stricter national security, less government regulation in the economy and traditional family values. Democrats advocated for increased foreign diplomacy, more federal intervention and progressive social ideals. These contrasts are not divisive on a policy level, rather part of a diverse political process, but unfortunately the media has twisted this phenomenon.
Instead of a focus on former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s unifying speech on American Exceptionalism, the media spent more time the following morning obsessing over a plagiarism scandal of Melania Trump.
Why do you ask?
Because in 2016 America, it has become easier to ridicule the inevitable flaws of an individual than to applaud the positive qualities of another. It has become easier to focus on the personal attacks and not the healthy debate of policy.
I have an idea – especially heading into this fall.
If you’re a conservative blue-collar coal worker from Charleston, West Virginia and you meet a liberal Hollywood executive from Beverly Hills, then talk about the Yankee game the night before or the best way to fry an egg. If you’re an evangelical pastor from Knoxville, Tennessee and you meet an atheist from Tacoma, Washington, then compare your previous hiking trips in the Smokies and the Cascades or better yet, debate whether grunge is better than country.
In simpler terms, let’s unite again. Let’s leave those labels behind.
As Americans, we have far more in common than we have as differences. We all like to watch football on Sundays, we all like to go to the movies and barbecue with friends and family. But most importantly, we all value life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. So let’s start believing that again. President Lincoln once said that a “house divided against itself cannot stand.” Our house is divided right now, but we can make it stand again if we join together and celebrate our common bond.
The United States of America is the best country on earth, and let’s keep it that way; because we are one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
We said that every morning, but did we mean it?
