Uniting the States of America
American flags are lined up to symbolize the unity the country needs (photo courtesy of NPR).
February 10, 2021
The one thing most people can agree on at school, in the workplace, and in daily life is that no one can agree on anything. Every new social and political issue is split into two options and two options alone: ‘Do you agree with us or them?’
There are two sides to every story, but America is the exception. The country has always been known as a ‘melting pot’ – accepting all cultures, races, religions, and providing freedom – and it has always been something the country has prided itself on.
However, what I have always loved about America has somehow become lost. Instead of respecting and taking pride in the unique qualities and opinions of those around us, it seems our country has muddied those qualities and opinions, making only one opinion matter – red or blue. Republican or Democrat.
There are 328.2 million people living in the United States; 328,200,000 different life stories, qualities, and opinions. So why are our leaders convincing us that we belong in one of two categories? Why are people ‘cancelled’ when their experiences, family, and history have led them to believe something different than someone who grew up with different family, different experiences, and different history?
My family, religion, culture, and lifestyle heavily influence my opinions on topics when it comes to politics and life, but someone who has gone through different hardships than my own has every right to believe something different. There are not two different perspectives in America. There are not two sides to every story. Our country is made up of millions of stories, and it is vital to our unity for us to understand that our own stories are not the only ones that matter.
Maybe we have all experienced different Americas, but the only way for us to see the same one is to embrace the fact that we are individuals. We are humans before we are Republicans or Democrats.
The ability to be human has not been lost on America, regardless of the bad news, the fighting, the injustice, the pain, and the vulnerability of our current circumstances. When crossing paths with someone whose views differ from your own, it’s imperative to put humanity first. We do not share the same story, but we can share the same future if we aim to celebrate instead of cancel, to understand instead of offend, and to love instead of hate.
I’m Madison Sutton, and this is my third year in SPUB; I’m so excited for what this year holds. I’ve always enjoyed writing and photography, so I...
Very well said!
It is voices like yours and Amanda Gorman’s that give me hope for the future of our country. Well spoken, with leadership, Madison!
When anybody puts out a call to unity, it is on their OWN terms and values, therefore everybody should unite about what THEY think. I don’t call for complete unity, except that we all can unite and identify as Americans which are the beneficiaries of a great inheritance from our Founding Father’s, also that we are all created in the image of God who deserve equal dignity regardless of race, religion, or creed. One side—The Left (Democratic Party)—has squelched these quintessential American ideas, even making us ashamed of being American. The Democratic Party has pushed the 1619 Project in schools across America claiming the true founding of America is in 1619 (when the first black slaves came to North America) instead of 1776. The American revolution was really about preserving slavery, not independence from Great Britain. Our founders were a bunch of racist, slave-holding, white men who only cared about their bottom line, not great men for their time who created The United States which fought its most bloody war against ourselves to vanquish the evil institution of slavery. Not to mention, more blacks have come to the United States in the past 20 years (2 million from Africa and 1 million from the Caribbean) voluntarily than involuntarily on slave ships. In addition to that, The Democratic Party no longer believes in free speech. They are perfectly okay with Big Tech of Google, YouTube, FaceBook, and Twitter censoring the President of the United States on their platform but not Kim Jong-Un, or Ayatollah of Iran who has set his mission on doing Hitler’s work by destroying and murdering the State of Israel. Look at college campuses in which conservative speakers have to have full-armored police guards with them to express a dissenting opinion, even having smears and violence threatened against them, as well as safe spaces for those uncomfortable hearing a difference of opinion. Left-Wing speakers almost never have this happen when they speak on a college campus. Half of America is fine with cancelling others who don’t share their political views. It is typically the rule, not the exception unfortunately that the Left is shuts down speech. Look at Gina Carino—a star actor on the Mandalorian—who got fired just recently for expressing a conservative point of view. This is cancel culture: cowing conservatives into submission with fear of losing their friends, jobs, and further opportunities down the road because they express their views which differ from the Left. I can list example upon example of the divides Americans have which are unbridgeable. We are in a non-violent second civil war I believe, and I hope it stays that way. When we are told this is a systemically racist country, all whites are racist, police are racist, free speech doesn’t matter if I deem it “hateful”, then I will not unite with these utter lies. It has been almost a monopoly by the Left of sowing divisions in this country. The Right is simply fighting these advancements. When 75 million Americans who voted for President Donald Trump, such as myself, are deemed ‘racist’, ‘white supremacists’ repeatedly by the media and culture, that is not putting our humanity above our politics as you stated we should do in the article. It brings me no joy to say that this is the truth, the divides in this country are unbridgeable.