The Harshest Truth

How we can finally come together as Americans

What unites America? Historically, nothing. Many leaders are looking for ways to repair the social fabric. Trying to find something that we can go back to that brings us together rather than tears us apart. But that’s just it. From the beginning, we have never been a United States of America.

From our country’s founding, we have struggled with deep division. The institution of slavery immediately divided America based on skin color, and it is a division that continues to haunts us to this day. This division morphed into disagreements about the practice of chattel slavery which in turn resulted in the civil war, and the southern states, deeply wounded by their loss, retaliated against liberated black Americans with a system of segregation so violent that it was adopted and repackaged by the Nazis. When segregation was outlawed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, division continued to permeate other aspects of our society. The women’s rights movement and soon after the LGBTQ rights movements still exemplified these major rifts, and while the majority have been able to agree on some issues (such as women having their own bank accounts) this would hardly qualify as united. Even today, the rise of the “redpill man” has brought forth a new wave of harmful rhetoric, including the infamous phrase “your body my choice”. Christian nationalist pastor Joel Webbon said "In a nutshell, in general, I don't want to see women in the public sphere."

So here we are, one year away from our 205th anniversary and practically falling apart at the seams. “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal”…yet we have never lived up to this ideal. How could that be possible? How could nothing truly unite us? Though we have chosen to stay together as a means of survival, there has always been some form of hatred that prevents us from fully coming together.

So what do we do? When will we finally be able to live up to the ideals described in our founding documents? The first thing we must do is accept our reality. We must admit that in many ways we have never been the shining city on a hill. This will likely be the most difficult step. So much of our political rhetoric is rooted in building off of the values or ideals that we feel already exist, with the constitution serving as our primary reference. However, the constitution was not written by a woman, or a person of color, or any other marginalized group. We cannot rely on the ideals of individuals who did not embody what they wrote. It is time for a shift.

The next thing we must do is decide who we actually want to be. What does America stand for, and what does it mean to embody those values? Who is deciding what those values are? We must be careful not to make the same mistakes again. Deciding who we want to be will be difficult because it requires consensus, something we have frequently struggled with, but perhaps more so in the last decade. What could unite America? America’s unique identity as a “melting pot” or a “land of immigrants” has created a cultural landscape unlike any other. We are proud of our country, our roots and our communities. Embracing our uniqueness, and that of others, could serve as an ethos for our new society.

Only when these two steps are completed can we bring forth meaningful change. Oddly enough, this will be the easiest step. It’s the first two steps that will be the hardest. However, we must go through this process. If we want any version of America to survive, we must face our harshest truth.

I am not writing this piece to express my hatred for America. I am here to express my love for it. My roots run deep through this country. My ancestors built this country. I simply ask that America love her people as much as they love her. With love comes accountability, and I encourage all of us to hold the country and ourselves accountable. Accountable for who we are and who we want to be going forward.