“In our nation, we no longer group ourselves by our citizenry, but instead by those things that divide us.”
I just finished one of the most amazing trips of my life. I rode with my wife from our home state of Indiana all the way to the coast of California. When I say rode, I mean that we took my Harley Davidson. It was a truly eye-opening experience, almost religious in its context, and a trip that I would suggest to anyone capable of taking a couple weeks for themselves. We were on a fairly rigid timeline for both the trip out and the return trip, which meant more than one day of riding for ten hours. During our week-long trek out to California we stopped at the Grand Canyon and then Monterey, California to explore.
We decided that we would take the southern route for the first leg of the journey. Once we hit California my wife had to fly back for business and I made the return trip by myself. This time I took route 80 which carried me through the Sierra Nevada mountains and then into the great farm lands of our nation.
One of the most amazing things about riding a motorcycle across country is how much more you notice. In a car it is easy to get into a groove and simply let the scenery roll by you. You have your radio, air conditioning, drinks, etc. Heck, half of the drivers out there are watching their phones more than the road. On a motorcycle, you don’t have those distractions. You are exposed to the elements, and therefore more responsive to the world around you. The sights, smells, sounds: it all leaves you with a feeling of connection more than driving any car could.
As we rode my wife made a very astute statement to me (twice as I couldn’t hear her the first time she yelled it to me). She said that the amazing thing about the states we rode through was that it was in the heartlands that our country truly exists. It is in the central portion of our country where people still believe in helping each other. It is in those small communities where neighbor knows neighbor that we still create the American Dream. It is where you still have honest people trying to make an honest living. All of this is bound together with devotion to a higher power and a belief that good deeds will be rewarded.
As we stopped in those towns you could feel the sense of community and identity. My wife was correct, this is where America resides. As we hit California, and then spent the next week in New York, the difference was palpable, especially in the cities. Whether at a restaurant or simply interacting with people on the street, there was no sense of community or culture. In fact, that was one of the things that was most noticeable. As we explored the bay area it became very apparent that there was no American culture in this environment. Everyone walked around with their own culture, separate and distinct from every other group. There were no hostilities from this separation, only the clear and distinct division.
This all made me think of the great American melting pot. It would appear that the cook is no longer in the kitchen. The whole ordeal explains, in my view, one of the greatest issues with our country. We no longer have a sense of Americanism. I do believe that this loss of identity will be one of our downfalls. In our nation, we no longer group ourselves by our citizenry, but instead by those things that divide us. In 1907 Theodore Roosevelt said,
“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American … There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag … We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language … and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”
One can look at the last election and see where the two belief systems diverge. Those states where there is a solid belief in the American way were red. Where the citizenry has turned away from our history they show blue. I am not saying that we should all be, look, or think the same. What I am saying however is that when one cannot even identify themselves first and foremost as an American the only path is towards anarchy and chaos.
We used to believe that it was the responsibility of those who came to our country to fit in. It is only logical after all. Clearly there was something about our country that drew these people to our shores. As it states on the Statue of Liberty, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” But when they get here there should be an expectation that they become Americans. Not German, Japanese, Russian, African, or Mexican hyphenated American; just American. When did it become fashionable to declare your loyalties and devotion to a country where you either left or have never been to?
Although my time in California reminded me why I left that state in the first place, the central portion of our nation restored at least some of my faith. We need to have an expectation that when people decide to emigrate to our country, they do so with the intent to become Americans. Not just a citizen of our country, but a true American. An American that believes in our values and will support mom, freedom, and apple pie. No nation can exist without a culture to hold it together. There needs to be something that binds us and pushes us to excel together.
So what is the American culture? If I were to define it I would say we are a nation of people who believe there is no limit to what we can accomplish. We believe in hard work and honesty. We fight for liberty for ourselves and others. Most importantly, I believe that we endeavor to manifest the words from the preamble of the constitution,
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
It is from these words that we set ourselves apart from other nations. It is in these words where we find the truth and strength of what makes us great and gives us our purpose and meaning.
