United by an Uncommon Idea - United States

 

"Ever since July 4, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was adopted by representatives from the 13 original British colonies, people from around the world have come to American shores. Most came to escape tyranny or to be free to pursue life as they saw fit. Some came as conquerors. Some came as slaves under the worst circumstances imaginable. But come they did. And when they did, the indigenous people were either displaced, lived alongside, or assimilated with the new arrivals.

These different peoples rallied around an ideal — a concept that people can be free to live their lives as they choose and determine who and how they will be governed. We did not always live up to that ideal, but we created the institutions and made the sacrifices that eliminated slavery, outlawed bigotry, and enabled freedom.

In the process, America and Americans became a melting pot. European immigrants combined their cultures and often their genes with not only African slaves and the conquered indigenous peoples, but also with immigrants from Asia. Together they formed a unique culture and people. America became a beacon of hope, refuge, and promise for humanity. The different religions, races, creeds, and ethnicities that settled here often did not peacefully coexist, but the rest of the world is very far behind American integration and unity.

America is the ultimate human experiment. We managed a union of many different cultures — far from an easy task. Many European leaders feel morally superior to America, despite their failure to do or to try anything so ambitious. Indeed, look at India, China, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Rwanda, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Russia, or the Middle East. In all these places, ethnic tensions still are deadly affairs.

People still come to America any way they can. Some come in observance of our laws, others in violation of our laws. When they arrive, they tend to retain their cultures and identities. But soon, these cultures intermingle. They borrow from one another. And eventually, they amalgamate, becoming a different and uniquely American race and culture — just as that forgotten British officer prophesied more than two hundred years ago.

America's unique language, art, culture, music, literature, government, and thought all testify to this reality. We are a people whose popular music and dance are a hybrid of European and African influences. Our world-famous Western movies and literary heroes are a blend of the laconic natures of European and Native American characteristics.

But the one characteristic that unites all Americans is not our language or ancestry or land. It is an idea of individual freedom, which all Americans, regardless of their background, have in common. From the Ghanaian shoe store owner to the Mexican landscaper to the Chinese professor to the Italian tile setter to the Polish roofer, we are all united by that one idea.

This idea is under assault today. Our unique American culture is under assault by enemies who seek to divide us. They have been at it for a very long time. 

First they tried to eradicate the idea of the melting pot and change it to a tapestry. Well tapestries become unraveled. Look at what happened in the Balkans and the Soviet Union and Rwanda.

Our values, beliefs, and behavior are those of a people who esteem freedom — who resisted tyranny and eschewed a monarchy. It is not uncommon for immigrants from former or current communist countries who chide Americans by saying, “You do not know how good you have it here!”

For more than ten years, I lived or worked near Independence Hall in Philadelphia. One cannot pass by that shrine without being awed by the events that took place there. One cannot help but be impressed by the men who met within those walls and created a nation that is the envy of the world. Critics say they were white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant heterosexual males who excluded and persecuted Native Americans, women, and blacks. This is true. But they also created a nation that eliminated slavery, reversed the wrongs of discrimination by race, religion, and gender, and freed others who lived under tyranny, asking for nothing in return but the ground upon which to bury those who died to free people. They created the system of government that righted those wrongs and under which we live today.

America is the greatest nation in history. This is why so many, sacrifice so much to come here. Americans need to remember this always.

Happy Independence Day."

Michael Tremoglie is a writer and author.

[Full Article Here: 'A new race of men' (msn.com)]