What does it mean to be an American? That is an interesting question. What does it mean to be Brazilian? What does it mean to be Canadian? I can't identify with a Brazilian or a Canadian, but I can identify with being an American. That is part of who I am. But here is the code word: identity. Who am I? I was born and raised in the United States. I believe that it is the greatest country in the world. America is all I know about. It is a nation of flawed individuals good and bad. It is no different than any other country in that aspect.
I live in a country where evil has happened and that cannot be forgotten. Evil should be confronted and defeated. Well, in the history of the United States, for every evil that has happened, there has been that same evil that has been confronted. We have learned that all are God's creation with unaliable rights, yet many have not lived up to that promise. I don't see America as an evil empire which exploited people, though exploitation and ignorance have occurred. I see an America as a great nation in which despite the evil in the world, there is goodness and light. There is justice, love, friendship, and a sense of spirituality. Most all Americans want to live up to the ideals that the Founders and Framers of the Constitution set forth.
I am not an expert in history, but I know this much. America is not only a nation of ideals but of people who lived by that ideals, failed those ideals, and strived to live by those ideals. I'm sure every country has those individuals. Realistically, all do. Our military fights for those ideals and they sacrifice much to make sure those ideals are still not only a reminder, but a reality. Our children needs to be educated on those ideals. Our legal system needs to render a decision by those ideals. Our country cannot survive without those ideals.
While there is evil in an evil world, being an American is about hope, freedom, and strength. I live in a nation where most realize that for a nation to survive, we must be spiritually as well as morally grounded. When a nation lose those grounds, we lose our ideals. The ideals that I refer to are life, liberty, freedom, integrity, loyalty, family, and of course faith. But all nations claim to have those ideals, no? I'm sure they do, but America is built on those ideals and then some. I admit that there are people in the nation who have lived up to those ideals in the past and up to today, but I believe in freedom, liberty, integrity, being loyal, and being faithful in God, family, and country.
America is a land of opportunity. Freedom at one time was deferred, and let us as Americans learn about past freedom denied and past freedom deferred. But let us move forward and take the opportunities that we have now. There are people who live in countries who still have freedoms that are denied to them. Their leaders are corrupt and rule with an iron fist. There is greater poverty and a lack of mobility. Many people are not able to provide for their families and become upwardly mobile in their societies.
We as Americans are among the blessed few in the world. We have an opportunity to be thankful. I could go on and on about the evils and problems that we have in this nation, but I will say this. In this country, we don't take the time to be thankful. This country is a country of provision and ingenuity. We are to also be thankful that we can make this nation further live up to the ideals, but living up to those ideals start with each individual. We are a compassionate nation, but I have to ask myself, how compassionate am I? I live in a nation where I can speak out and worship God without fail, yet have I done anything to make sure God is not made known in the lives of others? Have I been hypocritical and not shown any Christian love towards my fellow man or woman? I believe in liberty, but what have I done or shown to promote liberty?
I believe that as an American, we need to repent to God and question ourselves daily. Despite what I feel about the godliness of our nation, or the lack thereof, there is at least a God given right to worship as we please. We live in a nation where there is a church, temple, mosque, or synagogue in every street corner in every rural or urban area of the country. Things are not perfect here, because this is a nation of imperfect people. My one hope is that we who are Americans do not lose sight that we are an imperfect people who are a people of accomplishment. We are a nation where slaves and countries were freed, where people escaped, where people worked, and where people worshipped. Being an American is about being proud of who we are, our ideals, being able to confront evil no matter where it is, here or there. But we have a history where a proud people who lost much of their ancestral heritage, denied the basic rights because there were people who failed to live up to American ideals have enslaved and taken advantage of them, segregated, and segregated by those leaders who have failed to live up to those ideals overcome all of those things to become a new people who have built schools, businesses, and neighborhoods. They were a religious people who loved their God whether it was Jesus or Allah, who has taken part in the revitalization of communities, been teachers, doctors, lawyers, politicians, technicians, parents, and role models in the community.
They, my people, have come a long way. The story of Black Americans is not a separate story of a minority within America, but America in general. It is a story about enslaved Africans who have survived the humiliations of slavery, the hypocrisy of freedom denied, the freedom deferred because of segregation, and now having to deal with the issues faced in American society. We are not just black Americans, or Americans of African descent. We are not a lost people . We have an identity. We have a culture. We have a history. We have much to be proud of. Why? Because we are Americans. I am proud of being an American. Being a black American is about what it is like that no matter what evil I have to confront I am not a minority American outside of the mainstream. I am not a hyphenated-American. I am an American. I am not from Africa. My opeople and I are Americans and have been for centuries. Things are not perfect because of the godlessness in our country and straying away from our nation's values. However, being an American is about possibilities only being limited because we allow ourselves to be limited. I refuse to be limited. Let us as Americans not make that mistake of allowing ourselves to be limited.
No comments:
Post a Comment