I'm going to use American society
to talk about this because American society is what I know. This applies to every nation, however.
We’re tearing ourselves
apart. The reason is quite simple: in
seeking the noble diversity we have begun categorising ourselves to a greater
extent than needed. I am a disabled
straight white American, which differentiates me from a disabled straight black
American. This black American may have
exactly the same wound I do, have exactly the same economic situation I do, may
have exactly the same views I do—the only thing that divides us is the pigment
of our skin.
Yet, this difference puts him in
a whole different situation than mine.
He faces different political pressures than I do, a different social situation,
different grievances of his friends—basically everything.
Why is this? Because many people
try to find ways in which we are a victim everywhere instead of emphasising how
we can rise above that. We no longer try
to unify—we differentiate. It’s almost
as if you aren't a victim or don’t yourself as a victim, you are a horrible
oppressing person. I do not deny that
there is prejudice in the world and that many people are victims. But people can “overcome.” The Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s was to
overcome Jim Crow and racism. In most
ways it succeeded. Yes, there are
racists out there. But that’s not all of
us or even most of us. I would argue
that people are becoming more racist today than they were twenty years ago
because this difference is constantly pounded into us. These differences are emphasised for all
ethnic, racial, religious, sexual, and others I've forgotten because there are
so many categories to put us into. There’s a joke quiz on Reddit in which white
supremacists and social justice warriors’ statements are put up with the people
these supremacists or SJWs are talking about left out. You have to guess whether the statement is
from a supremacist or an SJW. The
statements aren't that different at all.
One professor has recently
emphasised that Asians have blended into our society even though they were
discriminated against as much if not more than blacks were in society in the
1960s. I can’t wait until their
separation because of race is pounded into them so much that they feel
alienated from America’s society—it’s going to come. It’s already true in the museums. To add to the tearing apart, I have pointed
out before how the Irish and Italians blended into our American society despite
the fact that they were discriminated against so much when they first came
over. There are vibrant Irish and
Italian cultures within America that are American. They succeeded in getting into the melting
pot.
I didn't think this could happen,
but the Irish came under attack recently for the same reasons that they were
under attack a century and more ago—for drinking. A porch collapsed under them and a few died
in the collapse. This article specifically
targeted them as bawdy Irish drinkers (and one as an Irish American) during
their report. The New York Times used
their report of the tragedy to discriminate against the Irish. Thankfully,
Ireland took issue with the article and called The New York Times’ apology
pathetic.
I come from all over Northwest
Europe and many of us university students did the same thing these Irish are
accused of in university—whatever our race or social category. I can go so far as to say I myself was
involved in a porch collapse in 2010. We
were extremely lucky in that the worst injury was a broken ankle. I walked away unharmed. I’m almost certain, however, that very few of
the people on the porch that night were specifically Irish American. We were just stupid college kids.
Now this discrimination and
categorisation against the stereotypical Irish culture has come back into
American society though one of the United States’ leading newspapers. It drove a wedge between Ireland and us. If it continues, the Irish will once again be
an alienated “race” (the New York Times’ description).
It makes me sick, it really
does. I can’t count how many
Irish-American friends who love their Irish heritage and love America with
thorough patriotism. You can be part of
a specific culture and be an American patriot.
It’s not hard.
The solution to bring ourselves
back together is surprisingly simple and extremely hard to do if you keep your
grudge. I doubt my professors who
emphasise these social differences would like what I'm about to say.
Love your nation. If it’s America, like mine, love the Stars
and Stripes. We all live under the same
flag. We’re one people. If you belong to another nation, you can be
proud. No nation is perfect, but we
try. You don’t have to love every person—prejudices
endure between us—but we are one nation, with or without God, hoping to be
indivisible, and trying to bring liberty and justice to all.
We've been through a hell of a
lot together, some good and some bad.
Our past is filled with both. But
it’s a shared past and a shared idea that we can all share together.
Sometimes the condition that the
United States is in today makes me want to weep. I still love it, though. We still have a chance—every Western nation
has a chance—to bring ourselves back if we start saluting what our flag tries
to stand for.
