A Divided America

American Creed, by definition, is the idea that there is a system of beliefs that are at the core of every American. However, in the society that we are living in today, people have become divided due to differences in cultures, morals, preferences, ethnicities, and so I believe that the primary reason that there is even discussion about the American Creed because there is an inherent need for Americans to feel some sort of unity amongst each other.

It’s long been discussed that America is supposed to be considered a melting pot of different cultures, and while that does not directly imply that there is supposed to be unification along with that diversity, a melting pot shouldn’t face the division that we experience today amongst cultures and races that we see today. For example, we see great tension amongst the black and white communities whenever the topic of police brutality arises. You have strong protests of Black Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, and All Lives Matter with each protest providing some sort of opposition to the other. People of different walks of life have attempted to spark reconciliation and reformation of cultural coexistence. For example, rapper Joyner Lucas, put out a song labeled, “I’m Not Racist.” The music video of the song features a larger white male wearing a Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat, and a black teen. The video starts with Lucas doing a voiceover for the white male, expressing the stereotypical opinion of black people. Halfway through, Lucas does the opposite for the black teen, by describing things from the black community’s point of view. The video ends with the two hugging it out as a symbol of peace. Even though this piece of pop culture is meant to have mediating qualities, it also very evidently is addressing the cultural divide in America.

The idea of America being much more of vegetable platter than a melting plot can also be seen in people who natively speak Spanish, who are being discriminated against by those who speak English because they don’t understand what the Spanish speakers are saying. A quick search of “language discrimination” on google or any other search engine will yield a plethora of this English versus Spanish discrimination as well as many more. Let it be known that these discriminators don’t even use any sort of discretion when it comes to their discrimination. I recall seeing a video on twitter of a man of Hispanic descent who served in the military. The man exclaimed that when he was in the military, and not on duty, he would receive comments from other men about how he and his friends should not be speaking their native tongue in America. People are supposed to have the utmost respect for the men and women that put their lives on the line for the safety of those living in America, yet the men and women serving in the military branches aren’t even receiving respect from their own “brothers” and “sisters” in arms. What this does is it takes the already existing cultural division in America and it shows that it transcends civilian life and enters an aspect of life that it should really have no place in.

So in a culturally torn America, looking at American Creed and what it really means to be an American, provides a medium through which people are able to find some sort of peace and unity. With the way things are right now, it could be debated as to whether this discussion of what it means to be an American is actually working. But most importantly, as it stands right now, America needs to focus on taking some specific action toward specific points of cultural divide before they can try to get remedial by discussing American Creed and expect great unification.