American Resilience and Progress

     Our political climate is so polarized that nothing can be agreed upon, and all forward progress has slowed down immensely, if it hasn’t stopped completely. Both sides refuse to compromise, and whenever there’s a chance for one side to ridicule the other, they take it. Seeing politics this way makes me wonder where America is going, and how that will affect this generation and the next.

     Looking at politics this way reminds me of the way my parents acted before they got divorced. In the same way, they had a very hard time compromising, and found it hard to agree on anything. In the same way, they had forgotten what would be best for the family. Because of this, my family’s future was very unclear and unstable, and I worried where we would end up. However, after a while, they realized the best thing for them was to get divorced. Similarly, America is in the stage my parents were in before they realized the best solution for them. Because of this fact, I believe America will figure out what will work best for our government and our country.

     Ever since America was founded, we have had to work hard to resolve complex issues in our country. The Declaration of Independence was the document letting Britain and the world know that America was a resilient nation, capable of holding its own in any predicament that may be thrown at it. It was the first step toward the creation of the American creed. After the tyranny of the British, America came out the other side ready for any challenge that would face it. In the same way, after my parents had struggled through so much, they came back ready for anything that could happen, even if they would be facing it without the partner they had been with for so long.

     This is not the first time America has been in political unrest. In the 1960s while the Vietnam War was happening in Southeast Asia, many people felt that the United States should not be involved and that it was a cruel war that shouldn’t be occurring. People protested, some of it became violent, some was peaceful, but one thing was agreed upon between them: they hated the US government for deciding to involve us in the conflict. Although after a while, the United States pulled their soldiers out of Vietnam. While it may not have exactly been a direct result of the protests, the US still found a solution that satisfied both sides. After the Vietnam War, America was a more unified country and was better able to function, just as my family in a strange way became more unified and was able to better care for me and my sister.

     The 1960s were a time of great political instability. The Civil Rights Movement, led by figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, was at its height, and protesters were marching in segregated cities, boycotting racist companies, staging sit-ins at segregated restaurants, and participating in many other kinds of protest. The government tried everything in their power to keep the protesters down, and neither side was willing to cave, and it was difficult to compromise, because they already had with Plessy v. Ferguson, and clearly that was shown to still be discriminatory, when Brown v. Board of Education ruled in 1954 that separate but equal was never really equal. So, after much debate and hardship, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This marked America stepping closer to fulfilling its promise in the Declaration of Independence, that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

     Regardless of how my parents handled their relationship before they got divorced, or how intensely protesters may have disagreed with the government, we eventually found a solution. For that reason, I have a lot of hope for American politics and government. That no matter how off-track we may be now, there’s always hope that we may find a solution and finally be able to coexist and compromise. That is my American creed. That however divided we may be, we as Americans are resilient enough and strong enough to compromise and work to find a solution, no matter what the problem may be. We always have hope, because we know that failure is not an option. My parents knew that, Vietnam War protesters knew that, Martin Luther King Jr. knew that, as does every American that has ever faced an obstacle that felt as though it may ruin their life as they knew it, but came out the other side a stronger person, just as America has become a stronger country through its many trials.