It was 246 years ago that America declared independence from Great Britain.
A lot has happened since then. Just in my lifetime, I’ve seen our nation evolve to a state and condition that I would have never expected. Throughout my school life beginning in the early ’70s, we recited the pledge of allegiance, and sometimes sang “America the Beautiful” and the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” At the time America was at war with Vietnam, a war that lasted almost 20 years and ended on April 30, 1975.
I remember new kids attending my class at my elementary school, it was a little unusual because they would attend in the middle of the school year, and they couldn’t speak English. Our teacher would introduce the news kids to the class and assign them a desk. At the time I didn’t think anything of it, but later I found out they were refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia. I don’t think it was easy for these new kids, but I assume it was much better than being stuck in the middle of a war.
I was fortunate to be born and raised in America, my older siblings, all six of them came to this country from Holland and Indonesia in the early ‘60s. They all attended the American school system without knowing how to speak or write English. They told me it was difficult, but they managed.
Stories of immigrants arriving in this nation is nothing new. America today, continues to accept immigrants from nearly every nation in the world. In 2020 alone, 628,254 persons became naturalized citizens. My wife became a naturalized citizen in August of 2019, in that year 843,593 became American citizens.
America is a nation full of people from different nations and languages that span across the world. We are rich in culture, language, and my favorite; food. If you wonder how diverse our nation is, look at our military. There is not a nation in the world that is so diverse as ours.
But in these last years, I never expected that our nation would be so divided by color; black, brown, white, yellow, and red. Or by Latino, Asian, African American, European and Indigenous people.
How did we stoop so low?
What happened to Martin Luther King’s speech? “I have a dream”
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.”
When it comes to race, for every step forward this nation took, it took two steps back. How in the world did we define people by color?
I believe when people lose their national and cultural identity, they find identity in the color of their skin.
But there is hope, and the bible says it best.
Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Cor. 5:16-17
As Christians, we are told not to regard anyone based on the color of their skin.
I hope that this nation will turn back to our Creator. That we will not see people for the color of their skin, but for the rich culture, diversity, and uniqueness as God has created us all to be. My hope as a follower of Jesus is that every person in our nation would accept Jesus as Savior. That we would all know that our true identity is in Christ. I know this is far-fetched, but this is not impossible. This is America!
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, 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.”
In Congress: The Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776
God bless America!
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