Let me begin with explaining the things I have not done…I have not broken the law, participated in an insurrection (or praised those who did), lied to deliberately cause harm, avoided paying taxes, violated any oath I have taken, demeaned any group solely because of their ethnicity, politics, disability, gender, or religion, or taken away the hard-fought freedoms of any American.

What I have done is voted in every election since I was eighteen years old, paid my taxes, served honorably in the military, worked since I was sixteen, finished high school, completed my bachelor’s degree, raised my child, worked in my community for a better tomorrow, volunteered to help those less fortunate than myself, registered many voters, knocked on many doors to encourage voting, etc.

 I remember a time when President John F. Kennedy’s words were displayed all over the place…” Ask not what our country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”  Today we have a crisis at our border where thousands of people are risking life and limb to come to our country to make a better life, a country with more freedoms, and more opportunity than any other country in the world…if they do the work. The border crisis is not about immigrants or the President; it is about Congress not doing its job to ensure a lawful process for managing an act that is far from new. As long as we are the United States of America as we know it, we will have people from across the world trying to come here.

With all my heart, I believe to be an American comes at a cost…in short, to keep those freedoms, opportunities, dreams, and democracy intact requires something of each of us. It requires more than being born in America. With all its imperfection, I am proud to be an American…I love this country of mine.

I love the Declaration of Independence concept of inalienable rights, specifically, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. I love President Lincoln‘s vision of what a more perfect union could be, “…a government of the people, by the people, for the people.” I love Dr. Martin Luther King’s hope for all people…” I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”  My heart absolutely swells each time I lay my hand on my heart and recite the words, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” 

To feel this way about these passages, I imagine one must be a patriot, a lover of this country, and one must really listen and embrace what the words mean.

“My country tis of thee
Sweet land of liberty
Of thee I sing
Land where my fathers died
Land of the pilgrim’s pride
From every mountain side
Let freedom ring”

Without our freedoms we are not America! I choose America!