There is zero debate as to whether America is a nation of immigrants. For thousands of years, indigenous peoples had this continent to themselves.
When the technology of transportation allowed it, ships that could cross oceans were able to bring first explorers, and then settlers from many foreign lands seeking adventure and fortune in “the new world.” Settlers were hoping for a better life. America began being populated by people of all ethnicities, many religious beliefs, and a myriad of races and cultures. As is human nature, these people of different backgrounds would mix, and families of combined races, ethnicities, and cultures resulted. America became known as a “melting pot” of humanity.
While the mixing of races and cultures was inevitable, it was not without conflict. Settlements would welcome immigrants from one region, but would scorn immigrants from another. A great many immigrants were “imported” against their will, as a slave trade flourished and provided free labor to burgeoning plantations.
We fought a Civil War to put an end to slavery, but the end to conflict over human differences is a work in progress. A hundred years after the Constitution’s 14th Amendment guaranteed “equal treatment under the laws” to ALL citizens, Rosa Parks, a black woman, was arrested for not giving up her seat on the bus to a white woman. It was THE LAW. More than a decade later, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law Civil Rights guarantees. Conflicts continued, but America was moving towards “a more perfect union” in terms of equal treatment and justice.
Through all this, America became the primary world power, the envy of the world in terms of the freedom, the prosperity, and the progress its citizens enjoyed. Our military fought world wars against the rise of expanding fascism and tyranny, and we WON. In 1948, President Truman desegregated the military.
It is human nature to resist change. It is human nature to fear the unknown. It is human nature to be wary and skeptical of the different. For human beings to get along, we have to work to overcome our natural fears, and educate ourselves. Once an unknown becomes known, it is no longer a source of fear. When we understand that a difference is almost never a threat, our need to be wary lessens.
Change is inevitable; we need to be open to improvement and acceptance. We can embrace progress. A century ago, almost nobody had a car. We have all learned to adapt to that change. Now we have developed electric cars; Change is inevitable.
Whether technology or culture, ethnicity or race, we should not approach change with fear. Caution may be warranted in some instances, but overall, when change has happened, we citizens have adapted and even thrived. On balance, most of change is for the good.
Fear and anxiety are very evident in today’s politics. Both sides of the political spectrum blame the other for “division.” This fear can be defined as “worry,” and here’s a pertinent quote about worry:
“It is difficult to live in and enjoy the moment when you are thinking about the past or worrying about the future. You cannot change your past, but you can ruin the present by worrying about your future. Learn from the past, plan for the future. The more you live in and enjoy the present moment, the happier you will be.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
Jeff Harrison
Buffalo, Texas
