Am I Still Free?

And I'm proud to be an American

Where at least I know I'm Free

And I won't forget the men who died

To give that right to me

When I was nine years old we studied American history in the public schools. We talked about how we were formed, how people migrated from all parts of the world, that we fought for our freedom and how our founding fathers wanted this land to be the place people could come to be free from persecution. The text book described America as a "melting pot" and that was a good thing. It said that because we had so many different types of people we were full of many perceptions and opinions and that was what helped us succeed. I remember reading that chapter and feeling proud. I was proud to come from such a remarkable place. I was proud that people wanted to live in this country. I was proud to be American.

Today I've turned off CNN. I've stopped looking at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. I can't watch. I can't stand all the hate. There's discrimination against Muslims, gays, black people, brown people and on and on the list grows. The hate is so strong we feel we are "right" to kill to protect our views. We've stopped listening to the other sides of the argument. We've stopped caring for others. It breaks my heart.

So I have to ask. What is it going to take to let all the pain, fear and hate go? Each time we belittle each other, voice a hateful or discriminatory remark, feel like violence is the only answer and stop listening to others opinions we are forgetting all the men who died to give us the voice that makes us free.

My mother taught me that I might not always like someone but I have to respect them. When are we going to start teaching how great it is to be a melting pot again?

Let's stop making excuses, put down the guns, stop pushing our own opinions and start treating people like humans again! You might be surprised who you end up liking.

#Free #America #Lovebeatshate