Increasingly, Americans have an identity crisis. You can see it primarily in the way that people define themselves. We, of course, all have an identity of one sort or another. People find their identity in many things. Religion, values, family, friends, work, and recreation. Hopefully that identity is grounded in positive, lawful, and productive activities and thinking that contributes to family, communities, states, and the nation, indeed harmony, among all people.
However, there are unfortunate expressions of identity in America today that distract from the harmony one should expect of a country whose national motto is E pluribus unam, “out of many one.” Our Founders fondly hoped that we would live out that motto. They knew that following our Revolution (1775-1783), we would be susceptible to foreign intrigues what would seek to divide us. They warned as much in the Federalist Papers which said that if our motto was not “out of many one,” our enemies would surely make it divide et impera, or “divide and conquer.”
In that regard, our Founders wanted us to find our unity in the idea of being Americans. They believed that was expressed in three ways. To subscribe to the rule of law, not the rule of men; individual rights, including the right to private property; and a common American identity. Having an American identity required that we set aside old allegiances we once held with Great Britain or the nations from which we once came and take up the mantle of citizens of a free republic to which we pledged our loyalty. There would be no looking back, but rather seeing ourselves as a new creation, indeed, an example for the world to behold.
However, that is not how we hear identity expressed in America today. We are shockingly divided and those who would conquer us are delighted that we are. How often do you hear people express their identity in ways that set them apart from other Americans and apart from the Founding vision? We repeatedly hear from some people that they want a government that “looks like me.” No longer should we strive for a society that prioritizes the content of one’s character over the color of one’s skin. Competence and character are no longer a priority, but rather racial grouping and identity.
Similar in nature are expressions by people concerning “our community” as apart from all other communities. And while there is nothing wrong with being part of a community per se, when it explicitly supports—or even implies—racial separation, it is dangerously close to the sort of destructive disunity that weakens us as a society.
Adding to our disunity are those who use race to cynically advance their politics. It is true that many people who define their identity as “black and brown” were discriminated against in our society. But to lump all white people in a pile labeled “white supremacists” is a gross injustice that truly divides the nation. The broad and careless application of this term is profoundly wrong.
It’s time that we end the politics of division and take up policies that unite us as a people and nation. That means that we do not find our identity in our individual differences, but rather in the common denominators of an American identity. And first among the many things we should do to restore that genuine identity is to end—once and for all—the divisive concoction known as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Such a disruptive concept seeks to divide us, not bring us together. In a very real sense “diversity” in this framework has come to mean “my race to the exclusion of yours.” Equity translates to “transfer your money to me based on my race.” Inclusion practically means “embracing my demands and sentiments” while compelling “your silent obeisance.” How can any of that contribute to a process permitting us to discuss and repair the divisions tearing our nation asunder?
We will not find unity in disunifying concepts. We will not find harmony in the shrill voice of reverse racism. We will not find our proper identity in diversity, but rather unity. We will not find equity in anything other than a fundamental commitment to equality as expressed in our Constitution and statute laws. And we will not find a place for all of us to resolve our differences if inclusion means the active exclusion of others based on race, class, sex, or religious beliefs. Truly DEI should d-i-e.
Now is the time to for us all to be of one voice when we say that our national identity is in the Constitution and our founding vision, that our community is one of “We the People,” and on that we stand unified. And when we do, we will begin effectively addressing our American identity crisis.
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