Happy Birthday, America!

Happy Birthday, America! What a special nation you have been! What a special nation you continue to be! You are the "land of the free and the home of the brave." You are the melting pot of the world. Around the world when people share dreams, many of those dreams are focused upon the opportunities that are accorded people here.

I have often wondered why America has survived as long as it has. It was birthed during days of a bloody revolution that lasted for many years. Growing pains soon followed resulting in sectional clashes, the ultimate one leading to a Civil War that would tear this nation apart. Other wars would follow, some of our own creation. Yet all the while America remained strong. Oh it had its moments when the American spirit was severely tested. One thinks of those difficult days during the Vietnam War with protesters marching down streets of major cities, clashing with police forces. One also thinks of the great unrest between the races during the 1960's. Pictures of the Democratic Convention in Chicago still linger in my mind.

But through it all, America has survived. In many instances the difficulties and hardships it has faced has caused it to grow even stronger. There has always been a certain amount of grit in America's psyche. Tell us something can't be done - and we will prove you wrong and do it. Americans have always loved a challenge. Perhaps it is the remnant of the Spirit of 76 that resides in the hearts of many of us.

But, something is astir in America today that, I believe, threatens to destroy the very fabric of who we are. We are becoming a nation divided by our diversities. In the past the diversity within America was one of its strengths. Swedes, Norwegians, Poles, Germans, Latins, and Asians all came to America...learned its language, accepted its principles, supported the unity that was America. They became Americans...not Swedish-Americans or German-Americans or Asian-Americans. They were just plain Americans! Today, however, diversity is pulling us apart. We are not just Americans anymore. No, we are Hispanic-Americans or African-Americans or...well, the list goes on and on. Many come into this country illegally. They do not learn our language. They do not abide by the principles of this great nation. They are here, but they are not Americans. And I wonder how much longer this can last before our nation completely unravels.

It is time that we revisit those hallowed corridors of Independence Hall in Philadelphia; walk among the quiet tombstones at Arlington; stand in silence peering into the dark waters shrouding the battleship Arizona. It is time that we listen to the words of Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence; the words of Abraham Lincoln uttered on a cold November day at Gettysburg; of a George Washington as he bid farewell to the American people as he left the office of President. It is time that we come together as whites, blacks, browns, yellows, and red-skinned people who call ourselves Americans. It is time that we acknowledge the words of John Kennedy in his inaugural address: Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. If we can do this, America will be a better place for each of us and for our children and grandchildren.

So, Happy Birthday, America. And may God bless you with many more.