by Thom Ernst
Over the past several years there has been a phrase bandied about, mostly by the politically elite. I’m not sure, but I think it began with President Obama. The phrase was used to bolster his view of America: “That’s not who we are”. Obama used that statement 46 times over the course of his presidency. “Obama has deployed the term to convince the country of his rightness on immigration, Obamacare, education, national security and not voting for Mitt Romney, among other important issues to his presidency.” ~freebeacon.com. While Mr. Obama is very quick to trigger the phrase: “That’s not who we are” he never takes the positive note to enumerate who we are. Thus, it would be fitting to ask: Who are we? What defines us? For that matter, what defines any nation? What constitutes a nation?
In searching the Internet on this topic, Wikipedia, while not considered the best source to cite, nevertheless had the most comprehensive definition: “A nations [SIC] is a stable community of people, formed on the basis of common language, territory, history, ethnicity, or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.” There are, of course, other criterion that could be mentioned e.g. centralized government, religion etc.. However, for our purposes here I will enumerate on the most obvious.
Common Language:
When countries other than America are considered it becomes easy to define them using this criterion. France, until recently, has been filled with French people who speak French. England with the English-speaking English. Germany with Germans speaking German. Russia, with Russians speaking Russian; and, China with Chinese speaking Mandarin. That list could go on until all 195 countries are listed. Almost exclusively, when any of those countries is looked at, there are several common themes – the people share a common heritage, language and territory. Enter America or the United States and those themes become suspect.
In these United States, we have individuals that can trace their American linage back several generations and others only mere weeks; so, we cannot use a common heritage as our unique bond. Likewise, language is also in jeopardy. At last count, 381 languages are spoken in the US.* 1 out of 5 people living in the US can speak a language other than English in the home.* Spanish is probably the most prolific foreign language with 37.6 million speakers.* “If you include US-born Spanish speakers in the same group as foreign-born Spanish speakers, you get over 50 million people. This is more than the number of Spanish speakers in Spain.” ~*redlinels.com.
As an aside or perhaps the point, I think America should have a common language and all Americans should speak English. While English “is not the official language of the United States, it’s the de facto national language.” ~redlinels.com. Just recently, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi set aside a Bill to declare English the official language of the US. Her action is not unique, this has happened numerous times before and all the Bills or Proposals have either been set aside or died. In order to become a citizen of the US you have to be able to read and write English. It’s a requirement in the process. If you can’t do it you don’t pass and are not granted citizenship. Why it is so difficult for our Congress to overcome that hurdle of their own making is beyond my ability to comprehend. If a country doesn’t have a common language, there is a breakdown in communication; and, communication is absolutely vital to unity. There is an old adage applied to marriage that fits here too: “Communication is the key to oneness.” Without unity, a society becomes fragmented, disjointed pockets unified on common ground. Take a guess as to what connects those within the fragmented portion – a common heritage, common language and common culture. A common language is vital to the continued unity of Americans, regardless of their original language or backgrounds.
In times past, the fact of different languages being present in America was not as problematic as it is today, namely because the path to citizenship always came through application that required knowledge of the English language. Now, with amnesty granted several times and again on the horizon, coupled with the untold thousands who are flooding our southern border, English as our de facto language has begun to fade and the resulting fragmentation of society is now becoming the norm. As great a unifier as common language is, it is but one of several things that defines a nation.
Borders i.e. defining its territory:
Without question, an even hotter topic for Americans is our Southern border. Actually, truth be known, the majority of that heat is being generated among the politicians in D.C.. Most Americans are in favor of securing our border. As President Ronald Reagan stated: “A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation”. Regardless, representatives in both houses of Congress are tuning out their constituents and doing what they want – pretty much what they have always done. Logic is no longer a part of their decision-making equation; rather, it’s been replaced with emotion. While emotion is a great motivator for action, it’s lousy at being the catalyst for direction and policy. Truth and facts, while in abundant supply, are being ignored in favor of weeping over the plight of those seeking entrance. It’s been proven that many of those are here under false pretenses but again, those facts are ignored in order to promote the emotion-based agenda. We even have many politicians clamoring for completely open borders. Such a policy would be devastating to this country and indeed has already proven to be so by the hoards who have managed to cross illegally and are now taxing our economic, education and healthcare systems. No matter, say the bleeding hearts, let them in.
The European Union (EU) is an interesting study. Several years ago, when Europe united, one of the casualties was the individual country’s border. While the borders still exist, they do so in name only – one can pass freely from one country to another. The commonality now between these nations is the Euro. Interestingly enough, with the advent of England’s Brexit movement (a referendum to get England out of the EU), many in Europe are now decrying the loss of their uniqueness and are electing officials that will help bring that back. One of the things that has contributed to this disquiet is the massive influx of Muslim refugees. Many of these countries were forced to accept this encroachment and the results are confusion and disruption of society in favor of the refugees.
The lack of a clearly defined and secured border, coupled with the deterioration of our de facto language and America is faced with a national crisis. May I suggest to Mr. Obama and others of his persuasion, that’s not who we are! We need our borders and our language to maintain the parameters of who we are.
What is it that unifies us? In spite of the crises at our Southern border and the fading acceptance of English as our national language, America is still America. We are still united. Why? What brings us together? What keeps us together? What above all else defines us? I was surprised to find the answer in, of all places, Facebook quoting from a Romanian newspaper no less.
An Ode to America by Cornel Nistorescu
“Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs.
“On 9/11, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about.
“Instead the Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.
“After the first moments of panic, they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing. On every occasion, they started singing: ‘God Bless America!’
“I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his “life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people.
“How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put into collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy. What on earth unites the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their history? Their economic Power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace, I thought things over, I reached but only one conclusion… Only freedom can work such miracles.”
Over the past several years, we have watched as the America we loved was being undermined by protests against our National Anthem, Flag and Patriotism. With our common language and borders already on the ropes these continual attacks against the symbols of our national spirit put our future unity in jeopardy. Hopefully, prayerfully, it will not take another 9/11 to bring us back together.
Thomas Ernst
Peoria, AZ, August 1, 2019
Thom Ernst is a teacher and a writer and a regular contributor to The Purpled Nail.