Finish Race And Identity Politics In America

The founding of the United States of America came with great blessings and an enduring curse. The blessings are the principles of liberty which was spelled out in our Constitution. A document that to date is the worlds oldest. The enduring curse is the original sin of race which remains a divisive and intractable issue today. America's history of slavery and subsequent century of legalized racism and segregation did not culminate in legal remedies until a full century later. Even so, the issue of race has continued to metastasize into every aspect of American life. Exploitation and demagoguery by politicians and interest groups have made race the go to wedge issue. If America is to ever fully represents its values, racial division in America must be finished.

The irony is that the remedy to this longstanding problem is rooted the America's founding values and principles. If only these values were more widely promoted. On every U.S coin are three values: liberty, E Pluribus Unum and in God we trust. E pluribus Unum which is Latin for "out of many one" was first used on US coinage in 1875. The meaning of the phrase originates from the concept that out of the union of the original colonies emerged a new nation. A nation based on the ideas of limited government and enshrined in its founding documents the principle of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The promise America was hardly inclusive of all groups as we well know. The republican principles engrained in the constitution excluded blacks, naïve Americans and other non Europeans. However through fervent constitutional debate and the moral righteousness of civil rights advocacy, America although still imperfect has propelled itself into a  exemplary nation which has extended those once exclusive constitutional protections to each and every group to arrive at its shores. In spite of this progress there are forces within our nation who seek to exploit racial animus. They weaponize racial rhetoric, demagogue social unrest and slice up Americans by race and ethnicity in order to obtain power. Liberty, E pluribus Unum, In God we trust are in jeopardy of being permanently replaced by the secular trinity of race, gender and class-contrary to the American idea.

The idea of being an American only requires one to adopt her principles and constitution. 12th century Jewish philosopher and legal scholar Maimonides provided wise and prophetically apropos advice to a Jewish convert Obadiah who had reservations regarding his assimilation into Judaism. "There is no difference between you and us," he told Obadiah. You have accepted our laws an principles and you have joined your fate to the Jewish community....." do not consider your origin inferior". This story of Maimonides capsulizes the idea of America.

 In this current climate of obstreperous political discourse, race and racism has been once again reheated and lobbed indiscriminately as the primary political hacksaw. The true believers in American-ism must counter these narratives with more vigor than ever. How? We must continue to promote those obscure values on our coins: E pluribus Unum, liberty and In god we trust. In his book Still the Best Hope these values are what prominent talk show host and thinker Dennis Prager has termed "The American Trinity". William A. Galton of Washington D.C. think tank The Brookings Institution writes: "We are not a community of blood. Nor have we ever been. ...its does not matter from whom we are descended. Its does not matter which religion (if any) we espouse. The obligations of membership in the American community are to endorse its principles and institutions, to speak its language, to set aside prior political obligations that conflict with those of US citizenship". There lies the perfect road map for America to ultimately FINISH RACE!

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