United we stand, divided we fall

On a recent weekend, my husband and I were enjoying the weather on our boat.

As we cruised down the bayou, we saw a beautiful thing. Two elderly gentlemen were sitting in a small boat, fishing quietly. An occasional word was spoken and there was an occasional laugh, likely the result of a simple joke or a shared memory.

There is an insidious movement going on in our country. A movement that wants us to “embrace our diversity” even if that calls for disrespect and slander and violence. False words and false emotions are used to stir our passions, knowing full well that united we stand, divided we fall. The philosophy of diversity seems to be winning, easily manipulating our judgment to divide us into race, religion, gender and even sexual preference.

My husband and I are proud to be American. Our Belarusian and Argentinian heritage is for us to celebrate. We don’t need America to validate our culture by celebrating it for us. We chose to celebrate American culture by becoming American.

On the bayous of Mississippi, we saw two elderly gentlemen fishing in a small boat. For that brief moment, there was no such thing as African American or white American or any other subset of American. There were only two people, one black, one white, both American. They didn’t see any diversity. Why should any one else?

This story was originally published February 22, 2017 at 4:55 AM with the headline "United we stand, divided we fall."