Ward 1

Heather Ward

Tammy Davis

Honors Comp 2

January 28, 2020

Why I love America

I am proud to be an American. Sometimes it is easy to take for granted what all we have

that most countries do not. We have access to clean running water, free public schools for K-12,

programs to feed low income families and medical insurance provided by our states for children

in low income households so they can receive medical treatment. We have a democracy that

gives us rights like what the first amendment gives us, the freedom of religion and freedom of

speech. People came to America seeking a place to practice whatever religion they believed in

without fear of being prosecuted. I personally cherish the right to freedom of speech, which

allows us to speak up when we think something isn’t right. Thanks to the fourteenth amendment

we cannot be discriminated against based on age, gender, race, religion and so on giving us equal

protection under the law. I believe that we have to put aside our differences to uphold our

democracy.

One of my favorite things about America is how diverse we are when come to all the

ethnic backgrounds we have. Unlike other countries we cannot simply look at someone’s skin

color and assume they are a citizen or not. Thanks to advances in science we are able to really

see how diverse we are generically and find out where are ancestors came from. I was able to
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confirm through DNA testing that I have German, Irish, and Native American heritage, which is

something I already knew based on my family tree, but was neat to see what DNA I inherited.

Just like most of America, my family tree shows me that I mostly come from foreigners. I find it

humbling to remind myself of this fact when I begin to take my freedoms for granted because my

ancestors most likely come here seeking these freedoms. As I watched George Takei on TED

Talks one of the things he said stood out the most to me. “Being American is not just for some

people, that race is not how we define being an American.” (Takei, YouTube) Our country is

predominantly Caucasian and minority groups tend to get labeled as not American even though

they were born here too. George Takei’s story was one of the many times America failed at

upholding what our democracy stands for.

I won’t be the first person to admit that our country has its faults. Our country failed to

protect Japanese Americans during World War 2 due to fear that they might turn on America, so

the government took away all their rights. What happened wasn’t right, but this was an important

teaching moment that I hope will never be repeated. George Takei talked about one of the

conversations he had with his dad. His father told him “Our democracy is a people’s democracy,

and it can be as great as the people can be, but it is also as fallible as people are. He told me that

American democracy is vitally dependent on good people who cherish the ideals of our system

and actively engage in the process of making our democracy work.” (Takei, YouTube) I know

that it is vitally important that we have strong leaders that will uphold our laws.

Having strong leaders in charge who defend the Constitution and all the Amendments is

what is needed to guarantee a strong democracy. I love my country and what it stands for. Being

such a large country, I am very aware of the difficulties of a multi-ethnic bond to stay strong

enough – long enough – to accomplish this. As many Americans believe, it will certainly require
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the people, and the leaders of the people, to put aside all differences and focus on the ultimate

goal. That goal, of course, being what ALL of the aforementioned groups of people are bonded

together under this flag for…the freedoms of life, liberty, and the pursuit of their happiness.

We are one nation and need to stop dividing our country by race and political views. We

need to defend and uphold the Constitution and the Amendments that protect us and ensure that

every man and woman is equal under the law. I know it is hard sometimes to want to hear

opposing viewpoints that don’t fit with our own views, but it is essential to the growth of our

democracy. I often tell people that we have the right to be offended but we do not have the right

to take away someone else’s freedom to speak their opinion. It won’t always be easy but if we

work together, we can become the greatest country and become an example to the whole word of

how a democracy should work. Despite our faults, we are still strong.
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Works cited

George Takei, YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeBKBFAPwNc#action=share.