What will it take to unite the American people? Unfortunately, it takes two explosions, 145 people hospitalized and a dead 8-year-old boy to bridge the gap between political parties and social classes.
On April 15th in Boston, two bombs exploded along Boylston Street during the annual Patriots’ Day Marathon. ABC news reported that at least 133 people have been sent to hospitals and the amount of people injured is still unknown. The culprit is still unknown. The motive is still unknown. However, what we do know is that once again, our nation is staring in the face of another nationwide tragedy.
The ironic thing about all national tragedies is that in a warped way, it is the only way our nation unites and as a whole stops acknowledging each other as “greedy” republicans and “hippie” liberals. The schism that divides every class, race, political party and any other exclusive group is getting wider and wider with each passing year. Gone are the days of united nationalism and in their place are the long weeks of cold cynicism towards each other. Bipartisan decisions are no more. Interparty friendships are extinct. We are no longer the U.S.A. We are Republicans, Democrats and anything left over.
In his address to the nation regarding the Boston bombing, President Obama stated, “that on days like this there are no Republicans or Democrats- we are Americans, united in concern for our fellow citizens.” He is completely right. Days like this do unite us, but why should they? Why should a high number of injured people and a national security breach be the only thing that brings us inner country peace?
Unity in a time of turmoil may provide strength, but it also causes us to bond through sorrow and make impulsive decisions about matters of extreme importance. Take the September 11th attacks. Thousands of people were killed and many more injured, physically and emotionally, but as a people, America grew stronger because of these attacks. Your race didn’t matter, your political affiliation didn’t matter, because we had all suffered through a tragedy and we needed to survive it together.
We united in fellowship, but we also united in hatred and fear. Prejudice broke out against all Muslims and that sense of fellowship was replaced by suspicion and paranoia. Bonding in a time of tragedy may create unity, but for this continuous unity to exist, there has to be a scapegoat. For now we may be united, but the question that remains is who will be our next scapegoat?
It is understandable that we stand by each other for support in times of trouble, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but that cannot be the only time we get along. Tolerance and respect for other people’s beliefs must be ever-present and embedded in our mentality towards the world and our fellow man.
It is wrong morally, ethically and logically, so why do we let this behavior stand? Why allow ourselves to grow so intolerant that the only thing that can bring us together is a bomb detonated on our soil? That’s as if a family only got together for funerals. Though the family may function fine as individuals, as a collective unit they are dysfunctional and cannot achieve anything due to the high tension between everyone. Our country is now a dysfunctional family and we need it to attend group therapy right away before our partisanship reaches the point of no return.
We are all forgetting tolerance in the simplest of settings and what we need to remember is it doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or Republican or black or white or Christian or Muslim or Zook or Yook. All that matters is that we are all human beings with inherent value and that value needs to be respected.
A mangled body of an innocent child should affect us in many ways, but it should not be the only time Michelle Bachman and Yvette Clark can shake hands.
Minutes with Molly: “Boston” (Season 2, Ep. 27) from The Foothill Dragon Press on Vimeo.
