On this Independence Day, I find it necessary to step back and take a look at the so called melting pot of America. You of course already know where this writeup is heading, so I'll explain my reasoning.
We no longer have the melting pot we once had as one of the greatest countries in the world. We WERE a great melting pot as a direct result of so many different types of people coming into the country, society coming together as a whole. Something happened in the 90's though, being politically correct came into a big part of the american mindset.
Not long after everyone was trying to be politically correct, it was necessary to demonstrate and celebrate what makes you different from anyone or everyone else. The big things that come to my mind is "-insert minority group here- pride", gay pride, hispanic pride, asian pride, white pride, straight pride, christian pride people who find it necessary to preserve diversity, and tons of other things.
I suppose my only point is that we've stopped celebrating what makes us the same - being free - and now we only care about what makes us different so we can use it for leverage against one another. Independence day isn't about the fireworks, just like Christmas (for those who celebrate it) isn't about the gifts. We've forgotten what our core celebrations use to be, and replaced them with what we think they should be.
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