With Hurricane Harvey, and the recent flooding in Texas, it has been wonderful to see Americans come together to help one another, but my question is why does it have to take a disaster, such as this, for us to do so?

Whether you are democrat or republican, conservative or liberal, in recent months we have found a reason to fight amongst one another based on our personal views. These differences have caused issues ranging from broken friendships to the deaths of others. For what? So, one can prove they are right?

If we all remember back to history class, most of us have ancestors who were not native to this country, but came here, as so many still do, for the chance at a better life. For this reason, our Nation was formed, and has become the greatest nation in the world. It is a land of the free. A place where we have the right to speak freely, worship how we wish, and pretty much live without fear.

How is it that we can now sit here and decide that others don’t have the same right to a better life as our ancestors did, and as we do? The United States has long since been considered the melting pot. A Nation filled with different races, religions, and cultures who have made this country great. It is a place where I can stand and say that I am proud to be an American, until recently that is.

This isn’t a new problem, but recently, one that is becoming increasingly worse. No one race, religion, or culture has the right to decide whether or not another is worthy of being here. Is it fear that has caused the rift in our great nation, or is it plain ignorance?

The history of our country is one with many things we can be proud of, and feel shame for. We have been a work in progress for a short time, just over two hundred years, but in that time, we have grown into something great. Why now, do people feel the need to regress the progress we have made as a country? Is it really necessary to tear down memories of our past, whether they are good or bad? Whatever the reason, they are here to remind us of our success and failures.

Wouldn’t it be nice that, if every day, we saw stories of us all working together to help one another, rather than working to destroy each other? What if we could live in a place where we were blind to the color of another’s skin, or not be scared by the religious beliefs of others, and where our beliefs didn’t leave us separated.

I want to be able to turn on the news and see my American brothers and sisters standing together and helping one another regardless of who they are, just as we have seen during Hurricane Harvey. I don’t want it to take a natural disaster or an act of terrorism, either foreign or domestic, for us to stand side by side helping one another. I want this country to be what our Founding Fathers hoped for... "One nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."