"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

I am going to try to keep this short and to the point. America is pretty clearly divided at this point. It feels as though we have gone back in time to an extent. Hatred is fueling the destruction of unity among the American people. Everywhere you look, there is someone continuing to point out the differences between individuals no matter how minor or major those differences may be. Across the country, innocent lives are being stripped away and I can’t figure out how so many sheep are led blindly behind someone with the wrong ideals to begin with.

The foundation of this country is built on freedom and liberty. That means that any citizen has the right to be whoever it is they are, or want to be. If you look around your school, place of business, place of worship, public shopping center, etc.; you will see straight people, gay people, black people, white people, transgender people, people who enforce our laws, people who protect our borders, people who are all supposed to enjoy the freedom and the liberties afforded to them by the Constitution of these United States. Notice the common denominator. These are all people. Above that, these are all American people. That is the only designation that should be assigned to all citizens. The sooner we recognize each other as such, the sooner the nation can start to heal.

It should not take another 9/11 for the people of this country to learn how to love one another again. In case anyone hasn’t been paying attention, there are forces outside of this country that wish to do US harm. I cannot help but think how vulnerable we become to these groups when we are too concerned with the mess we are making within our own borders. The individuals sworn to protect us have to focus on the clogging of our streets and attacks on their lives. I would like to get back to a country that knows that united we stand. Divided, we will surely fall. For all of the criticism he has taken for things he has said in the past, George Bush actually said it beautifully. The five officers who were killed in Dallas were laid to rest on July 12. Bush’s Instagram page from that day read, “Too often, we judge other groups by their worst examples while judging ourselves by our best intentions. And this has strained our bonds of understanding and common purpose. But Americans, I think, have a great advantage. To renew our unity, we only need to remember our values. We have never been held to together by blood or background. We are bound by things of the spirit—by shared commitments to common ideals.” I could not agree more.

I want to close by quoting a lyric from a Garth Brooks’ song released in 1992, “When there’s only one race, and that’s mankind, we shall be free.”