Unless you have been living under a rock, or away from civilization for the past few months, you have probably heard about the 2016 Summer Olympic Games that will be taking place in a couple of weeks in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For two weeks, after the opening ceremony on August 5th, athletes from all over the world will have a chance to represent their country by competing in numerous sports including, but not limited to, archery, swimming, gymnastics and even race walking. Participants will have the opportunity to go from being unknown athletes to internationally famous athletes as they compete against other athletes from around the world.

From its start during the eighth century BC in Olympia, Greece, the Olympics have always been something that promoted unity among citizens of a country, or city-state if you are talking about ancient Greece. Every four years, two if you include the Winter Olympics, citizens of countries from all over the world are able to watch a group of athletes from their home country compete for the gold, silver, and bronze medals, which are won by coming in first, second and third for an event.

This unity is something that America needs right now with everything going on in society. Americans seems to be divided on multiple fronts including, but not limited to, the current election, whether or not there should be gun laws and everything related to the Black Lives Matter”movement -- just to name a few. The media only seems to be adding to this division by seeming to favor certain sides and not always telling the full story.

The Olympics can promote unity for America. In the Olympic world, the athletes are not seen by their race, religion, sexual orientation, political beliefs or personal beliefs. They are, instead, seen by the country that they represent and the sport that they are competing in. The people who try to bring that other stuff into the matter, like with Gabby Douglas’ hair in 2012, are looking at the Olympics completely wrong.

Just look at the diversity of the United States Women’s gymnastics team. Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas are both black; Aly Raisman and Madison Kocian are both white and Laurie Hernandez is Hispanic, but in the Olympic world they are all just Americans. When they compete in their events they will be known as the US women’s Olympic team not that random Olympic gymnastics team with two black girls, two white girls and a Hispanic girl who just so happen to be from the United States.

As Americans, when it comes to the Olympics, the only colors that matter are the red, white and blue that will be on the flag that will be held during the opening ceremony by the American Olympic Team. That same red, white and blue that will hopefully be flown multiple times during the Olympics because of American victories while our national anthem plays in the background.

We are all Americans, and we should not let the views of the media and radicals in our country influence the way that we act. We should not be killing each other because of race, religion or any other differing beliefs. Being divided is not the answer to fix the issues that are currently going on in our country. Being divided will only create more issues within our country. We need to be united as a country because that is the only way to fix the current issues that are currently evident in American society. The Olympics is the perfect way for us to start to unify as a country because we will be able to cheer on our athletes as they represent America while going for the gold.