Human Rights, Patriotism, and Navigating Uncertainty

It has been difficult as a business, and an individual to wade through the current climate of inequality, racism, political infighting, and everything else that our country seems to be going through. I have been beyond frustrated and put off by our inability as a country to effectively face or deal with coronavirus and these other serious issues. I am exceptionally frustrated by the fact that everything has become so politicized and that we have such bipolar views on things I feel (maybe naïvely) should be straightforward and obvious. Black people are being harmed. People are dying. People are dying from coronavirus and yet all we can seem to do is fight about all of it. It leaves me feeling devastated and questioning if we even know how to be effective as a country or people.


Part of me has considered whether there are climates or cultures that could be more healthy to raise my children in. As I’ve had those thoughts I’ve also felt mildly ashamed of myself. I love this country. The pain I feel comes in large part because of how much I love my incredible home.


I question our arrogance though, and our pride. I question how every single thing becomes politicized, and how every change, story, or article just seems to become another piece of rhetoric to be manipulated and spewed.


Why are we struggling so with things that other countries seem to be able to handle much more readily, efficiently, and respectfully?


And now I hear of people saying how celebrating the Fourth of July is racist. That because it wasn’t freedom for all (which it wasn’t), it shouldn’t be celebrated or acknowledged as a victory. It’s becoming so hard not to miss-step. Is it possible for us to acknowledge where we came from and still move forward in a cognizant, healthy way?


The Fourth of July perhaps didn’t represent freedom for everyone in 1776, especially not in the way we understand and want it for everyone now. Even today, we still have a long way to go.


Our past is not perfect but I feel like all of history is being scrutinized and vilified.


Is it possible to make a better future if we cannot make peace with our past? Accept that we can not change the wrongs that were done then, but we can learn and use what we learn to combat the wrongs we can change today. Can we acknowledge what was wrong with our past, learn from it yes, but celebrate progress as it is made and as an important part of our history? Can I still be proud to be a nation that we and others fight for?


I realized, as I was considering whether my children would be better off growing up somewhere else, that the ownership is on me to continue to fight for a home and a culture in order to create a place where I feel like my children can thrive. To teach them right and wrong, how to question their own assumptions and to build a country that we all can feel proud to be a part of.


I am grateful for the Declaration of Independence. I recognize that it wasn’t a perfect step, but it was an important one, and one I am grateful to celebrate. I recognize that there are many more important steps yet to make and that the responsibility to make them is on me. That I need to do my best to teach my children right so that they know how to make the next step, and the next, and the next after that. Because if there is one thing I have learned from all of this, it is that the work is never, ever done.