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Being American isn’t a purist proposition

One of the many American pride bumper stickers
One of the many American pride bumper stickers

I saw a bumper sticker recently that said American-American.  Really?  I seriously doubt that.  I didn’t see the driver, so I couldn’t profile him.  But I can bet that he was not a pure blooded American.

Unless he can trace his American heritage back to the 15th Century with assurance of no inbreeding with English, Irish, German, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Spanish or whatever, he is not American-American.  There is something else to the left of the hyphen.

The truth is that none of us could gain registration through the American Kennel Club.  We’re all mutts.  Very few of us are pure breed.  Sorry if you find that insulting, but it is true.

So, why can’t we be friends?  We all came from somewhere.  Back in Genesis, God saw fit to split us up and give us different languages and ethnic origins.  We’re all God’s children.  Why can’t we act like it?

God loves all of us…red, yellow, black and white.  We just don’t trust each other — let along love each other. So, we wind up putting out all kinds of hate and distrust.  And, rather than building relationships with each other, we want to build fences and throw stones at each other.

After all, except for those American-Americans who were standing on the shore watching trouble come over the horizon in the 15th Century, all off us got off the boat from somewhere at some point.  So, quit being so arrogant about being American.  You just ain’t all that.

Frank White
Frank Whitehttp://www.mediaworksdesign.com/
Frank White is a native of east Tennessee and reveres the hills and nature of the Cumberland Plateau and east Tennessee. He enjoys backpacking, canoeing and flyfishing. He and his wife, Natalie, have been Clarksville residents since 1979. Frank is the owner of MediaWorks, a design and printing company in Clarksville, TN. He earned a BS in mass communications and political science from Middle Tennessee State University and a master of arts in journalism from the Indiana University School of Journalism at Bloomington. He is a distinguished military graduate from ROTC at Indiana University and is retired from the U.S. Army Reserve having also served in the Tennessee Army National Guard. He served with the U.S. Army VII Corps in Operation Desert Storm. Frank is a passionate follower of Christ and seeks to mentor others in exploring the endless depths of grace.
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