Humans, as a species, have inhabited the Earth for millions of years.  According to Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, with regard to the origins of humans, “Many advanced traits–including complex symbolic expression, art and elaborate cultural diversity–emerged mainly in the last 100,000 years.”  I’d like to believe that we’ve continued to evolve in our maturity, especially in our openness to diversity.  But I wonder, when it comes to that aspect of our development as human beings, whether or not this is true.

Here in the United States, we enjoy the freedom to be of any race, nationality or creed.  At least that is the foundation upon which we formed our country. About one hundred years ago, both of my parent’s parents immigrated to this country from the European continent.  They all came through Ellis Island  They came here for a better life and faced what many immigrants faced and still face today.  They were categorized by their place of birth.  And they lived in groups, forming ethnic neighborhoods with people who spoke their language and shared their heritage.  Eventually, they were assimilated and became part of the American fabric.

So why do we still have such a problem with this?  We are supposed to be a country of diversity.  But when it comes to accepting people from other cultures, we are wary at best of people who are different in terms of language, race, religion and customs.  And we still have internal conflicts that threaten what we are intended to be, a place for everyone in the “melting pot” that is America at it’s best.

Fear is the enemy.  It always is.  In the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “[…] the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”  This may seem less profound than it really is, at a time when there is so much fear in our culture.  But that is precisely why we need to think about this more, so that we can gain the wisdom to begin to drive out the fear that pervades our country and our world view.

Fear-mongering is growing in the media at an alarming rate.  With the pervasive influence of our technology, we can hear and see the same bad news over and over again, until it takes over our consciousness.  When we give the media so much power over our lives, we lose the ability to think for ourselves.  But if we are vigilant, we can take back our power and make decisions that are positive and hopeful.

The ones who came before us, came here for a better life.  Now we have to remember what it means to be rich in all of our diversity.  And then maybe we can be that place where people still want to come, that we indeed may live up to the ideals that can make this country a more welcoming place to live.