A Quilt of a Country: Out of Many, One? By: Anna Quindlen

The author starts out by explaining how our country is one of a kind. "A mongrel nation" (Quindlen pg. 15) where there are people from every background or religion that you can think of, all living together, sharing the same streets and avenues. We tolerate each other, yet we sometimes avoid walking on certain streets because we are avoiding certain people of a background or religion. The author explains how much of the stories told of our nation are based on the notion of bigotry rather than tolerance. Children in schools are taught all about slavery, racism, women's denied rights to vote and the murder of gays all throughout history, yet we all unify when we have one common enemy.

The author explains with the end of the Cold War, there was a slight concern in the back of everyone's head that without a main focus of a common enemy, we would now focus on our ethnicity's enemies, our religious enemies etc.

The study in 1994 by the National Opinion Research Center found that a majority of those surveyed believed that America was a unique country where it consists entirely of refugees from other countries and how it was truly special how we could coexist peacefully.

Response:

I find it truly amazing how this nation consists purely of refugees and how we coexist. It's amazing to be living in a place where I can experience and learn about other cultures and religions from a direct source and probably from many people I have gotten to know. It is sad to see how much prejudice still lurks in America and even though we "tolerate" each other, there are still prideful people who complain and make life difficult for those who are new or different. What is even more upsetting is that the only way for us to unite is to find one common enemy. This can lead to opportunities for the power hungry individual who uses fear as a way to manipulate people. People in nature are fearful of "the Other", someone who differs from societies approval. Therefore when the Other introduces himself into our society we immediately exclude him. Fear of "the Other" can be helpful in creating a united nation where everyone follows the same ideals and beliefs and excludes the rest of the world, but it does not work in America and not to mention the idea itself being fundamentally and morally wrong. It happens in in our country and that in itself is the ultimate conundrum, how can we live in a nation where we exclude and treat each other based on our beliefs and yet abide by the laws that everyone is created equal.