My American Values

About to embark on a four-week academic course at Oxford University in the UK, I am profoundly troubled on how to answer the simplest of questions, ‘’Jalal, what nationality are you?’’ I was born in born in America, raised in America, surrounded by American culture, yet my family hails from Pakistan. I am a de facto and de lege American. So why was it at the APPNA Grand Dinner in Orlando this summer that while my parents and hundreds of other Pakistani-American families stood with their hands on their hearts during the rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, that I merely stood silent feeling nothing?

This issue of my national identity has been troubling me recently. Although I have been to Pakistan a few times and I am aware of my Pakistani heritage, that alone makes me no different to any Irish American or Italian American. In addition I am sure that they do not share my concerns. There has to be something deeper that is causing me angst.
I have spent some time contemplating this issue and I have come to the conclusion that I don’t feel American because I don’t identify with current American values. Indeed I regard these latest American values as intolerable and very un-American.

Nearly 250 years ago the American Founding Fathers outlined their vision for a new world. They came up with 28 fundamental principles. Principle 28 stated, ‘’The United States has a manifest destiny to eventually become a glorious example of God’s law under a restored Constitution that will inspire the entire human race.’’ John Adams wrote: “I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scheme and design in Providence for the illumination of the ignorant, and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth.” This is one reason why many people admired the American dream and wanted to be part of it. But inspiring the entire human race is not a phrase the rest of the planet would append to America at the moment.

There are other principles or values of the Founding Fathers that I also identify with. The people and leaders envisioned by the Founding Fathers were strong, capable, virtuous individuals, espousing family values, equality, morality, and an understanding of God’s law or Nature’s law. They believed that God had endowed mankind with certain inalienable rights and it was the duty of the nascent republic to protect these rights. The rights of the minority also had to be protected.
Today the Founding Fathers must be turning in their graves! Trump’s America is the antithesis of all that the Founding Fathers stood for. Benjamin Franklin is reported to have quipped in reply to what type of government had been proposed for the new nation, ‘’A republic, if you can keep it.’’ Franklin was worried about what democracy might degenerate into. He knew from the Greek writer Polybius that democracy in the hands of a demagogue would degenerate into ochlocracy or mob rule. Franklin knew that men could be swayed by emotional appeal where innate prejudice and bigotry could be combined with fear and xenophobia to produce an administration which would act in a way that mocked what it is to be American. And so we come to a troubling time where prejudice and bigotry has raised its ugly head. White supremacists spew forth their toxic racism in public and revel in it. As a result, this country is now more divided than ever. People seem to be either for Trump and all he stands for or dead against him. In Platonic terms the stomach is now in charge of the body. This is not what the Founding Fathers envisaged.

This is what America has become. I do not wish to be associated with such sentiments. If I am going to be an American, then I am going to have to make a stand and demonstrate to the world what true American values are. I want to be an American that the Founding Fathers can be proud of. To start with, America is an ideal. It is a microcosm of the world. A family of different ethnic groups, religions, and cultures all mixed together.

I am now going to redefine what it is to be an American. I am going to assert my own American values drawn from all four corners of the world, the same as the American people.
It is important for Americans to value and make education a top priority thus reducing ignorance and prejudice. It is important for Americans to value strong family bonds and have respect for their elders. It is important for Americans to understand that they are part of a number of different ethnic groups who all feel and call themselves Americans. Being American is not the prerogative of one particular ethnic group or creed.

Americans need to value their democracy. They need to realise that democratic principles are for the benefit of the whole and not just for a part. They need to use their vote wisely and elect leaders who would act in the interests of the people at large and not just an exclusive group within it. Democracy relies on the rule of law for good. It should not be subverted in the interests of the few. There must be respect for the law. There must be equality before the law and no prejudice towards any particular group. All lives matter. There must be free speech so that the people will have the opportunity to convey their message, but this free speech must be in the confines of the law to preclude inflammatory and xenophobic rhetoric.

Americans need to show character. Americans need to show the character of leaders. Greed, arrogance, and ignorance is unacceptable. We Americans should show true human qualities. We Americans need to demonstrate true virtue. We need to be prudent, just, courageous, and act in moderation. We should eschew and renounce all foolish endeavours which detract from us being Americans. We need to show decorum. We need to show that we have the dignity and manners to conduct ourselves appropriately in all situations. We need to demonstrate tolerance and respect. We need to be industrious. Above all, we need to show compassion. We are the strongest nation on earth. We need to lead by example. These are the American values that I am going to follow and I urge you to join me in this quest.
This is what will make America great again.