Last October, I took a trip from Texas to Idaho while my husband went hunting, trying to prepare our freezer for winter. This seems like a very typical American activity, and I think it’s really hard to understand unless you have deep roots in this country. My husband, being a first-generation immigrant from the UK, contrasts with my family’s long history here, dating back to the early New England settlers in around 1630.
Hunting has been a tradition in this country for centuries, and it’s heartening to see that it’s still alive. I’ve always been intrigued by my family’s history and the legacy they left for me. Even before becoming a parent, I knew it was important to teach my kids about the sacrifices that paved the way for our lives today.
That journey sparked some nostalgia within me, leading me to ponder whether America is just an idea or something more significant. Many want us to buy into the notion that our country is rooted in immigration and centered around individual freedom. To me, though, that’s a limited and rather distorted perspective, reducing the rich complexity of our history to merely an economic zone for modern colonization.
To put it bluntly: that’s a misleading narrative.
We’re not fundamentally an immigrant nation—not in the contemporary sense, anyway. We didn’t arrive in a prosperous land; we built this country through the endeavors of conquerors, settlers, and adventurers. Every part of America had to be wrested from nature, often against formidable challenges. Today’s challenges call for a level of determination that’s almost hard to fathom, especially in times we now take for granted.
It’s been ages since Americans had to tame untamed territories. Yet, remnants of that time are still in our blood. This was particularly evident during disaster responses in places like North Carolina and Tennessee after Hurricane Helen left devastation. The federal response was, frankly, inadequate, leaving many without essential resources like food and water.
Helicopter pilots and ATV riders played crucial roles in those rescue operations. Yet, it’s disheartening that we seldom see images of everyday heroes, like the men and women on horseback who deliver supplies into hard-to-reach places. This is what true America looks like, often overshadowed in discussions that elevate unverified narratives about illegal immigration above American exceptionalism.
This trip took me through landscapes ranging from mesquite trees in West Texas to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. It was in these very places that my family faced overwhelming odds. This experience made it clear that America isn’t just an abstract concept; it’s a concrete reality.
America is a nation of people with shared histories and dreams. Our ancestors shaped the land, navigated the waterways, and traversed mountains and valleys. It’s not something merely owned by distant leaders outside of our communities.
Let’s be clear: our country is still under threat. There’s a push to fracture America into factions serving the interests of global elites, ignoring the essence of culture and community in favor of expedience. Embracing the ideology that “America is an idea” can conveniently absolve the ruling class of their accountability. For too long, they have exploited our heritage while neglecting their responsibility to the people who truly represent America.
We mustn’t allow such narratives to prevail. This is our community, and Americans have a heritage that deserves to be preserved.
