America today is more divided than any time in its history. Although during the American Revolution there were patriots and Loyalists, and during the Civil War there was the Union and the Confederates, those divisions were caused by very tangible, resolvable issues. The disconnect among the American people today goes beyond basic disagreements — for many Americans, the division goes to the core.

In the examples above, the issues that divided the nation could easily be named and understood. Furthermore, they could be resolved. However, the problems facing the U.S. today are far more numerous. Most notably, one can cite the gridlock in politics. Although people may hate to admit it, Congress reflects the attitude in America today. Nothing is getting done in Washington, D.C., because neither party is willing to concede or compromise with the other. That is explaining the problem in its most basic terms; if I attempt to go any further, I will likely be criticized for it, and perhaps rightly so.

Americans today are divided on almost everything: abortion, health care, taxes, government, education, foreign policy, homeland security; the list goes on and on. No one will dispute that, and that is not the problem. Free, uncensored debate is the tool this country has used to overcome everything from the Constitution to slavery to suffrage.

What makes today’s landscape so much worse than the past is that open debate has sunk beneath the surface. Race tension abounds, but most are afraid to talk about it. A writer cannot write a simple opinion piece without having his or her intelligence, morals and motives attacked. A legislator can no longer attempt to make necessary changes in programs such as Social Security, health care, public education, unions or immigration without being called everything from a fascist to a racist.

Attorney General Eric Holder reinforced this claim when he called the U.S. “a nation of cowards” at the beginning of Black History Month for not discussing the issue of race more openly. One can see why Florida Senator Marco Rubio said multiple times that President Obama is the most “divisive” president in history.

Although I don’t agree that President Obama and his administration are fully to blame, it is easy to see why people feel this country is so fragmented. Presidents have been disliked, mocked and criticized by the public since the office’s inception, but a president has never been personally insulted on a national stage.

However, political disagreements come and go. The Civil War almost permanently ripped the nation in two and resulted in enduring animosity. However, that conflict was settled because it was political. Although race was a key factor in the Civil War, its role was much more evident than today.

Even the staunchest conservative must admit the U.S. has changed and we can no longer literally rely on our Constitution. We must rely, sometimes with chagrin, on the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution to meet the reality of today. The U.S. was founded as the land of opportunity, a melting pot. It is a melting pot no longer.

This ideal has given way to multiculturalism. Ethnicities are encouraged to keep their language, customs, traditions, culture and national identity. The idea of being multicultural, nonconformist and an individual has become just a way to disguise being selfish and putting oneself first. The national debt is a clear indication that the American dream to create a better lifestyle for yourself and your family is no longer the first priority as the debt is passed from one generation to the next.

The spirit that captured the Greatest Generation, who lived by John F. Kennedy’s enduring quote, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,” is passing.

What unites us? It is certainly no longer race. Although this country was founded by and for people of European descent, there is no greater evidence that the era of white America has passed when one looks at the Census Bureau, which predicts whites will be the minority by 2040.

Immigrants have, without a doubt, built this country. After all, we’re a nation of immigrants. But this country’s founding motto was and is “e pluribus unum”– out of many, one. Today, we are certainly e pluribus, but do we remain unum?

What is perhaps the greatest dividing factor is fear. People are afraid to talk about anything that undeniably divides us, such as race, religion or gender.

Americans are afraid to associate race with crime and told to ignore statistics. Ignoring the race problem and forcing integration has not destroyed racism, it has pushed it into hiding. Crime is motivated by race more than twice as much as the second greatest motivating factor, religion, according to a 2009 FBI report.

Religion is taboo. Almost any mention of Islam will ignite debate and sometimes anger. This is all while Christianity and Judaism can be the subject of jokes or public bashing. Americans, especially Jews and Christians, are well aware the double standard religion holds in America; make a pedophile priest or stingy Jew joke, and you’ll hear laughs; draw a picture of Muhammad, and you’ll hear death threats.

In this age of universal suffrage and equality, we still hear cries of sexism. The fight for gender equality is selective. Rarely do you hear serious considerations to abolish organizations that have been gender-based since their inception. The Greek system, professional sports, combat warfare and the Boy and Girl Scouts all have segregation in common. While the disease of sexism has not been eradicated, neither has racism, though the effects of both are greatly diminished.

The polarization of Americans today, on issues even beyond politics, is the desire to belong to a sect rather than be considered simply an American. The Founding Fathers feared the idea of political parties and factions. The values that created the U.S. and made it the greatest nation in history are disappearing. As the birth rate of those who see themselves as Americans decreases, the birth rate of those who put themselves before country multiplies.

I am not arguing citizens should be forced to respect and love their country; the changes this country is going through are unavoidable, but we must remember what it means to be an American — hint: the Pledge of Allegiance.

In order to be one nation indivisible again, we must start living by the pledge again and start putting our country in front of ourselves or our individual groups. People must remember their party, their freedom of religion, their union, their personal agenda, cannot survive without this country. Benjamin Franklin said, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” We must hang together again.

Jameson Joyce is a guest columnist at The State News and a James Madison sophomore. Reach him at joyceja1@msu.edu.