It seems incredible, but I've finally reached an age where I'm beginning to think that I sound like my elders—the very elders that I had listened to as a child while squirming and asking myself, "Why me?" Take now, for example. I had been about to start this piece with the following statement: there was a time when America stood proud because she was different, but now I watch as she appears to be stumbling in her pride.

I've heard it said that America dishonors her differing cultures and that she does these cultures a huge injustice by claiming to be a melting pot. But still I write, possibly to be labeled as politically incorrect: the melting pot America was a far greater America—an America where we were a united front; we were all proud to be called Americans.

Let me explain. When I was in grade school, we celebrated cultures as what made America great. We had show-and-tell and classroom walls that celebrated the many amazing worlds that our cultures had come from. We even had walls that dared to display the many religions, all at once, Christianity included. We learned of our similarities as Americans and we were a unified front. Americans were just Americans.

I had friends of every color while I was growing up. We had our differing spiritual and religious views, and maybe even different life views. Yet we learned together, visited together, laughed together, cried together, played together, and yes, we even solved our conflicts—together. Most of these friends could be contacted today and we would still meet as friends—those who hold a high regard for one another. We grew in a world where people were just people; a world of unique individuals that united under one descriptive word—American.

Words of today most likely existed then: multicultural, tolerance, and diversity. Yet I don't recall such words being used during my childhood, at least not in the sense that they are thrown around today. We, as friends, and even as colleagues, accepted our differences as a natural part of life. We could talk about beliefs and religion and cultural differences freely, and without incident. We built bridges of understanding that were based on mutual respect. And we came together as Americans.

The buzz words of today exist as false cognates to the word respect. And the word respect has been watered down to mean mere acceptance. In the name of education and sensitivity, what it means to be an American has been weakened and nearly destroyed. My friends and I stood together in unity; we were, and are, Americans. Most today are separated out, differences emphasized, and similarities dismissed.

There was a time... yes, I remember it. We existed, ethnically different, all with varying amazing cultures within our separate homes, and we stood together. We looked past our heritages to our similarities and we overcame barriers with friendships that were built on respect.

We lived in a melting pot of cultures where the best of who we were came together to stand as Americans, each heritage adding further knowledge and understanding to the structure of our great country. We called ourselves Americans and were proud—proud to be Americans... nothing less and nothing more.