Joe Kelly: What Happened to We Americans?

Yes, I know the title is rough, probably not grammatically correct, but here's the lowdown of what I mean: What happened to us being Americans first?

Do your remember what happened after the terrible tragedy of 9/11? We came together as 'We Americans'!

We cried together and we rallied together. We had parades and we showed off our red, white, and blue.

We Americans!

We bonded over the tragedy, and we saluted the brothers and sisters we lost. We held up our police and firefighters as they joined in the rescue and recovery.

We Americans!

We held parades. We patted our first responders on the back.

We Americans.

We decorated our homes and workplaces. Remember all the flags?
Remember all the red, white, and blue?

We Americans!

We stood united against the monsters that had attacked us on our land, on our soil. We stood together.

We Americans!

That was 19 years ago. What the hell happened? We're rallying today against some of those same police. We're attacking today some of those same police. Where did We Americans go?

We see our black American friends and neighbors hurting. They rally, they protest.
Do we listen? Do we take the time to hear their plea? Or do we turn our backs? What happened to "How can I help?" Instead we respond with, "You think you've got problems!"

What happened to We Americans? United? Frustration leads to violence and stupidly. What happened to We Americans? Us against the world has become us against each other. The distant memory of "Can't we all get along" still rings true today.

What happened to We Americans?

We're fighting over masks. Masks. We're arguing over our own constitutional rights. My rights. Me. Me. What about Me? What happened to caring about each other? "How can I help you?"

What happened to We Americans?

Where's our own responsibilities? Where's our unified, team, we're-all-in-this-together approach?

Where are We Americans?

Where is patriotism? Where's the love of country? Where's the love of our fellow man?
Where did we go? Can anyone find us?