Sal Wright

Marshalltown, Iowa, USA

I don’t need diversity. I don’t need to live in a nation so blessed, so admired, so many others wish to come here to live and work beside me. I don’t need to live in a nation so gracious, welcoming, reflecting the heart of God. I don’t need to live in a nation with compassionate police who look beyond the color of a man’s skin; who know that people speaking in the language of their fathers is not a crime. I don’t need to live in a nation where the guardians of the Fourth Estate defend truth and are the vanguard of freedom. I don’t need to live in a nation where our public representatives reflect the morality of those who have elected them to office. I don’t need diversity. I don’t need any of this. I want it.

I know our nation’s history is soiled with the cruelties of enslavement and genocide. I know that once our nation so resisted diversity it fought a long and bloody war, brother against brother. I know that it is in my lifetime, this moment in time, in which the nobility of our ideals are beginning to supplant the ugliness of our ignorance. It is now, today, I am most proud to be an American. It is today I welcome all who share these ideals, these hopes, from beyond any border. And let them bring the richness of their culture with them as they yearn and work to become my fellow Americans.

I know the trajectory of a nation that closes its borders to others, the trajectory of a people who live in the chaos of fear. It is the trajectory of isolation, of walls and hate. I know a nation that has chosen this trajectory. It’s called North Korea. I don’t need that.