Urban America doesn’t need a political party. For decades we were told that if we just had the right political savior, our problems would be solved. But no one comes.
What Urban America needs are principles: the timeless, universal values of faith, family, choice, ownership, discipline, safety and responsibility.
We don’t need this Republican vs. Democrat conversation anymore. We’ve done it to death, and we can’t afford to succumb to false promises any longer – not when our communities have only gotten worse. A man once told me that progress is only possible when we stop lying to ourselves. It is much easier to believe in false promises than to look at the cold reality of where most of urban America, including my South Side Chicago neighborhood, stands – at the bottom of the American totem pole.
During my Walk Across America, which now takes me through the Cotton Belt in the Deep South, I saw many urban communities. In far too many of these areas, I have met people whose dreams have been darkened by a cycle of government dependency that undermines dignity and stunts growth. These people are cut off from the greatness of America.
We don’t need this Republican vs. Democrat conversation anymore. What Urban America needs are principles: the timeless, universal values of faith, family, choice, ownership, discipline, safety and responsibility.
That’s why I’ve come to believe that what Urban America needs most are American principles. These principles do not belong to any political party. They are universal and timeless. That’s why people from all over the world want to come here.
The greatest sin is that we who live in urban America have allowed ourselves to be separated from these principles. We have sold ourselves short by embracing inferior ideologies. How can something based solely on race uplift us? But the principles of individualism – from responsibility to responsibility – can do wonders in developing a person’s talents and abilities.
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Many urban American neighborhoods rank at the bottom of the statistics when it comes to education, violence, and two-parent households. We don’t even go to church that often, which in itself is telling. The only way out is development based on American principles.
Our Johnny is essentially no different than Johnny from the suburbs. Our Johnny may not have all the resources that suburban Johnny has, but so what? We’ve used that as an excuse for too long. We’ll focus on the differences between the two Johnnys, but they’re all external. What we don’t focus on are the similarities. Both Johnnys share the miracle of the human body: two feet, two hands, two eyes, two ears and the miracle of the brain. Therefore, we must embrace the belief that Urban Johnny can embrace the same American principles that Johnny in the suburbs does and rise to the top. We have no choice but to try.
What I’m ultimately talking about here is a mind reset. We’ve been told for decades that America is a horrible and racist country, with police lurking behind every corner, waiting to shoot us. That’s a lie. People in urban America are killing each other at a much higher rate than any outsider, and yet no one points out that fact. I wonder why.
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That is why this mind reset is so necessary. During my walk I met an immigrant. He sold fruit from a stall on the side of the street. I asked him where he came from. Ireland. I asked him what he thought of America. “The greatest country in the world,” he said without hesitation. He went on to tell me that he works as a waiter in the evenings and makes $300 in tips. But what he said next stuck with me:
“No one tells me what to do. I get up in the morning. I have a family to support: three children and a dog. I have to get up. If I don’t go to work, we don’t get anything. It’s all our responsibility. So I work and I work. One day I will have my own business.”
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He and his family hope to become citizens soon.
There is no magic here. The man gets up and works sixteen hours a day in two jobs. It’s all up to him. It’s that simple. But that is the beauty of America and its principles. America gives us absolute freedom as long as we follow the law. That’s the mentality Urban America must embrace if it is to experience a revival. And when she does, she is no longer at the bottom. Guaranteed.
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