This America: Good, hard-working people with values; we have to find each other.

You have heard the reference more than once.

"There are two Americas."

And those who say it are right. There are two Americas.

But the way they mean it is not how it really is.

In the first America, there are people who work hard every day to take care of their families. They are white, black, Asian or Hispanic. Some were born here and some worked hard to become citizens. They are rich, poor and middle class.

Their priorities are simple -- their families and doing what's right. They care for their neighbors and their community.

They are members of churches, civic groups and other organizations.

The way they worship might be different -- but their faith is not. They try to live their lives with principle and honor. They teach their children right from wrong -- and hold them, and themselves, to that standard.

They are there for their parents, their relatives and, sometimes, other people's children, parents and relatives.

They have different backgrounds, different experiences and different lives.

Their histories might include struggle or challenges when they were young, but they have worked hard to overcome them. They want more for their children than they had -- and they worry about how they will make it in the world.

Their measure of success might be different. Some want more stuff, while others are content with the little they have. They might struggle to make it -- but they do it by standing on their own two feet, either by working to better themselves or by pursuing the education they need to advance. They demand the same of their children -- and show them the path to make it in the world.

Their homes are not perfect. They might face challenging times -- and some of the makeup of their families might be different, but the bottom line is, they live the principles they were taught.

They make mistakes, they struggle, they make hard choices and they face obstacles.

They are people of quality, with values and honor.

And it has nothing to do with how much money they have in the bank.

And then there is the other America.

In this America, responsibility is a word for someone else.

The focus is on what can be gotten, easily and without effort.

In this life, crime is the focus, and honor and industry don't matter.

Who cares if the way the money is earned is not honest? Who cares if the benefits received are by cheating? Who cares if the profit you make is at the expense of someone else? The end always justifies the means in this America.

In this America, money is all that matters. Respect is earned through criminal activity -- a gun, a wad of cash from drug sales or a gang membership, those are signs of honor. Ill-gotten gains are considered status.

In this America, they don't know where their children are, what they are doing or, in some cases, if they are eating.

The mantra in this America is that someone else is holding them down, that they do not have the opportunities to save themselves or to get out of the life they say they are destined to live.

They say this as they are dropping out of school, losing jobs or cheating or lying.

They suck up the help, while those who are trying to be part of the real America struggle to make it on their own.

They attack those who are trying to live better lives and who are working to get themselves out of the ghettos, public housing and bad neighborhoods.

They raise thugs and dealers -- mostly because they have abandoned their children to the streets long ago.

They excuse their criminal activity -- and that of their children -- as the consequence of the poverty cycle they are trapped in and as the fault of those who have worked to earn their success.

They want some of what the other America has. They just don't want to earn it themselves.

And sometimes, because we don't know who they are, we miss some members of the true America. We think because they live in poverty or struggle to make ends meet that they aren't like us. We aren't there for those who are trying to change their lives, who want to get out, who need a hand up. We can't see them, and they are afraid to reach out to us.

We need to do a better job of finding them.

There are two Americas. There always have been. But if we are going to make America great again, we have to find each other, to take back our neighborhoods and our government and to rid ourselves of those without honor, without values and without personal accountability.

We have to revel in our similarities and look beyond the differences that divide us -- and to ignore those who want to perpetuate that hate and division.

We have to realize that we need each other -- and that we can stand for each other.

And that, not a bunch of promises and political party babble, is the message that we truly need to hear.

Published in Editorials on August 8, 2015 11:03 PM