I don’t claim to speak for anyone but myself, and maybe it’s a generational thing, but America, to my way of thinking, is less of a place and more of a belief system; a way of looking at the world and the people in it.

Americans believe in opportunity and equality.

Americans believe, “Treat others as you would like others to treat you.”

Americans believe in defending the weak from the strong who would abuse them.

Americans believe in lifting people up, dusting them off, giving them a big smile and telling them to try again.

Americans don’t scare easily, and we don’t leave anyone behind.

Shortly after the Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Rock in 1620, men and women from every corner of the world began meeting here, mingling here, and producing mixed-race children here.

We’ve been doing it for 400 years.

This place has gathered people from every nation that has ever flown a flag. Some of these people came voluntarily. Others were brought here against their will. But none of that matters because children do not get to choose their parents.

Americans are not purebred showdogs. We are mixed-breed puppies born in a howling wilderness.

Alexander Hamilton was born out of wedlock on the island of Nevis in the Carribean, but he came to this country and became one of its Founding Fathers. We have printed that man’s face on 11.9 billion twenty-dollar bills and the Broadway play about his life was a stunning success.

That play, by the way, was written by an American whose DNA is Puerto Rican, Mexican, English, and African. His parents named him “Lin-Manuel” after a poem about the Vietnam War.

Is America portable? I believe it is. America is kindness and generosity.

If you believe in opportunity and equality, defending the weak, lifting people up, dusting them off, smiling and telling them to try again, you are an American.

If you don’t scare easily and don’t leave anyone behind, you are an American.

If you believe in love with its sleeves rolled up, you are an American.

Take America with you wherever you go.

Be an American today, okay?

Roy H. Williams

PS – Do you live outside the U.S.? Not one of the virtues I mentioned today is exclusive to America. Most people-groups believe in exactly these same things. I wrote directly to the people of America today – calling them out by name – because we have been fighting about some really stupid things for a long time.

The virtues I wrote about today live in the hearts of the people of your nation, too, and of every other nation on earth. Wouldn’t it be great if we focused on our similarities instead of our differences?