Does Your America Look Like My America?

There’s an America some people believe in.

An America where “real” Americans look a certain way, worship a certain way, speak a certain way.
An America where anyone who doesn’t fit that mold isn’t really American—just a guest, a visitor, an outsider who should be grateful to be here.
An America that tells immigrants they should “assimilate” but really means they should erase themselves.

Then there’s the America we know.

The one built by hands of every color.
The one whose culture is a mix of everything and everyone who has ever set foot here.
The one whose music, food, and language are shaped by people who weren’t supposed to belong—but made it their home anyway.

They say we should “melt” into their version of America.

But why should we shrink ourselves to fit into a past that never even included us?

The America we know is bigger than that.
Louder than that.
Better than that.

And no matter how much they try to erase us—

We are still here.

And this is our America, too.