Independence Day

I ran a 10K this morning.  I have been told that The Peachtree Road Race is the largest 10K in the United States.  (I cannot confirm it, but they expected something like 55,000 runners/walkers this year.)  That’s not the point of this story.  Bruce Springsteen is the point of this story.

It was somewhere between mile 3 and 4 today that someone was blaring “Born in the USA” along the race route.  As I listened to the beginning of that song something clicked in my brain.  I should be proud of where I was born.  I don’t know when it started.  There was no announcement, but slowly but surely a group of people in this country have decided that we should be apologetic for being American.

We are constantly bombarded with reminders that we are one of the richest nations on Earth and that somehow we should be embarrassed by that.  I don’t buy it.  I have a heart for countries that lack the freedoms, natural resources, and education that we have here in the United States, however, why should I be less proud of where I am from?  Shoot, even the President of the United States, Barack Obama, has apologized to the world for us being us.

I think it is high time we start being proud again.  As the World Cup has unfolded, ESPN announcers have lauded the pride of the fans of the other countries in the competition.  However, no one seems to laud the fans of the United States for having pride.

Why shouldn’t we be proud?  My favorite line from any movie actually comes from Rush Hour.  (Warning: Bad Language Alert) The main character, played by Chris Tucker, is in the police station after having caused a major explosion while trying to make an arrest.  His captain calls him into the office and dripping with sarcasm says:

“Every now and then we have to let the general public know that we can still blow shit up.”

I love that line because, while obviously not serious it really sums up the sentiment that sometimes we need to remind people who we are.  I think its time that we as a nation stand up and let the world know that we are still proud of who we are.  We aren’t sorry that we love our country.  We aren’t sorry that we love freedom and want to spread it around the world.

We feel like we live in the best country in the world.  We aren’t sorry that we were Born in the USA.