What Are The Challenges Facing America

Challenges in America Abraham Lincoln once said, “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” 1 With this, Lincoln exposed the vulnerability of the United States when we are not united. Today we are more vulnerable than ever with the challenges we are facing. America as a whole faces numerous challenges ranging from benign to oppressive; examples of these challenges include political differences, terrorism, immigration, and racism. A dominant challenge in America is the differences in political parties. Political parties have been a challenge for America before we even became a free country. Paul Bloom, a professor of psychology at Yale University, pronounced,
“Periods of cooperation between political parties shouldn’t be taken for granted; they are a stunning human achievement.” 2 As a country this shouldn’t be a problem, especially since the founding fathers founded America as a united nation. Political differences arise because of the differences in views and the human fallibility of self-righteousness. On the grounds that these chasms take place unnecessary altercations and divisions arise.
Another challenge America faces is terrorism.
Of course this is not just a challenge faced by Americans; other countries face this as well, but with the major political differences, solutions for the problems regarding terrorist cannot be achieved as quickly compared to other countries. One major challenge America faces regarding terrorism is the question, How do we prevent the attacks from happening on American soil? A multitude of Democrats support tough anti-terrorism policies even if they invade Americans personal privacy, while Republicans fear that American’s rights may be compromised,3 leaving the debate to continue. Another question challenging Americans is if joining the fight against terrorism is the wise and correct decision. After the Iraq and Afghanistan War, many Americans want no part of joining the fight. A primary reason for this lack of desire according to the Huffington Post is because at the end of the Iraq war in 2011 4,489 Americans were killed and 32,223 were
wounded.4
With the need of a country for refugees to come to and others seeking an equal opportunity of life, immigration becomes a challenge in America. Some American citizens, like Linda Ronstadt, believe that immigration is not even an entity. In fact, Linda Ronstadt vocalized, “There should not be a question of legal or illegal immigration. People came and immigrated to this country from the time of the Indians. No one’s illegal. They should just be able to come.” 5 Along with the belief of immigration being an entity, people give credence to immigration for America’s rich culture. Of course with any other challenge, some citizens take a different viewpoint on the topic. Timothy Murphy said, “Illegal immigration is crisis for our country. It is an open door for drugs, criminals, and potential terrorist to enter our country. It is straining our economy, adding cost to our judicial, healthcare, and education systems.” 6 Donald Trump, the 2016 Presidential Election nominee for the Republican party, is convinced that immigration is a dominant challenge in America, and in order to put a stop to it, America needs to build a wall separating America from Mexico. Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Presidential Election nominee for the Democratic party, believes that America should grant equal citizenship to all immigrants. Of course with either idea comes speculations and protest.
Along with immigration comes racism.
Racism has become a preponderant challenge as America’s population grows. Humans are known to have a demeanor that they are superior of other humans, which is a synonym to the definition of racism. Abraham Joshua Heschel, a leading American theologian and philosopher, describes racism as, “man’s gravest threat to man- the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.” 7 A phenomenon about racism is that the majority of citizens recognize the existence it has in America. Groups like “Black Lives Matter”, “Blue Lives Matter”, and “All Lives Matter” have been formed to recognize racism and try to put an end to it. Although their mission statement is to bring awareness, they tend to create racism and violent riots. CNN posted on their website “Unfocused. Misdirected. Those are just a couple of the kinder words used by some critics of Black Lives Matter to describe the movement.” 8 CNN also went on to post another article describing how the Black Lives Matter movement has no central leadership nor a mission statement that the various chapters follow. Huffington Post claims that “All Lives Matter” is just code for “White Lives Matter”. 9 Most Americans believe that racism only occurs between whites and blacks, but the reality is that it occurs within innumerable minority groups as well. Along with racism occurring between minority groups it also happens within the same racial group. One could argue that sexism is a form of racism.
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines sexism as an unfair treatment of people because of their sex; especially: unfair treatment of women.10
As America grows, so do the challenges they face. Challenges like political differences, terrorism, immigration, and racism play a dominant role in how America functions as a country. Martin Luther King Jr. once said “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” 11 As America works through the challenges and attempts to overcome them, the true perseverance of the country will be exposed.