Where Does the Division in America Truly Lie?

By DaiJhah Owens

During the last three months, I’ve tried to stay away from writing about politics. I felt it would be information overload for our readers. People were already feeling heavy enough due to this global crisis, and even though what I write is the truth, that does not make it any less depressing. Although the Pandemic is still raging on and people are still suffering, I think it’s time we address something, the “great division” or “polarization” of Americans.

It seems I can’t get on social media or watch any news media outlet without them mentioning about how increasingly divided or polarized Americans are during this time. How we’ve never seen this level of division in America. When I hear statements like this, my eyebrows always go up. They go up in confusion. I am confused because I truly want to know when was America genuinely united. When people say things like this I often wonder “Have they been living under a rock?” Was this country united before the “founders” stole this land and murdered the indigenous people who owned it or after the first ship of stolen humans arrived to this country to be forced into hard labor? I’d LOVE to know the answer!

Some may be struggling to understand this one thing; America was built on division, murderous, abusive, capitalistic, hateful, evil division. Division is the foundation from which everything we see today was built on. Division is woven into the fabric of what it means to be American. The use of phrases like “extreme polarization” are meant to distract us from this truth. We’ve been sold a false narrative. That America was one big melting pot of togetherness until a few politicians came along and made us hate each other. And that couldn’t be further from the truth.

The harsh reality is that the division in this country truly lies within us. Not a political party, not a president, not with extremist. It lies within our people, the way we’re socialized and conditioned, the system we uphold, and the beliefs we hold so dear. Division is the American way.

The sooner people get a grip on that hard truth, the sooner we can move forward and work on actually creating an America that is genuinely united. An America where the constitution actually protects ALL people and not just a select few.

If you are still searching for someone to blame for the extreme division in this country, your search is in vain. You can’t find something that was never lost. It has always been right in front us. We were just too comfortable to see it.

DaiJhah Owens is a Contributing Writer for the Pedestal Project, LLC. DaiJhah is passionate about shifting political power to oppressed groups through education. She believes there is nothing more powerful than an educated black woman who can smell political BS a mile away! Connect with her on Instagram at @d_nakhole!