Camden Central High School
Camden, Tennessee
Teacher: Wanda Allen
American Pride
By Emily Moore
11th
grade
Thousands
of
Americans
stand
together
before
the
start
of
an
NFL
football
game
while
the
national
anthem
is
played,
then
a
voice
saying
“let
us
pray”
is
heard
over
the
loud
speaker.
The
prayer
is
for
the
safety
of
the
players
and
for
fair
calls,
just
as
in
1776
when
the
Declaration
of
Independence
was
signed
and
Benjamin
Franklin
said
“let
us
pray”
before
beginning
to
help
write
the
document
that
would
forever
protect
the
United
States
and
show
fair,
equal
rights
and
freedom
to
Americans
everywhere.
America
gave
us...many
rights
and
freedoms,
[including]
freedom
of
religion.
...The
United
States
is
willing
to
give
all
Americans
the
chance
to
choose
[their]
religion....
On
coins
and
paper
money
“In
God
We
Trust”
is
imprinted
because
our
founding
fathers
intended
for
God
to
be
a
large
part
of
our
Nation.
Over
the
years
we’ve
gone
from
having
prayer
in
school
and
the
pledge
of
allegiance
said
every
morning
during
class,
to
having
God
not
even
mentioned
at
all.
Americans
used
to
be
so
proud
of
their
religion
and
their
right
to
practice
that
religion,
but
now
the
U.S.
has
allowed
religion
to
be
pushed
away,
out
of
sight
and
out
of
mind.
Every
generation
the
American
outlook
on
rights
[and]
freedom
evolve...and
a
new
way
of
thinking
and
a
new
way
of
seeing
things
[emerges].
For
example,
in
1980
activities
on
Sundays
were
illegal
in
small
communities,
but
today
Sundays
are
just
as
busy
as
any
other
day.
Many
people
are
for
separation
of
church
and
state,
while
many
are
against
it.
The
American
Civil
Liberties
Union
long
supported
the
strict
separation
of
church
and
state,
but
with
church
and
state
being
separated
to
the
extent
it
is
today,
aren’t
we
going
against
what
our
founding
fathers
had
intended?
Americans
are
not
only
proud
to
live
in
the
U.S.
because
of
their
freedom
of
religion,
but
also
because
of
the
strong
leadership
that
has
been
shown
throughout
our
beautiful
nation.
After
World
War
II
many
Americans
believed
that
the
people
all
over
the
world
would
finally
live
together
in
peace,
but
unfortunately
that
wasn’t
so.
Russia
emerged
from
the
war
with
a
strong
military
force,
but
the
United
States
was
determined
to
protect
itself
and
other
countries
[from]
the
...communist
world.
Americans’
leadership
and
compassion
was
strongly
admired
throughout
the
nation.
America
invested
billions
of
dollars
to
help
rebuild
war
torn
countries
and
also
lent
a
hand
to
protect
[developing]
countries.
Sadly
though,
Americans
have
become
unappreciative
and
take
their
freedoms
and
[reasons
to
be]
proud
to
be
Americans
for
granted.
Thousands
of
immigrants
come
over
to
the
United
States
of
America
in
search
for
freedom
against
religious
persecution
and
equal
rights.
Immigrants
are
so
thankful
for
what
America
has
done
and
can
do
for
them.
People
worry
about
becoming
bilingual
and
that
foreigners
will
“take
away”
from
America,
but
America
is
already
so
great
that
there
is
no
harm
in
sharing
what
America
has
to
offer.
It
is
the
many
cultures
that
make
up
America
and
what
it
is
today
that
should
often
be
celebrated.
Our
patriotism
is
slowly
being
drawn
away
from
us
because
we
are
not
trying
to
give
back
to
our
country.
[It's
not
evident]
that
leadership
and
concern
towards
our
country
is
still
alive
as
[it
was
in]
our
forefathers'
[time].
America has become one of the most amazing nations because of its many rights, freedoms, religions, and equality. Slavery and poverty have once been an issue, but never too great of and issue to not be overthrown and put away by this country and the government. There has always been that one man or that one woman to stand up and speak his or her mind because our Constitution gave us the right to do so. America has come such a long way since the Declaration of Independence and will continue to grow as a nation. A t one point 3.9 million Americans stood together to sing the national anthem; now there are 300 million Americans who can stand to sing the same song and show their pride and love for this one nation under God. Pride is one of the things that Americans show and being an American and caring about our nation along with the people is something that makes me proud to be a part of the United States of America!